Hungarian Heritage Review, 1985 (14. évfolyam, 12. szám)
1985-12-01 / 12. szám
DECEMBER 1985 HUNGARIAN HERITAGE REVIEW 19 EDITOR’S NOTE: An integral part of Hungarian folklore are legends. Many of these are traceable back to the birth of the Hungarian nation. Passed on from one generation to another, they breakdown into three categories: the myth, the geographical, and the historical. Myths date back to prehistoric times, geographical legends are based upon geological or historical facts relating to a specific area, and historical legends are based upon actual event. Historical legends, in particular, are so factual they can be regarded as “unwritten history”. “King Matthias and the Old Soldier” is from Hungarian Folk Tales, compiled by Albert Wass, and published by the Danubian Press in 1972.) KING MATTHIAS AND THE OLD SOLDIER Now it happened one day that the good King Matthias was traveling through the countryside with his noblemen. The good King was always kind to all he met, be it knave or saint, and when they came upon an old man walking along the road side, the King recognized the man as an old soldier who had fought bravely under his colors. “My respects to you, old man!”, the good King said. “Thanks to my woman”, answered the old man. “How much money do you get for your work?”, asked the King. “Six”, the old man answered his King. “How much do you live on?”, the King wanted to know. “Two.” “And what do you do with the four?”, the King queried. “Oh, 1 throw them into the mud!”, the old man said. “How many are thirty-two?” the King wanted to know. “Only twelve.” “Can you fleece sheep?”, asked the King. “Can I?”, the old man cried. Now all this talk astonished the noblemen. They could not understand a single word of it. The King noticed their confusion and turned to the old man again. “Until you see my picture, don’t tell anyone!”, he ordered the old man. With this, King Matthias rode on, his noblemen following. At once they began to question the King. “What were you and old peasant saying? We didn’t understand a word!”, they told the King. “You might guess”, the King answered them, “and whoever guesses right will get a nice reward!” The noblemen thought and thought, but try as they might, they could no answer the puzzle. So they hurried back to the old soldier. Gathering around the old man, they begged him to explain the questions and the answers. “I cannot say one word”, the old fellow told them, “until I see a picture of the King!” “Where? What sort of picture?”, the noblemen asked eagerly. “The picture that's on the gold pieces”, answered the old man. So the noblemen gave him ten pieces. At once the old man began to explain the conversation. “Well”, he told them, “ ‘My respects to you old man’, means that my wife is washing my clothes for me. Respectable clothes so that I am respectable. That’s why I answered, ‘Thanks to my woman’ .” “But why do you throw money into the mud? The four out of six?” the noblemen wanted to know. “I earn six coins. I live on two of these and I spend four of them on my son. That’s like throwing the coins into the mud.” “And what does it mean, ‘How many the thirtytwo?’ ” the noblemen asked. “That I can’t tell you without another ten pieces,” the old soldier answered them. So the noble men threw him another ten gold pieces. “Well”, the old fellow told them, “you see it’s this way. When I was a lad I had thirty-two teeth, but now I have only twelve. That’s what it meant.” Now only one question remained. The noblemen could not begrudge the old fellow ten more gold coins. “Pray tell us”, they asked him, “but what does it mean, ‘Can you fleece sheep?” “Oh that”, the old soldier laughed, “Well, that means just what I have been doing to you!”
