Once one of the ministers cheated the king Matthias. He became a peasant.
Once king Matthias was going somewhere he met the minister who was plowing the field.
- Well, what are you doing? – asks.
- I am sowing the seeds, Sir! – says the minister.
- Come to meet me at Buda sometime and bring with you your best friend and your worst enemy. If you do this I will tell you something.
The minister went home and killed a sheep and then made his hands red with blood. His wife asks him:
- Oh what have you done that your face is also filled with blood?
Then the minister whispered to his wife:
- I have killed the goldsmith but don’t say this to anyone as you will also get the jewellery.
Then the next day he went to the Buda, taking with his dog and his wife.
When he reached Buda then at the castle he put his one leg on the back of the dog and then walking on one leg limping went up there.
Then says the king:
- I see you have come . Where is your best friend?
At this the minister beat up his dog and drove him away. Then called the dog back , who came back and started licking his hand.
Then says the king:
- I see this is your best friend. But where is your worst enemy?
At this the minister turned towards his wife and shouted angrily to her:
- What are you winking at the king in front of me?
It was enough for the wife now. She became red due to anger and said to the king:
- Sir, he is a killer , he had killed your goldsmith, now how can he speak like this?
The king questioned the man now to know what was the truth.
He just said this:
- Well Sir, out of all this only the truth is that I killed a sheep and with its blood I made my hands red and I told my wife that I had killed the goldsmith and don’t tell this to anyone as she will also get a part of the jewellery. Now from this you can see how is my biggest enemy.
Then says the king:
- I see.
Then he forgave the minister and accepted him back.
Translated from Hungarian by me
Sunday, February 19, 2012
Friday, February 17, 2012
Knocking at the door ( A Russian poem by Yevgeny Yevtushenko)
“Who is that?”
The old age.
I have come to you.
“Come later.
I have some work.
I am getting ready to write.”
Telephone. Job. I eat omlette.
I open the door.
But there is no one.
Perhaps my friends were playing a joke with me?
Or my ear did not hear well the name?
Old age?
Matured age also tried,
But it did not wait,
It sighed,
And went away.
Translated from Hungarian by me
The old age.
I have come to you.
“Come later.
I have some work.
I am getting ready to write.”
Telephone. Job. I eat omlette.
I open the door.
But there is no one.
Perhaps my friends were playing a joke with me?
Or my ear did not hear well the name?
Old age?
Matured age also tried,
But it did not wait,
It sighed,
And went away.
Translated from Hungarian by me
The bear who reads a book (A Turkish folktale)
There lived a man who once committed a mistake against the Sultan and when the Sultan came to know of this he called the sinner.
- I can only forgive you on one condition : if you teach an animal how to read and bring that to me here. Otherwise I will behead you.
When the man understood what the Sultan had commanded then thought what he can do. Then he caught a bear and took him home. He collected some pears and hid them in the pages of the book and put that book in front of the bear. Surely the bear started turning the pages of the book.
When the deadline came the Sultan called the sinner to the court.
- Have you fulfilled my condition? – he asked.
- I brought him and put the book in front of the bear he had brought.
The bear started searching angrily in vain for the pears amongst the pages of the book. Then the Sultan asked in surprise:
What is he doing?
Then answered the man: He is reading the book in his way Sir. This way the man saved himself from the punishment.
- I can only forgive you on one condition : if you teach an animal how to read and bring that to me here. Otherwise I will behead you.
When the man understood what the Sultan had commanded then thought what he can do. Then he caught a bear and took him home. He collected some pears and hid them in the pages of the book and put that book in front of the bear. Surely the bear started turning the pages of the book.
When the deadline came the Sultan called the sinner to the court.
- Have you fulfilled my condition? – he asked.
- I brought him and put the book in front of the bear he had brought.
The bear started searching angrily in vain for the pears amongst the pages of the book. Then the Sultan asked in surprise:
What is he doing?
Then answered the man: He is reading the book in his way Sir. This way the man saved himself from the punishment.
The fortune fulfilled three wishes (A Latvian Folktale)
Once when the mother fortune went around the world, one winter night she knocked at the door of a lonely house so that she can save herself from cold. When she started to go away she called the woman of the house and said to her: “Since you allowed me to come in , I will fulfill your three wishes.”
