Szép Cerceruska
Hungarian Folktale
Once upon a time, there was a widower who lived with his two beautiful daughters. His neighbor was also a widow, and she watched the widower and his girls very closely. She wanted so badly to marry the widower, so she would devise ways to convince him. One day, when she saw Cerceruska, the oldest girl, playing in the yard, she decided to tell the girl a secret.
“You girl, tell your father to marry me, and I’ll soak you in milk and butter.”
Cerceruska giggled and decided to tell her father what the widow had told her.
“That would be wonderful!” he said. So, he decided to marry the widow after the many years of constant cajoling she had done to him. They were wed with haste.
The girls were happily doing their chores at the request of their stepmother, but no matter what they did, she scolded them. Her temper was no longer friendly and she beat them more than she fed them.
Cerceruska was worried for her sister and told her, “this wicked woman will destroy us. Let’s go to the world and find a better life!”
”I don’t mind,” said the little girl, “let’s go!”
The next morning, the girls woke up early. They told their stepmother that they wanted to pick berries in the forest, so she let them go without delay.
“Just get out of here!” the stepmother said with an annoyed tone. “You won’t be of any use to me anyway.”
As the girls left the gate, Cerceruska heard her stepmother whisper under her breath, “May these girls change into whatever animal who last drank in the footprint puddles they find.”
Cerceruska knew after hearing her stepmother’s words that she would have to be careful. The girls walked into the forest and after trudging through difficult terrain, the took refuge near a big tree. When they sat down to rest, Cerceruska said to her sister, “Listen, do not drink from the footprints of any animal, no matter how thirsty you may be! Do you understand?”
The little girl nodded and promised not to drink from any animal footprints that she found. She was very thirsty and thought her sister’s instructions were a bit strange. Together, the girls started picking berries and lost track of the time. Without hesitation, they both decided to sleep, drifting off in the thick of the woods.
The little girl awoke with a start. She was so thirsty. She desperately searched to find a spring or a stream of any kind, but she found none. What was she to do? Surely dying of thirst can’t be better than drinking from the puddle of an animal’s footprint? Desperately searching for anything she could find to relieve her parched mouth, she found a small puddle in what appeared to be the footprint of a deer. So eager for the taste of a single drop, she scooped her hand into the puddle and took a sip. Instantly, she turned into a doe.
In the meantime, Cerceruska had awoken and filled her basket with berries. She was looking around for her sister, but couldn’t find her anywhere. She called her name and searched as much as she could, but her sister was gone. She cried and cried until she could feel the sadness of the forest deep within her. Suddenly a doe runs toward her eagerly licking her hands and making strange sounds. The doe couldn’t stop licking Cerceruska, which took Cerceruska by surprise. Then she remembered the curse her stepmother had put on them as they left.
“You must be my sister! Oh no! What have you done?” She realized in that moment that her sister was the doe before her.
She hugged the doe’s neck and led it through the forest as she cried and lamented her sister’s fate. Suddenly, she saw a hunter in the distance. He had a double-barrelled rifle perched on his shoulder, and his hound was sniffing the ground as it ran in front of the man. Cerceruska shook in fear. She was worried the man would kill her sister. So, she desperately searched for a place where they could hide.
Luckily, they were close to a farm and found a tall bale of hay to hide behind. However, the hound caught their scent and sniffed its way right to them. It hurried back to the man in order to alert him to the discovery. The hound would not calm down until the hunter threw him a piece of bread. The hound picked up the bread, and took it to Cerceruska. It then promptly returned to the man for more.
Baffled, the hunter threw the dog another piece of bread. Yet, the hound did not eat this bread, but ran with it behind the bale of hay. He then promptly returned to his master yet again. He continued this behavior incessantly, which deeply confused the man.
“Alright, I can see you want more bread. I’ll give you some, but first I need to see where you are taking this bread. Clearly you aren’t eating what I’m giving you. What are you up to?” said the hunter.
As the hunter peered around the bale of hay, his eyes flew wide open and his mouth fell agape when he saw a beautiful girl crying at the base of the bale of hay. Next to her, was a doe that was also seemingly whimpering. Cerceruska threw herself on top of the doe and begged the hunter, “Oh sweet hunter, please do not hurt this poor doe! This doe is my beloved sister!”
Confused and heartened, he said, “What are you talking about? How can you be the sister of a deer?”
Cerceruska then explained what had happened.
Saddened by the girls’ plight, a small tear began to fall from the hunter’s eye as he said, “don’t be afraid Cerceruska. I won’t hurt your sister. Instead, I will take you both to my palace. I am the king of this country.”
With that, he helped Cerceruska onto her feet, as she put her arms around her sister’s doe-like neck. Together the four of them walked back to the royal palace.
Upon arrival to the palace, the king ordered that the doe be kept in a separate garden. He also insisted that all of the people in the palace must obey Cerceruska if they wanted to have anything good happen to them. This last request was easy for the people of the palace to follow as she was quite popular among everyone there. Everyone, except for the king’s nurse.
The king’s nurse had a daughter, and she thought her daughter should be the one to marry the king. The mere fact that some strange woman who was found in the forest with a deer would readily take such a significant role in the court was unacceptable to her. The king had denied all other princesses who had been presented to him as potential wives. She had been quite satisfied that he would marry her daughter instead, that was until Cerceruska came to the palace.
