Erős Vár, 1944 (14. évfolyam, 1-10. szám)
1944-09-01 / 9. szám
ERŐS VÁR Szeptember 9.szám 1944 ,v/C-i V-j *Sv, ; O'i íb ^ János Vitéz ti Jack Popcorn Imsu-a í-' -'S W b" nee upon a time a farmer and his wife lived on the great plain of Hungary. The farmer was a rough,uncultivated fe3 low,and of a very cruel disposition but his wife was very different, snc. was endowed with every womanly virtue. One day the woman was alone in the cornfield,when she suddenly heard the crying of a baby,and after looking about for some time,she found a boy crying lustily,in a deep furrow which had concealed hin from her eyes. She pitied the poor abcndened little waif,and took him in her arms»resolving to carry him home,for she had no children of her own. The farmer was very angry when he saw the helpless little creature but his wife used all her arts of . persuasion to induce him to let her keep the boy,representing to him that it would be to his own advantage to obtain a farm hand at such a small cost,and at length her husband,who was very miserly consented. So they adopted the little boy as their son,and as he was found ir a cornfield,they called him Jack Popcorn, Time passed on,and Jack grew up into a tall,strong lad,and turned out to be most useful as shepherd and servant to his master. He was put to the very hardest work , So long as his mistress lived, he fared well,for she loved him as her own son,but she died while he was in his boyhood,and then he v/as left entirely at the mercy of the morose and avaricious farmér. When the good woman died,Jack nearly died with grief,but there was a little girl,named Iluska, who lived in the village,who did her best to comfort him during ! this time of trouble, Iluska was I an orphan,like Jack,and her step- I mother was the most notorious witch in the whole neighbourhood, She never spoke a kind word to the poor little girl,but continue ally beat and tormented her,regardless whether she had any ex- i cuse to do so or not. The two orphans felt happiest j when they were out together on the large green meadow under the hot summer sun. At such times,Jack was generally looking after the grazing sheep while Iluska was washing linen in the brook. Jack would spread his coat on the soft ground,and lie upon it while he talked to Iluska of their future plans, and thus they forgot their ! sad surroundings,and looked for- I ward to a happier future, or he i would play to her on his flute, i and she would accompany the tune by melodious songs. Iluska grew up to a most beautiful girl,and Jack became ! the strongest and boldest lad in ; the seven neighbouring provinces. One evening,when the sun was sotting and it was beginning to grow dusk,Jack and his betrothed were sitting together,hand in hand,talking of their golden future, and they quite forgot to noticé that it was getting late and that it was time to go homo, they had forgotten their surround ings,and all the world, when suddenly Iluska1s stepmother,the : ugly old witch,arrived upon the scene.