“May the sausage roast in the fireplace” said the woman immediately. And at that very moment the sausage roasted.
Her husband however shouted: “Oh you good for nothing! May sausages grow from your nose. Why did you not ask for money and riches?”
At that very moment when the man said these words, sausages started to grow from the nose of the woman and she could not take them out. So the man got frightened and asked the mother fortune to take away the sausages from his wife’s nose.
Mother fortune did that and said: “ In foolishness, you people are not the first rankers, who were not able to take advantage of my gifts. I fulfill three wishes but you people have wasted all three of them. May God be with you”
Translated from Hungarian by me
“May the sausage roast in the fireplace” said the woman immediately. And at that very moment the sausage roasted.
Her husband however shouted: “Oh you good for nothing! May sausages grow from your nose. Why did you not ask for money and riches?”
At that very moment when the man said these words, sausages started to grow from the nose of the woman and she could not take them out. So the man got frightened and asked the mother fortune to take away the sausages from his wife’s nose.
Mother fortune did that and said: “ In foolishness, you people are not the first rankers, who were not able to take advantage of my gifts. I fulfill three wishes but you people have wasted all three of them. May God be with you”
Translated from Hungarian by me
Why does the dog bark ( A Lithuanian Folktale)
Once when God the Creator had created the animals, he also gave voices to them. Just the dog did not get any voice. He went to the God to complain, that why only he did not get the voice while all other animals had got. Then the God said to him:
- You will always have to bark, but only when you hear that someone has already said something.
Now the dog whenever he just hears or sees that something moves or hears a persons voice, he starts barking immediately.
Translated from Hungarian by me
- You will always have to bark, but only when you hear that someone has already said something.
Now the dog whenever he just hears or sees that something moves or hears a persons voice, he starts barking immediately.
Translated from Hungarian by me
Thursday, February 16, 2012
King Matthias's lazy men
There is a tale about King Matthias that once he collected the three most laziest persons in the whole country and made them live in a room and these three did not have any work to do the whole day. In today’s world the king Matthias will find more than three such people, but then there were only three.
Once fire broke out in the house where the three lazy were living: when already the fire had reached above their head, one of them said:
- Perhaps we must go away from here?
The second wasting some more time replies:
- If the king needs us he will take us away from here.
Finally the third one said this:
- Are you people not ashamed to talk?
And all three of them were burnt alive there.
From here originates the saying for a very lazy person it is said:
“He is also one of the King Matthias’s lazy men”
Once fire broke out in the house where the three lazy were living: when already the fire had reached above their head, one of them said:
- Perhaps we must go away from here?
The second wasting some more time replies:
- If the king needs us he will take us away from here.
Finally the third one said this:
- Are you people not ashamed to talk?
And all three of them were burnt alive there.
From here originates the saying for a very lazy person it is said:
“He is also one of the King Matthias’s lazy men”
Tuesday, February 14, 2012
King Matthias and the neighbor who distributed the rooster
Many people came to the king Matthias with all sorts of applications. One man wanted to get a reward. He had a beautiful rooster, he presented that to the king in the hope that he will get a reward. King Matthias even accepted it with a condition that the person will also be present at the lunch when they eat the rooster and it will be his duty to divide rooster amongst the people so that everyone gets the right share he is entitled to get, and if he will not do it then he will be punished instead of being rewarded.
The man became terribly frightened and he raked his brains and moaned how could he divide the rooster. He narrated his dilemma to his neighbor. His neighbor told him that he will be able to divide it and he would go to the king’s court instead of the person. The man agreed to this as he already had headache after raking his brains.
The neighbor went to the King’s court, they roasted the rooster for the lunch and were sitting at the table. There were the king, queen, two sons, two daughters and the neighbor. When they brought the roasted rooster the neighbor said a humorous thing and started to divide :
He cut the head and gave it to the king because:
- The head suits the head of the house- said the man.
He cut the neck and gave it to the queen because:
- The neck suits the woman of the house , the neck is closest to the head of the rooster, like the queen is to the king.
Then he cut the two wings and gave them away to the sons so that they can write well. He cut the two feet and gave them to the daughters so that they can become good dancers. When he had distributed he said:
- Now everyone has got the share which suits them, just I have not got.
