Hungarian Folk Tales: The Princess Three Pigs and Three Birthmarks
Once upon a time there lived a poor man who had a wife.
After a time they had saved enough money to buy a piglet.
They enjoyed rearing their piglet very much but their happiness was not complete.
They still did not have a child of their own.
One day the wife told her husband:
I think I might be pregnant.
Maybe you are mistaken.
After a few days the husband said to his wife:
I think the pig might be pregnant.
Maybe you are mistaken, it must have eaten too much and his belly is fat.
[baby crying]
The months passed and their son was born.
The man was happy.
He went to the pigsty to feet the pig and what did he see there?
Three little piglets had also been born that day.
Everyone in the house was happy.
As the young boy grew up he took the pigs to graze in the meadow at the end of the king's garden.
The boy had a flute and he liked to play it for the pigs to dance.
[plays the flute]
One day the young princess saw the pigs dancing in the meadow below.
For how much will you sell me a dancing pig?
For no money at all, if you lift your skirt to your knee.
What use is that to you? Would you rather not have a bag of gold?
But the boy said he did not want the gold.
Then the princess suddenly changed her mind and lifted up her skirt to her knee.
And the boy gave her a pig.
When he arrived home in the evening his father asked the boy:
Where is the missing pig?
The wolf has taken it, he will pay the price.
The boy returned to the king's garden with his pigs the very next day.
Where the princess saw him and asked again:
For how much money will you sell me a second dancing pig,
for the first one will not dance alone.
For no money at all, if you lift your skirt up to your waist.
Would you rather not have a bag of gold?
But the boy said he did not want the gold.
The princess hesitated for a second and then pulled her skirt up to her waist.
[grunting]
And the boy gave her the second pig.
When the boy arrived home that night his father asked:
Where is the second missing pig?
The wolf has taken him, it will pay the price.
On the third day the boy went back to the same place with his last pig.
[plays the flute]
Where he found the princess waiting for him.
For how much will you sell me the third dancing pig
because the first two will not dance without the third.
For no money at all, if you lift your skirt up to your neck.
[grunting]
Then the boy gave her the third pig along with his flute.
When the boy arrived home that night his father asked:
Where is the third missing pig?
The wolf took it, father. It said, it would pay the price.
The wolf has no money.
It has, father, it has a lot. And now I shall go and collect the price for the pigs.
When the boy arrived to the palace gates a guard asked him:
What do you want here little boy?
I came to the princess to get the price for my pigs.
The guard went to the princess and told her that a boy had come to be paid for the three pigs.
The princess simply said:
Fill a bag with gold and give it to him!
The boy arrived home again and pulled all the gold out onto a table.
The boy's mother and father had never seen so much money in their lives before.
The next day the king announced that his daughter had three birth marks on her body,
and any man who could tell him where they were, could marry her.
But any man, who made a mistake, would be beaten for his troubles.
Hearing this, the boy said:
Father, go to the market and buy me the strongest horse, the finest saddle, a beautiful suit
and a silver sword, but do not bargain and pay the proper price.
And off the boy set for the royal palace.
As he was riding he met a prince and a young baron who asked the boy:
Where are you going, young knight?
I'm riding where I like. What is your name?
It is, what it is.
Look, let's ride with him, he knows a lot of jokes.
And from then on, they called him the Joker.
As they were riding the sunset and they found themselves on the shore of a large lake.
After the boy fell asleep the prince and the baron drove a stick into the center of the lake
and fastened the boy's horse to it.
When the boy woke, he saw what they had done to his horse, but he did not say a word.
But he cut the hide on the legs of the other horses and rolled it up to the knee.
Then he fell asleep again.
When morning came they shouted:
Get up, Joker, you are a lazy fellow!
Look, your horse swam to the middle of the lake to quench its thirst.
That's right! And yours rolled their trousers up to go and save it.
All three reached the palace the next day.
There were many princes, barons and gypsies gathered
but none of them knew where the princess had her birthmarks
and each received sixty strokes of the cane for his troubles.
The baron thought it best to go in with a boy as he might find out the answers.
The boy said:
Venus is shining on her delicate belly.
That's right! – said the king.
Why did you say that? That was exactly what I wanted to say!
The Sun and the Moon radiate their beams from her bosoms.
That's right! – came the reply.
That was exactly what I wanted to say! – said the young baron.
The courtiers began to discuss the result.
Their decision was that the princess and the three young men should go to the same bed,
and the one she turns to, will be her husband.
And that's what they did.
The boy had a good stock of sweets and cakes in his pockets and he ate them noisely.
What are you eating? – the baron asked.
The heel of my boot. Take off your boot and eat its heel.
So the baron tore the heel of his boot and offered a part to the princess.
Please, have some, my dear!
The princess could not chew the leathery heel
and she kicked the baron out of the bed.
Then she turned towards the boy who gave her sweets and cakes.
The next morning the door was opened and they saw that only the boy was in the bed
while the baron hid in shame.
The baron got sixty strokes for feeding the princess with the heel of his boot,
and another sixty strokes because he did not know the whereabouts of her birthmarks.
And so the boy married the princess and they had a fabulous feast
and all were invited both rich and poor.