“The king thinks he wants to marry her, but nothing will come of it! I will see to that!” said the nurse.
The nurse waited for the king to leave the palace. Then she took Cerceruska to the garden where the doe lived. In the garden, there was a lake. She took Cerceruska to walk along side the shore, and then the nurse said to her, “Just stop, Cerceruska. Look at yourself in the lake. Look at how beautiful you are.”
Cerceruska looked into the lake, and as she did so, the woman pushed her into the lake. The doe squealed bitterly and ran about the lake. The woman said to the doe, “Squeal, squeal, but don’t talk!”
Later, the king returned and went to Cerceruska’s room. When he couldn’t find her, he asked the nurse, “Where is Cerceruska?”
“Oh, she must have gone to the garden. She always plays with the doe there,” said the nurse.
The king promptly went to the garden to look for Cerceruska. He shouted her name, but only saw the doe acting strangely.
The king was sad. He thought that Cerceruska had left him and the palace. He sent word throughout his kingdom that he was looking for her and he promised unlimited treasure to anyone who could find her. But alas, no amount of reward brought Cerceruska back to his palace.
Every day, the king went to the garden to pet the doe. He would ask the doe, “have you seen Cerceruska?” The doe, unable to speak, could only whimper.
The nurse noticed the king’s behavior and became nervous that he would somehow discover her misdeed. So, she devised a plan to rid the palace of the doe as well. She waited for the king to leave the palace and then quickly called on the butcher. She and the butcher went to the garden with the intent to relieve the doe of its blood.
When the doe saw the butcher arrive with a knife, she jumped at him and ran as quickly as she could around the lake. Although the butcher attempted to lure her, the doe refused to stop. Suddenly, a voice was born from her great fear and she began to speak:
“Come out, my sweet Cerceruska, from the bottom of the lake, from the belly of a big fish! The knife comes for my weak flesh, and they wash the copper plate for my red blood!”
At that moment, the king returned and saw that the doe was shouting. He heard the doe’s plea and immediately ordered the draining of the lake. He sees a large fish and orders that it be cut open. Inside, was his precious Cerceruska. In that moment, her beauty far-surpassed his memory of her as she stood before him a hundred times more beautiful than before.
The joy! Oh what joy! The doe jumped in delight and flew over the king’s head. In doing so, she magically turned back into the little girl she once was.
Meanwhile, the lake was refilled. Once the lake was returned to its former glory, the king threw the nurse in the lake. He took Cerceruska up to the palace, called the priest, and the two were wed on the spot. That same day, the young couple curled up in eggshells and descended on Küküllő.
If they ever get out, let them be your guests.
Cue music…
Another Variation
Vocabulary
Definitions provided by Oxford Languages
Cajole
ca·jole
[kəˈdʒəʊl]
verb
cajoling (present participle)
persuade (someone) to do something by sustained coaxing or flattery
haste
[heɪst]
noun
excessive speed or urgency of movement or action; hurry
scold
[skəʊld]
verb
scolded (past tense) · scolded (past participle)
remonstrate with or rebuke (someone) angrily
temper
tem·per
[ˈtɛmpə]
noun
a person's state of mind seen in terms of their being angry or calm
trudge
[trʌdʒ]
verb
trudging (present participle)
walk slowly and with heavy steps, typically because of exhaustion or harsh conditions
terrain
ter·rain
[tɛˈreɪn]
noun
a stretch of land, especially with regard to its physical features
refuge
ref·uge
[ˈrɛfjuːdʒ]
noun
the state of being safe or sheltered from pursuit, danger, or difficulty
parched
[pɑːtʃt]
adjective
parched (adjective) · parched (past participle)
dried out with heat; extremely thirsty
lamented
la·ment·ed
[ləˈmɛntɪd]
adjective
(the late lamented)
a conventional way of describing someone who has died or something that has ceased to exist
baffle
baf·fle
[ˈbaf(ə)l]
verb
baffled (past tense) · baffled (past participle)
totally bewilder or perplex
incessantly
in·ces·sant·ly
[ɪnˈsɛsntli]
adverb
without interruption; constantly
peer
[pɪə]
verb
peered (past tense) · peered (past participle)
look with difficulty or concentration at someone or something
agape
[əˈɡeɪp]
adjective
(of a person's mouth) wide open in surprise or wonder
hearten
heart·en
[ˈhɑːt(ə)n]
verb
heartened (past tense) · heartened (past participle)
make more cheerful or confident
plight
[plʌɪt]
noun
plight (noun) · plights (plural noun)
a dangerous, difficult, or otherwise unfortunate situation
devise
de·vise
[dɪˈvʌɪz]
verb
devised (past tense) · devised (past participle)
plan or invent (a complex procedure, system, or mechanism) by careful thought
relieve
re·lieve
[rɪˈliːv]
verb
cause (pain, distress, or difficulty) to become less severe or serious
lure
[l(j)ʊə]
verb
tempt (a person or animal) to do something or to go somewhere, especially by offering some form of reward
plea
[pliː]
noun
a request made in an urgent and emotional manner
Discussion Questions
What do you think of the two different versions of the story?
How many versions of this story do you think exist?
What do you think the moral of the story was?
Do you think it is interesting that no matter where these girls went, there was always someone threatening them? Why does this happen?
References
Mesebázis. Szép Cerceruska. Retrieved on April 13, 2024 from https://mesebazis.com/szep-cerceruska/