Hungarian Folk Tales: The Jackdaw Girls
Once there lived a mother who had twelve daughters.
The twelve girls were very unruly and each had a big mouth.
They were always quarreling with each other.
There was never any peace in the house.
And one day their mother decided that enough was enough and so she said:
My ears are full with your quarells!
All of you should turn into jackdaws!
They flew through the open door with such haste that they nearly poked her eyes out with their wings.
They left the house and took to the air.
They disappeared in a westerly direction.
The mother became very sad as she missed her daughter's very much.
But there was nothing to be done.
Then she discovered that she was expecting a baby
and when the time arrived she gave birth to a healthy baby boy.
When the boy became a little older he began to ask his mother:
Mother, have I never had a sister or a brother?
And his mother replied:
I have never had any other child except for you, my boy.
But later on the boy heard the talk in the village that he used to have twelve sisters
who turned into jackdaws and flew away forever.
Mother I have heard in the village that I used to have twelve sisters.
I will not rest until I find them all.
His mother tried to keep the boy at home but to no avail.
So then she filled a sack full of food and let him leave.
As the boy was walking he caught sight of a hermit shack in the distance.
And he arrived there just as the Sun was setting.
An old woman lived in a little shack and he had never seen an older woman in his life before.
He greeted her:
Good day, old lady!
You are fortunate that you greeted me politely or else I would have eaten you up.
What are you doing in this place that has never been seen by man or beast before?
The boy then told the old woman that he was searching for his twelve sisters
who had turned into jackdaws and flown away.
Good.
In the morning we shall make inquiries about them.
Then she made supper for the boy and they went to sleep.
Early the next morning the old woman stood outside with the boy beside her
and she blew hard on an old whistle.
All the reptiles of the world gathered around in a matter of moments.
The old woman asked the reptiles about a flock of jackdaws
that never mixed with the other birds.
None of the reptiles had any useful answers to her questions.
And so the old woman ordered the reptiles to go home.
So they all slithered away.
The boy bid farewell to the old woman and left her.
After a day's walk he again arrived to the hermit shack.
He entered the shack and saw an old woman even older than the first.
Good evening, old lady. – he said.
You are fortunate that you greeted me politely.
Otherwise I would have ordered bears to tear you apart.
What are you doing in this place that has never been seen by man or beast before?
The boy told her the aim of his search:
Good.
Maybe tomorrow morning we shall learn something more about your sisters.
The boy went to bed and soon fell fast asleep.
The next morning the old woman stood outside the front door with the boy
and blew hard on an old whistle.
All the four-legged beasts of the world gathered around the house in a matter of moments.
Do you know anything about twelve jackdaws that always fly alone?
We know nothing of such birds and we have never heard of them before
- the four-legged beasts replied.
So the old woman sent them home with a wave of her hand.
Then the boy became very sad indeed.
He thanked her for her troubles and continued on his way.
As he was walking he spotted a third hermit shack atop a huge rock.
And he arrived there as the Sun was setting.
He walked into the shack and saw that this woman was even older than the two before her.
Good evening, old lady.
You are fortunate that you greeted me so politely
or else I would've had eagles tear you to shreds.
What are you doing in this place that has never been seen by man or beast before?
So the boy told her the story of his journey.
Don't be sad my child.
I am sure that tomorrow we shall hear something about your sisters.
Then she made the boy something to eat and made his bed.
As soon as the Sun came up the two of them stood at the front door
and the old woman blew hard on a whistle.
All the winged creatures of the world gathered around the house in a blink of an eye.
The old woman inspected the birds and then said angrily:
Someone is missing!
Soon a raven arrived and one of his swings was bleeding.
As soon as I heard your whistle I began to fly here but while I was flying I saw a tall red tower.
Tower was so tall that it stuck up through the clouds.
And the noise the jackdaws made in that tower was worse than anything I had ever heard before.
So I decided to rest a while and listen for myself.
People passing by made mention of twelve jackdaws.
They said that they had been living there for some years now and never let anyone go near them.
But as I was eavesdropping a hunter came along
and shot a bullet into one of my wings that is why I was late to arrive.
Yours was the story we needed.
You, other birds can go now.
So now you know where to go.
Your efforts will not be in vain.
When you arrive outside the tall red tower,
lay these bones down on the ground and think of me.
He set out once more and after many days he arrived at the tall red tower.
He did as the woman told him...
and the two bones grew into a long ladder and he could climb up to the jackdaws.
He entered a large room where he found eleven of the jackdaws away,
and the twelfth in the form of a girl.
The others were away collecting food.
The young girl was afraid at first but soon she became braver.
She showed the boy around their home and explained all that she knew.
Then the boy confessed that he was in fact their brother and he had found them at last.
Then they heard the noise of the jackdaws flying home again, so the young girl said:
Hide yourself quickly because if I am enable to explain who you are they will surely cut your eyes out.
So the girl hid the boy in the seventh room.
The eleven jackdaws soon arrived home where they did a somersault and turn back into girls.
Then the eldest of all said:
I can smell the presence of a stranger!
And she tossed furniture around in her frantic search for the stranger.
Then the youngest girl come to her sisters and said:
When we left our father's house our mother was heavy with child.
She gave birth to a boy.
That boy has spent many months looking for us,
and now he is here to take us home to our mother and father.
I hid him because I was afraid you would do him harm
because you didn't know why he was here or why he had come.
Then the girls went to their brother and they all embraced him.
Before starting home they all swore to always be good from now on.
Take climb down the ladder and the boy let them home.
When they returned to the home of their birth
their mother and father were overjoyed to see their twelve daughters again.
From that day on, the girls behaved so very well that they were the pride of their village.
All twelve of them found a husband within the year and all got happily married.
And their brave brother found a pretty girl to be his bride and they all lived happily ever after.