Hungarian Folk Tales: Green Peter
Once upon a time, in a land far far away there stood a large farm.
A family lived on that farm with a husband, a wife, a son and a daughter.
When his wife died, the husband married again, so that there should be someone to bring up the children.
But the new wife did not like the children and she put poison in their food.
When the children sat down to eat their supper a white dove flew down and said:
Children, don't eat the soup because it's poisoned!
Run away from home and never look back!
The boy and his young sister walked and walked, until they heard someone calling:
Green Peter, Green Peter, come here!
It was a poor little fish, cast ashore by the sea.
Pick me up, Green Peter, throw me back into the water! Do good and you will prosper.
So the boy happily helped the little fish.
They walked and walked until they heard someone calling:
Green Peter, Green Peter, come here!
This time it was a little bird that had lost its flock.
The bird begged the boy:
Green Peter, please put me on the branch so that I can fly on with my bird brothers.
Green Peter put it up on the branch and the little bird said to him:
Thank you. Do good and you will prosper.
They walked and walked until they heard someone calling:
Green Peter, come here!
A poor shriveled rose-bush was calling.
It begged the boy to water its roots.
Well Green Peter, – the rose-bush said – do good and you will prosper.
Green Peter and his sister walked until they came to the town.
When he reached the gate the people called out to him:
Come in, Green Peter, come in because there are already 99 heads on stakes and yours will be the 100th one.
Even though Green Peter was afraid he went in all the same.
And he was told that the princess would marry the first man,
who could hide himself so well that she would never find him.
So Green Peter went in and was ordered to hide himself three mornings running,
because otherwise he would be beheaded.
But if the princess failed to find him, she and half the kingdom would be his.
Poor Peter wept and wept and said to himself:
I've just managed to get away from my evil stepmother and look what trouble I'm in again.
Where could I possibly hide?
Suddenly the little fish appeared:
Why are you crying, Green Peter?
Because the king said that unless I can hide from his daughter, he will have me beheaded.
The fish opened his mouth and said:
Hide in here, Green Peter.
So Green Peter slipped into the fish's mouth
and it swam to the bottom of the deep sea where it hid itself in the sand.
The young princess stepped out into the corridor, she rubbed her eyes and said:
Come out, Green Peter, from the mouth of the fish, from the sand at the bottom of the sea.
So Green Peter came out.
He crawled sadly out of the mouths of the fish and went to the royal palace.
The next morning he tried again.
Where, oh where shall I hide?
Suddenly the little bird flew down and said to him:
Why are you crying Green Peter?
Why indeed, if I don't manage to hide from the princess I'll be beheaded.
The little bird spread its wings and said:
Come on, hide beneath my wings.
And it flew up behind the back of the Sun.
When the princess came out to the corridor she rubbed her eyes and caught sight of him at once:
Green Peter, come out from behind the back of the Sun, from beneath the bird's wings.
The bird flew down to the ground and let Green Peter slip out from under its wings.
Green Peter went sadly back and next morning he again set out.
But by now he was crying more than ever before:
Oh, oh, oh, what will become of me?
The rose-bush came up to him and said:
Don't worry! I'm going to hide you.
They went before the royal palace and stopped right in front of the corridor.
The rose-bush sat down and said:
Hide among my leaves and thorns.
And it opened up so that it became more radiant than the Sun itself.
The princess came out, she rubbed her eyes but she couldn't see Green Peter anywhere.
Rub your eyes again, my girl! – said the king.
Or would you prefer to marry?
Again the princess rubbed her eyes, she looked and looked, but to no avail.
She eventually grew tired of looking for the land and called out to him:
Come out, Green Peter, come out from wherever you are, I can't see you anywhere!
And so Green Peter came out at last.
The young couple married right away.
He got half the kingdom too and the wedding feast lasted for three long days.
I was there myself and I had a fine time.
I was even given a nice, big bone to chew.