Hungarian Folk Tales: The Slipper Tearing Princesses
Once upon a time there lived a king who had three daughters.
Each of them wore and tore twelve pairs of slippers every single night.
Finally the king could not supply them any longer with footwear,
so he issued a declaration across the land.
He declared that anyone who could tell him where his daughters wore out their slippers every night
would receive a very attractive payment as reward.
The king had a young lad who worked as a shepherd.
As he was grazing his flock of sheep one day he suddenly decided to visit the royal palace.
When he arrived, he told the king his reasons for coming.
Your majesty, I shall find out where your daughters go every night.
All right, go ahead, and if you are successful you'll get a rich reward.
The king sent the shepherd boy to sleep in the same room where his daughters slept.
The lad laid down on the floor with his bag and stick
and pretended to be asleep.
It was around midnight when he saw an old witch flying through the window.
She produced some kind of cream or ointment which the princesses rubbed on their knees and arms.
As soon as they were done, they all hopped on a broom,
took all their slippers and flew out of the window.
The shepherd boy watched carefully,
and finally he rubbed the ointment on himself and his stick.
As soon as he was done, he whooshed right after the princesses,
never letting them out of his sight.
It wasn't long before the girls reached a silver forest
where they all settled down to rest.
In the middle of the forest there was a silver well with three silver goblets standing right next to it.
The three princesses each had a sip of water.
When they were finished, the shepherd boy collected their silver goblets and put them in his bag.
He even broke off a silver twig from one of the trees.
The twig rang out loud when he snapped it from the branch.
The small princess was very frightened.
Why are you so scared, silly? Nobody can follow us here!
So after a while they all got on their broomsticks and flew off.
They finally reached the middle of the golden forest.
There was a well made of gold with three golden goblets standing right next to it.
Each girl took a sip of water.
The lad even broke a golden twig from one of the trees.
The twig rang out loud when it snapped from the branch.
The smallest princess was very frightened.
Don't be such a coward, there's nobody here! Who could it be anyway?
They flew off but the shepherd was still following them.
They soon arrived at the diamond forest
where there was a well made of diamonds, with diamond goblets on the side.
When the princesses all had their fill, the shepherd collected the goblets, broke a diamond twig.
The twig rang out loud and the smallest princess was very frightened.
Stop being scared all the time, there's nobody following us!
They got on their brooms and continued their flight.
Suddenly a huge gate opened up before them from somewhere below the ground.
Inside, there were twelve young he-devils waiting for them,
and there was music playing from the attic.
The shepherd boy quickly hid beneath the table, and he kept a close watch on everything.
The he-devils and the girls started to dance.
As the shepherd was watching a bit more closely,
he noticed that the floor of the room was covered with razor blades.
It was no wonder that the slippers of the princesses were worn and torn,
since they were all dancing on the razor's edges.
When one was torn to shreds they just threw it away and put on a new one.
When the twelve pairs of shoes were all danced to shreds they sat down at a table.
They all had a golden spoon and a fork to eat with.
When one of them dropped her golden spoon
the shepherd boy quickly picked it up and put it into his bag.
The other princess dropped her golden fork,
and the shepherd boy picked it up and put it into his bag as well.
When the girls were finally satisfied, they all hurried back home.
But this time the shepherd boy flew faster because he wanted to get home first.
By the time the princesses reached the royal palace,
the shepherd boy was finally laying in front of their beds,
pretending to be fast asleep.
He never even moved – the girls said.
Look, he's fast asleep!
Morning came and the shepherd went to see the king.
The king asked him:
Well son, have you seen anything? Have you found out anything?
I have, your majesty. I have seen things and I have found out things.
At that point in time the king summoned his three daughters, and the shepherd started to speak:
First they went to a silver forest, and here is the evidence.
He produced the silver goblets and the silver twig.
Then they flew on to the golden forest where they drank from their golden goblets.
With that, he pulled the golden goblets and the golden twig from his bag.
From there they flew onto the diamond forest where they drank another cup.
Finally they stopped in a palace where they danced with devils,
and that's how they wore and tore all their slippers.
In the meantime they ate and drank, too.
One of them dropped her spoon, the other her fork.
And here is the evidence, your majesty.
Well done, son.
The king ordered that the two elder daughters be locked up in the tower each night,
gave his blessings to the youngest one who married the shepherd boy.
And that is how the slipper tearing came to an end.