He put in his plate whatever was left and ate it away.
King Matthias just saw how the man had given them the useless parts of the rooster and the best part of the rooster the man placed in front of him, he said:
- I did not know that you are so clever that you cheat us by giving us the useless parts.
The neighbor than said that he was not that person who sent the rooster, he was his neighbor. Then king Matthias gazed at him and he liked that witty man. He awarded the man what he had to give to the man who had sent the rooster.
Translated from Hungarian by me
The man became terribly frightened and he raked his brains and moaned how could he divide the rooster. He narrated his dilemma to his neighbor. His neighbor told him that he will be able to divide it and he would go to the king’s court instead of the person. The man agreed to this as he already had headache after raking his brains.
The neighbor went to the King’s court, they roasted the rooster for the lunch and were sitting at the table. There were the king, queen, two sons, two daughters and the neighbor. When they brought the roasted rooster the neighbor said a humorous thing and started to divide :
He cut the head and gave it to the king because:
- The head suits the head of the house- said the man.
He cut the neck and gave it to the queen because:
- The neck suits the woman of the house , the neck is closest to the head of the rooster, like the queen is to the king.
Then he cut the two wings and gave them away to the sons so that they can write well. He cut the two feet and gave them to the daughters so that they can become good dancers. When he had distributed he said:
- Now everyone has got the share which suits them, just I have not got.
He put in his plate whatever was left and ate it away.
King Matthias just saw how the man had given them the useless parts of the rooster and the best part of the rooster the man placed in front of him, he said:
- I did not know that you are so clever that you cheat us by giving us the useless parts.
The neighbor than said that he was not that person who sent the rooster, he was his neighbor. Then king Matthias gazed at him and he liked that witty man. He awarded the man what he had to give to the man who had sent the rooster.
Translated from Hungarian by me
Thursday, February 9, 2012
What did the King Matthias gift (Stories about King Matthias of Hungary)
Once upon a time a poor man found a very large pumpkin. He took it to the King Matthias gifted him the pumpkin. King Matthias gave money to the poor man so much money so that he could buy two oxen. So he could now plough his fields with four oxen, because before he had two oxen.
The neighbor was a rich man, asked him from where he got the two oxen. The poor man said he found on the way a large pumpkin, which he gifted to the King Matthias.
- Well, that’s good, then I will also take something.
He had a nice foal, he gifted it to King Matthias. King Matthias, watching the beautiful foal, said:
- This is indeed a nice colt, I have not seen such a thing!
He took the rich man to show him the pumpkin, had he ever seen such a big pumpkin?
- Well, I have never seen such a thing!
- So, its yours in return for the foal.
Since King Matthias knew that he was a rich man, and did not need the money. So he gave him the pumpkin, which he had received a poor man. Such was his justice!
Translated from Hungarian by me
The neighbor was a rich man, asked him from where he got the two oxen. The poor man said he found on the way a large pumpkin, which he gifted to the King Matthias.
- Well, that’s good, then I will also take something.
He had a nice foal, he gifted it to King Matthias. King Matthias, watching the beautiful foal, said:
- This is indeed a nice colt, I have not seen such a thing!
He took the rich man to show him the pumpkin, had he ever seen such a big pumpkin?
- Well, I have never seen such a thing!
- So, its yours in return for the foal.
Since King Matthias knew that he was a rich man, and did not need the money. So he gave him the pumpkin, which he had received a poor man. Such was his justice!
Translated from Hungarian by me
Monday, February 6, 2012
The story of the Sun and the Moon (A Gypsy folktale)
Once upon a time the sun and the moon were locked on the far side of the world. Seven headed dragons and monsters were guarding them.
Two courageous and strong men freed the heavenly bodies and then started to travel with them.
On the way the sun burnt the man carrying him making him black, the descendents of that man became the brown skinned people. While the man who was carrying the moon, his descendents became the white skinned people.
These men locked the sun and the moon in their homes so that only they can have their light. But the sky started to cry for its children, and that was the first rainfall in the world. The two men allowed the heavenly bodies to go away.
Since then they are in the sky.
