Hungarian Folk Tales: The Seven Kids
Once upon a time, in a land far far away, there lived a mother goat.
And the mother goat had seven young kids.
One day the mother goat said:
Now, be careful children, because I'm going to the meadow to bring you fresh grass to eat.
Don't worry, we'll be good! – the little kids said.
So the old mother goat set off for the meadow and then she shouted back:
And don't let any strangers in because I won't be back until evening!
The wily wolf had been listening outside all this time.
Well, he thought:
I have my chance at long last.
Hardly an hour had passed before the wiley wolf went to the window
and called into the kids:
Darling children, open the door because I have brought fresh grass for you to eat.
The little kids laughed when they heard his gruff voice.
But our mother will only be back in the evening and her voice is much sweeter than yours.
The wolf was furious and ran away until he came to a field full of turnips.
There he pulled up a turnip from the ground and ate it to make his mouth dry and his voice sweet.
Then he hurried back to the house and called to the kids:
Darling children, open the door, because I have brought you fresh grass to eat.
And the little kids were about to open the door
when the eldest looked out of the window and saw the wiley wolf's bony black hand,
and shouted:
Don't open the door because our mother has white hands not black!
The wolf was furious for a second time.
Then he thought for a moment and ran until he came to the village bakery.
When he arrived he asked the baker for a sack of flour to make his hands white.
But the baker was busy kneading bread and asked him to wait.
But the wiley wolf was very impatient and could not wait a moment longer.
I'll be dining on goat meat tonight! – and he hurried back to the house.
By the time he arrived back, it was late in the day, and he put his hand up onto the windowsill.
With his white hand and his sweet voice the kids were convinced
that their mother had returned from the meadow at last.
Then the wolf shouted into the kids:
Darling children, open the door, because I have brought you fresh grass to eat!
And the silly kids jumped for joy because they had fresh grass at last.
One kid hid under the bench, the second in a corn-bin,
the third in the ash bucket, the fourth in the washbasin.
The three other kids stood petrified in the middle of the room.
They were all so terrified that they would happily have hidden in a matchbox,
but there was none in the house because their father did not smoke a pipe.
Then the wily wolf pulled the kid out from under the bench, the kid out of the corn-bin,
the kid out of the ash bucket.
But the clock door was so small that his long tongue wouldn't fit inside.
Oh, how full I am. – he said and stroked his fat belly.
Then the wolf went out to the meadow where he laid under the mulberry tree
and soon fell fast asleep.
As evening fell the mother goat returned home from the meadow, and nearly died of shock,
when she saw the door wide open and her little house empty.
She began to call: Kiddie, kiddie, come here!
She was sitting and crying when she suddenly heard a tiny voice speak:
Don't cry, mother dear, because I am here!
Then the last of her kids appeared who was delighted to see his mother,
but even more delighted to see the fresh green grass.
And where are your brothers?
Then the little kid told his mother how the wily wolf had tricked them.
Oh, – his mother said
– so that is who I saw resting in the meadow when I was walking home.
Hurry, child, and fetch me a needle, thread and a pair of sharp scissors!
And while her son searched, the mother goat took a rest after a very tiring day indeed.
They soon arrived at the meadow where they saw that the wolf was still sleeping.
Gather rocks, quickly, quickly!
Then the mother goat slid the wiley wolf's belly open
and the other six kids leapt out.
Now let's teach the wily wolf for lesson! – the mother goat said.
And fetch as many rocks as you can while he is still asleep.
They soon collected a big pile of rocks and packed them into the wiley wolf's belly
before their old mother stitched it back up again.
Then she told her kids to hurry back home because the wolf'd surely be in a terrible mood when he awoke.
So the seven kids all run back to the house
and watched from the window to see the wolf awake.
When the wily wolf awoke he was very thirsty and he thought to himself:
I shall go down to the stream and take a drink because
the six kids in my belly must be really thirsty.
The wily wolf struggled to his feet
and he smiled to himself when he heard the rocks rumbling in his belly.
When he got to the stream he leant down to take a good drink,
but the rocks in his belly were so heavy that he fell head first into the water
and was washed clean away.
The wolf floated on the water and the stream passed right before the kids house
and they laughed when they saw the wiley wolf wash passed.
But the wolf could not swim and was drowned in the deep.
And if that wily wolf had not drowned my tale would have never ended.