The Speaking Grapes

This is a fairy story from Hungary. It is a great favorite with the children of that country and it is full of delightful surprises, including the smiling apple and the tinkling apricot.

Once upon a time, there was a king who had three lovely daughters. They were very fond of him because he was always so kind and thoughtful. It gave him the greatest pleasure to see that they were happy.

When he planned a trip to the big market in a nearby town, he asked them what they would like him to bring back for them. “Best of all, I would like a new golden dress, father,” said the eldest daughter. “I would like a new silver dress, please, father,” said the second eldest daughter.

“Very well,” agreed the king. Then he turned to the youngest of his daughters. “What would you like me to bring back for you?” he asked her. “Well, father,” she said, “the things I would like most of all are some speaking grapes, a smiling apple, and a tinkling apricot.”

Off went the king in the royal coach, and at the market, he quickly bought the dresses of gold and silver, but search as he might, he could not find any speaking grapes, a smiling apple, or a tinkling apricot. This made him very sad because his youngest daughter was his favorite.

“Perhaps she knows where I can get them for her,” he thought. “I will willingly make another journey tomorrow.”

On the way back to the palace, the royal coach became stuck fast in some thick mud, and although the horses were the best in the whole kingdom, they had not the strength to pull it out. More horses were sent to help, but no amount of pulling would free the coach from the mud. The king was in despair when a pig arrived on the scene.

“Your Majesty, let me marry your youngest daughter, and I will pull your coach out of the mud,” grunted the pig.

The king was willing to try anything to get out of such a fix, and without thinking of what he was promising, he agreed. Whereupon, with one push of his nose, the pig moved the coach and all the horses out of the mud.

Off to the palace went the king, now very worried about his promise. He really did not want his prettiest and youngest daughter married to a pig, so he arranged to have a poor country girl dressed in a beautiful white gown. When the pig arrived, pulling a wheelbarrow behind him, the king seated the country girl in it.

The pig looked at the girl, then at the king. “Your Majesty, you are cheating me,” he grunted angrily. “This is not your daughter.” So saying, he tipped her out of the wheelbarrow.

Seeing that cheating was of no use, the king brought out his youngest daughter, dressed in rags, hoping that she would not please the pig. But the pig grunted with joy, picked up the girl, and placed her in the wheelbarrow. As pig and wheelbarrow went away, the king wept to think of the terrible fate he had brought to his daughter.

After a long journey, the wheelbarrow stopped in front of a dirty pig-sty. “Get out of the wheelbarrow, girl,” the pig grunted. She did as she was told, with tears streaming down her face. “Grumph, grumph!” grunted the pig again. “Go into your new home.”

With a little shudder, the young princess crawled into the sty. The floor was none too clean, and in one corner was a heap of straw. “There is your bed for the night, my dear,” said the pig. “If you are hungry, you may eat some of my food. For supper this evening, I am having ears of corn, cabbage leaves, and potato peelings. You will find them very tasty.”

“No, thank you,” sobbed the girl. “I do not feel very hungry at the moment.”

“Then make yourself comfortable and sleep,” grunted the pig. “You will feel better in the morning.” With that, he went out, closing the pig-sty door behind him. Tired and unhappy, the poor princess lay down on the bed of straw and cried herself to sleep.

She slept very soundly, not waking until the next day at noon. When she opened her eyes, she was amazed to find herself in a wonderful bedroom in a fairy palace. The bed she was in was of white silk, with rich purple curtains with golden fringes. As she woke, maids appeared carrying beautiful dresses. Wondering if this was all part of a dream, she chose one of the dresses.

When she had put it on, the maids took her to breakfast in a large hall, where a handsome young man was waiting for her. “I am your husband,” he smiled, “and everything here belongs to you.”

“How can that be?” gasped the princess. “All I have in this world is a pig for a husband and part of a pig-sty to sleep in.”

“I will tell you all about it later,” promised the young man. “First, you must eat.”

After breakfast, he took her into a wonderful garden. She still did not know whether or not this was a dream, but if it were, she did not want to wake up. When the young man spoke to her, she answered lightly and jokingly, perhaps hoping to forget the awful truth that she had just been married to a pig.

After a while, they came to an orchard. As they went into it, past a huge vine-bush, the bunches of grapes hanging on the branches began to speak. “Our beautiful queen,” they said, “please pluck some of us.”

While she stood in amazement, apples on a nearby tree smiled down at her. A little farther on, golden apricots tinkled a pretty tune on the branches of another tree.

“You see, my dear,” explained the young man, “here you have what you wished for—and what your father could not find. I was once a young king, but I was bewitched into a pig and I had to remain so until a girl wished for speaking grapes, a smiling apple, and a tinkling apricot. You have rescued me from being a pig by breaking the wicked magic spell, and now I am able to ask you if you will take me as your husband.”

The princess was enchanted. She knew then that it was no dream. Instead of a wheelbarrow, she made the journey back to the palace in a glittering coach, joyfully to carry the news to her father and to tell him of their great happiness.