Translated from Hungarian by me
Two courageous and strong men freed the heavenly bodies and then started to travel with them.
On the way the sun burnt the man carrying him making him black, the descendents of that man became the brown skinned people. While the man who was carrying the moon, his descendents became the white skinned people.
These men locked the sun and the moon in their homes so that only they can have their light. But the sky started to cry for its children, and that was the first rainfall in the world. The two men allowed the heavenly bodies to go away.
Since then they are in the sky.
Translated from Hungarian by me
Thursday, February 2, 2012
The origin of the tortoise (A Gypsy Folktale)
Once upon a time, when the dear holy God still walked the earth, in worn out clothes wandered amongst the people, and tested the people, who is good and who is bad.
And there lived a poor woman.
While walking the Holy God arrived at her house also, and as he eagerly looked into the window and saw that the poor woman was inside, kneading bread, kneading the dough in a kneading trough, working with great modesty.
He said to himself:
- Now I will test this creation, I will come to know whether good will lies in her heart or not!
And He knocked there and said:
- What are you working on, my sister? What are you doing with so much zeal?
To this the poor woman answered:
- Why do you ask, my brother? Your eyes can see what I'm doing! I bake bread for my children!
And the Holy God said then:
- If you are already baking the bread for your children, I pray, please bake one loaf for me also. I have not eaten anything for so many days, and terrible hunger gnaws my stomach!
- Well, she said – You will have what you ask for! Come back in half an hour for it!
Then the Holy God went away, she tore out the loaves from the dough and put them all in the oven. For the beggar she scraped from the bottom of the kneading trough whatever remained and gave it a shape of a loaf and left it to bake with the others.
When she took them out to her surprise she saw that the loaf made from the remains of the dough had become the biggest; beautiful, roasted, red-skinned, it had changed into a huge bread and smelled so deliciously, as if it had been baked from the golden wheat from Creator Father’s heavenly garden! She felt sorry that she had promised the loaf to the beggar, and resolved to deny him, if he comes again.
She slipped below the trough, lied on the baking shovel.
Taught the two small children to say:
- If that vagabond comes again for his loaf of bread, act as if I were not at home I do not want to speak to him as I cannot tell him the plain truth that I cannot give him the crisp-skinned wheat bread! Tell some lie to him!
The Holy God returned at the designated time and enquired from the tiny tots who opened the door:
- Where is your mother, my children?
The children answered:
- Oh, great traveler, our mother had long back gone to the peasant’s village, she wants to buy all sorts of things in the store!
And the Holy God said then:
- Oh, my children, your mother is at home and due to this act now I pass my judgment for her! Since she expelled the compassion for me from her heart, I curse her at this very moment! She should become an ugly turtle and will not be freed from the weight of my words, as long as this world exists!
And so it happened!
Look at the turtle: he has the same head as that of a female who has tied the shawl on her back, and there on his back is the trough, and there is the shovel stuck to his body, on which she laid ! The shovel handle can also be seen protruding under the trough: it is still recognizable: it became the turtle's tail!
The miser woman was punished in this way by the dear Holy God!
Translated from Hungarian by me
And there lived a poor woman.
While walking the Holy God arrived at her house also, and as he eagerly looked into the window and saw that the poor woman was inside, kneading bread, kneading the dough in a kneading trough, working with great modesty.
He said to himself:
- Now I will test this creation, I will come to know whether good will lies in her heart or not!
And He knocked there and said:
- What are you working on, my sister? What are you doing with so much zeal?
To this the poor woman answered:
- Why do you ask, my brother? Your eyes can see what I'm doing! I bake bread for my children!
And the Holy God said then:
- If you are already baking the bread for your children, I pray, please bake one loaf for me also. I have not eaten anything for so many days, and terrible hunger gnaws my stomach!
- Well, she said – You will have what you ask for! Come back in half an hour for it!
Then the Holy God went away, she tore out the loaves from the dough and put them all in the oven. For the beggar she scraped from the bottom of the kneading trough whatever remained and gave it a shape of a loaf and left it to bake with the others.
When she took them out to her surprise she saw that the loaf made from the remains of the dough had become the biggest; beautiful, roasted, red-skinned, it had changed into a huge bread and smelled so deliciously, as if it had been baked from the golden wheat from Creator Father’s heavenly garden! She felt sorry that she had promised the loaf to the beggar, and resolved to deny him, if he comes again.
