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Tale Summary

Once upon a time there were three handsome brothers who set out into the world because their parents were poor and could no longer feed them, and before leaving each was given a loaf of bread and a blessing from their mother. Ferko, the youngest son, was the most handsome and therefore his brothers envied him and thought he would be more successful. Once, when he was asleep, the brothers decided to eat his loaf of bread and refuse to share their own until he would let them put out his eyes or break his legs. When he awoke, he was told that he ate his loaf in his sleep, and they wouldn’t share unless he consented to the conditions the two had previously agreed upon. Ferko starved for two days before he let them put out his left eye and break his left leg, but because they only gave him a morself, he had his right eye put out and his right leg broken for another bite. His brothers left him and all he could do was crawl blindly. The next day he came to the top of a hill, where two crows were perched on a gallows. They were talking about the wonderful things to be found nearby, such as a lake at the bottom of the hill which would cure any ailments a man had if he bathed in it. When the sun sank, Ferko rubbed the dew on his eyes and could see again, and dragged himself to the lake, where his legs were cured. He took a bottle of this magic water and continued on his journey until he met an injured wolf. Ferko healed him, and the grateful animal promised to do him a favor when he needed one. The youth then found a mouse injured from a trap and healed it, too. He next found an injured queen bee and did her the same good deed as the others, and she promised to someday reward him. At last, Ferko came to a palace and decided to offer his services to the King, as he had heard his daughter was very beautiful. Inside, everyone including the princess was stunned by his good looks, but he also met his two treacherous brothers, who were horrified and set out to destroy him again. The King summoned Ferko to tell him that his brothers accused him of being a magician set on carrying away his daughter, and that he would be hanged unless he completed three tasks and left the country. The brothers were asked to come up with something for him to do, and they said he must build a better castle than the king’s in one day. The next day he was told to begin, but he did not know what to do and so wandered in the meadows, while the princess at the same time was grieving him. The queen bee which he had saved flew to him and said his task would be fulfilled, and so by the time was up she announced that her bees had made it ready. A beautiful castle made of flowers had been set up and the King was astonished, and the princess very happy. The next task was to gather all the grain in the kingdom and make one large pile with it before the next day was over. Ferko again knew not what to do, but the mouse he had saved told him that his task would be completed, and by evening the next day the mouse said that it was done. The King was again impressed, but more than ever he believed that the youth was using dark magic, and he was assigned his last task, which was to drive all the wolves in the kingdom to a certain hill before the following night. The princess cried at this, and she was shut in a carefully guarded tower until the youth either died or left. Ferko met the wolf he had helped, who promised to complete his task, and the youth sadly thought about how he would never see the princess again if he left. The following evening, the wolf ran to him and said that all the wolves were waiting in the woods, and he must go quickly to the King to tell him to go to the hill. He was then to return to the wolf, hop on his back, and together they would drive the wolves to the top. There were thousands of them, and soon the King began to be afraid and told the youth to stop, but the wolf told him to keep going. The King begged for his life, promising him half, and then all, of the kingdom, but the wolves rode on and ate him, the brothers, and the rest of the court. Ferko set the princess free and they were soon married, and they lived happily together as King and Queen.

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