Lovely Ilonka

Lovely Ilonka is a Hungarian fairy tale collected in Ungarische Märchen. Andrew Lang included it in The Crimson Fairy Book.

Synopsis

A prince wanted to marry, but his father told him to wait, saying that he had not been allowed until he had won the golden sword he carried.

One day he met an old woman and asked her about the three bulrushes. She asked him to stay the night and in the morning, she summoned all the crows in the world, but they had not heard. Then he met an old man, who also had him stay the night. In the morning, all the ravens in the world had not heard. He met another old woman, and she told him it was well that he greeted her, or he would have suffered a horrible death. In the morning, she summoned magpies, and a crippled magpie led him to a great wall behind which were the three bulrushes.

He started to take them home, but one broke open. A lovely maiden flew out, asked for water, and flew off when he had none. He split the second, and the same thing happened. He took great care of the third, not splitting it until he had reached a well. With the water, she stayed, and they agreed to marry.

He took her to his father's country, where he left her with a swineherd while he went to get a carriage. The swineherd threw her into a well and dressed up his daughter in her clothing. The prince was distressed but brought back the swineherd's daughter, married her, and received a crown, becoming a king.

One day, he sent a coachman to the well where Ilonka had been drowned. He saw a white duck, and then the duck vanished and a dirty woman appeared before him. This woman got a place as a housemaid in the castle. When she was not working, she spun: her distaff and spindle turned on their own, and she was never out of flax to spin. The queen, the swineherd's daughter wanted the distaff, but she would sell it only for a night in the king's chamber. The queen agreed and gave her husband a sleeping draught. Ilonka spoke to the king, but he did not respond, and she thought he was ashamed of her. Then the queen wanted the spindle, Ilonka decided to try again, but again the king slept.

The third time, the queen made the same agreement for the flax, but two of the king's servants warned him, he refused everything, and when Ilonka appealed to him, he heard her. He had the swineherd, his wife, and his daughter hung and married Ilonka.

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See also

References
  • Ashliman, D. L. (1987). A guide to folktales in the English language. Greenwood Press. ISBN 978-0-313-25961-6.
  • Aberdeen University Review. 22-23. 1934.
  • Lang, Andrew. The Crimson Fairy Book. United Holdings Group. ISBN 978-1-61298-317-2.
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