Hungarian Folk Tales: Dan the Dancer
The king mourned his beautiful wife for a year and a day.
When his mourning was over, he had it announced all over the land
that he would marry any maiden who could spin yarn of gold.
One old woman heard this news and rushed home to her house
to tell her ugly daughter:
Well, my dear, could you spin yarn of gold out of string?
Her daughter set about thinking and soon set her heart on becoming queen.
Once, when her mother was away in the village, she shut all the doors
covered all the windows so as not to be seen by anybody and began to spin yarn.
She kept on at it for quite some time,
but there was no way she could make yarn of gold out of old string.
Oh, I can't go on like this!
If someone taught me how to spin yarn of gold I'd give him my body and my soul;
even if he was the devil himself.
Here I am sweetheart! What do you wish?
The girl told him what
and asked him to teach her how to spin yarn of gold out of simple string.
She said she'd give him anything he asked.
I'll teach you if you give me your body and your soul in a year from now.
The girl agreed.
Sit here on this stool with your back to the door like me. You see?
Then say three times: Devla, devla, disaco!
Then the devil began to spin yarn and,
believe it or not, yarn of gold came spinning off the spinning wheel.
Then the girl too sat down on the little stool
with her back to the door and repeated three times:
Devla, delva, disaco!
Then she set about spinning and, miracle of miracles,
yarn of gold began to spin up the spinning wheel onto the spindle in her hand.
Well, my dear, I leave you now but I'll be back when the year has passed.
Do you understand our bargain?
I do, I do.
But before you go, please tell me your name.
I won't do that, but if you can guess, I won't take you away when the years over.
Then the girl carried on spinning until the candles had to be lit.
And then her mother came home.
Goodness, my dear, is what I see true?
Can you really make yarn of gold out of old string?
Yes, I can, mother!
Hurry right away and tell the king the news.
The king found it very hard to believe.
Well your majesty, I swear upon my life it's true.
Come and see for yourself.
So the king set off to see for himself,
with six ministers, counts, barons and generals.
Not even the old oven had ever seen so many lords of the land gather together before.
It stood there gaping with his mouth so wide that it was unable to shut it ever again.
Than the king and his lords all sat down
and watched how the ugly girl spun yarn of gold out of string.
The king was worried that he would have to wed such an ugly girl.
But what else could he do?
He sent a carriage drawn by four horses to fetch the girl.
Summoned a priest and married her right away.
The king slowly became accustomed to his new wife's looks and soon he no longer saw her as ugly.
They lived like this for quite some time.
But as the days passed the poor-girl-turned-queen became sadder and sadder.
What will become of me when the year is over?
Both the king and the court has tried to cheer the queen up, but in vain.
Then one day the king went out hunting with his men.
He ordered his man to go right up to the top of the hill and sat up camp under the largest tree.
We have a problem, your majesty.
We can't set up camp under the largest tree
because a small man-shaped like a monster has made a fire there.
Maybe we shouldn't go there at all.
On the contrary, we'll go and see who it is, even if it's the devil himself.
And they reached the top of the hill and there they saw a fire
and around the fire a tiny man dancing around a huge pot
with an enormous wooden spoon.
Burn fire, burn flame, in this pot is what I make,
a beautiful bride I will take, and Dan the dancer is no fake.
As the king caught sight of him, he burst out laughing
and went straight home to tell his wife so that she could have a good laugh too.
And that's just what happened.
The queen laughed so much that it seemed as though she had no worries in the world.
Time went slowly by and the year she had bargained would soon be reached at noon that day.
On the strike of twelve,
just as the king and queen were about to eat a delicious bowl of soup,
there was a knocking on the door.
The queen could guess who it was.
Who is it?
It's me, sweetheart.
The one who taught you how to spin yarn of gold out of string.
The years up and I've come to take you away.
If you can say who I am, you can stay.
You mean your name?
It's Dan the dancer. And to hell with you!
Upon this the little man burst with rage and slammed against the door
and all that was left of him was a big blob of tar.
Then the king asked his wife how she knew who the man was.
In her great fright, she told him all that had happened.
Well, my love, if you can still spin yarn of gold out of old string after this, you can stay.
But if you can't, you must leave here and never return.
So the woman sat down and said: Devla, devla, disaco!
And she began to spin but it was no use.
No yarn of gold would come off the spinning wheel.
The woman had a fit and in her rage she flew against the door.
There she turned into tar just like the devil.
All the shoemakers and bootmakers went there from then on whenever they needed tar.
And if I'm not mistaken they go there still.