She slipped below the trough, lied on the baking shovel.
Taught the two small children to say:
- If that vagabond comes again for his loaf of bread, act as if I were not at home I do not want to speak to him as I cannot tell him the plain truth that I cannot give him the crisp-skinned wheat bread! Tell some lie to him!
The Holy God returned at the designated time and enquired from the tiny tots who opened the door:
- Where is your mother, my children?
The children answered:
- Oh, great traveler, our mother had long back gone to the peasant’s village, she wants to buy all sorts of things in the store!
And the Holy God said then:
- Oh, my children, your mother is at home and due to this act now I pass my judgment for her! Since she expelled the compassion for me from her heart, I curse her at this very moment! She should become an ugly turtle and will not be freed from the weight of my words, as long as this world exists!
And so it happened!
Look at the turtle: he has the same head as that of a female who has tied the shawl on her back, and there on his back is the trough, and there is the shovel stuck to his body, on which she laid ! The shovel handle can also be seen protruding under the trough: it is still recognizable: it became the turtle's tail!
The miser woman was punished in this way by the dear Holy God!
Translated from Hungarian by me
Wednesday, February 1, 2012
The world's oldest yoga teacher
The 91 year old Bernice Bates has entered in Guinness Book of Records as the oldest yoga teacher in the world. The woman of St. Petersburg in Florida practices yoga since 1960,and this activity has helped her to remain in excellent form till this age.
The woman maintains and shares the merit with her “boys”, the class composed of sixty and seventy year olds whose teacher she is. “It’s truly a joint effort: if they would not have been there, I would not have achieved this recognition”.
However Bernice who may be proud of her record also hopes that soon someone may break her record: “ I am sure there there may be someone 100 years old maybe in India, who could beat me”. A bit in her way of saying: just that someone is more than 90 years old does not make them necessarily old…
The woman maintains and shares the merit with her “boys”, the class composed of sixty and seventy year olds whose teacher she is. “It’s truly a joint effort: if they would not have been there, I would not have achieved this recognition”.
However Bernice who may be proud of her record also hopes that soon someone may break her record: “ I am sure there there may be someone 100 years old maybe in India, who could beat me”. A bit in her way of saying: just that someone is more than 90 years old does not make them necessarily old…
A passenger travels standing for 7 hours in airplane due to an obese person
An American businessman is considering asking for a compensation from an airplane company since he was forced to stand for the whole journey from Anchorage to Philadelphia- seven hours of flight.
The man, 57 year old Arthur Berkowitz had in fact the surprise of finding his seat neighbor a person of about 180 kilograms, who made impossible for him to sit on his seat.
“He was a very cordial person and was sorry for the inconvenience he was causing. But the fact is that he had occupied half of my seat and the other half of a boy who found himself pushed to the window” – narrated Berkowitz, who added “ I made the hostess aware that a thing of this type is inacceptable and dangerous”. The hostesses however could not find any solution as all the seats were full and the rules prohibit making available the seats of flight assistants. Arrived at the destination Berkowitz was given a discount voucher of 200 dollars on the 800 dollars of the ticket.
The problem of obesity is very particular in USA and the airplane and transport companies thinking of making it compulsory for more bulky passengers to take (and pay for) two seats.
Translated from Italian by me
The man, 57 year old Arthur Berkowitz had in fact the surprise of finding his seat neighbor a person of about 180 kilograms, who made impossible for him to sit on his seat.
“He was a very cordial person and was sorry for the inconvenience he was causing. But the fact is that he had occupied half of my seat and the other half of a boy who found himself pushed to the window” – narrated Berkowitz, who added “ I made the hostess aware that a thing of this type is inacceptable and dangerous”. The hostesses however could not find any solution as all the seats were full and the rules prohibit making available the seats of flight assistants. Arrived at the destination Berkowitz was given a discount voucher of 200 dollars on the 800 dollars of the ticket.
The problem of obesity is very particular in USA and the airplane and transport companies thinking of making it compulsory for more bulky passengers to take (and pay for) two seats.
Translated from Italian by me
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