Istvan

Istvan In this Hungarian folktale, reminiscent of the Russian story of Ivan the Dragon Killer, two brothers must slay two seven-headed dragons. The older brother, Janos, is cheerful, generous, and kind, while his brother Istvan is lazy, selfish, and bad-tempered. The dragons have unfortunately also turned the princess of the kingdom into a dragon. The king promises that whoever can release the princess from the dragons will receive his daughter in marriage and half of his kingdom as her dowry. Istvan’s father hears of the proclamation and sends him off to see if he can liberate the princess. Along the way he sits down to eat and is bothered by an army of ants. He kicks the anthill and destroys it before he continues down to the shore of a lake. Here 12 ducklings are playing and swimming among the reeds, and Istvan chases them away by throwing pebbles at them. He knocks on the door of the palace, and an old woman comes and asks him what he wants. He tells her that he has come to free the princess. The old woman said that Istvan will have to pass three tests, the first of which is to pick up a bowl of millet that the old woman quickly throws on the ground. Before he can do anything, an army of ants comes and eats all of the millet. After spending the night in the forest, Istvan returns the next day and again knocks on the door of the palace. The old woman once again prepares a test for him by throwing 12 golden keys into a lake and tells Istvan that he has to dive down and bring all of them back. This he cannot do no matter how hard he tries. He spends yet another night in the forest, but he then returns to the palace and asks to be given the third test. The old woman is unhappy but agrees and takes Istvan to a chamber in the palace. When she opens the door, there are three dragons inside. From these Istvan has to pick which one is the princess, but he fails to do so. Just then a giant comes into the room and picks up Istvan, takes him outside, and throws him on the ground, which opens up and swallows him. The father waits for news from his son, but when none comes, he sends the older son, Janos, to find him. Along the way he, too, sits down to eat and is bothered by an army of ants. For them, he spreads some crumbs on the ground and then makes his way down to the lake, where the ducklings are playing in the reeds. They receive a loaf of bread broken up into pieces before Janos goes on to the palace. The old woman then gives him the same tests that she has given Istvan. The millet strewn on the ground is picked up by the ants; when the golden keys are thrown into the lake before Janos can even take off his shirt, the 12 ducklings appear with the golden keys in their beaks. When he knocks again, the old woman has disappeared, and a beautiful young maiden welcomes him into the palace. She has been under a spell, but Janos has broken it by being kind to the ants and the ducklings, and now she tells him how to distinguish the princess from the other two dragons. She also gives him a sword to slay them with and a pin-encrusted suit, which he is to don immediately after slaying the dragons, and to stamp his foot three times. She tells him that the giant will then appear, and Janos must let the giant do as he pleases if he wants to rescue his brother Istvan. Janos thanks her, and she quickly disappears. In the king’s hall, where the dragons are, he identifies the princess and cuts off the heads of the two other dragons. Thereupon the princess is released from her enchantment and again takes human form. Janos then puts on the pinencrusted suit and stamps his foot three times to call the giant. The giant appears and puts Janos in his mouth, but he cannot swallow him or spit him out because of the pins. Janos says he will jump out of the giant’s mouth on three conditions. First, he has to free Istvan, which happens. Second, the giant has to promise to leave the kingdom and never return, which he also promises. The third request is for two large beams of wood, which Janos uses to wedge into the mouth of the giant so that he can never again close his mouth. When this happens, Janos springs down from the giant, who runs away and is never heard from again. The king then happily gives his daughter to Janos as his bride and soon gives his new sonin-law half of his kingdom and, later, all of it. Istvan also learns from his ordeal and becomes the most pleasant man anyone can ever hope to meet.

SOURCE:

Encyclopedia of World Mythology and Legend, Third Edition – Written by Anthony S. Mercatante & James R. Dow
– Copyright © 2009 by Anthony S. Mercatante