Lovely Ilonka

Lovely Ilonka (Schön-Ilonka; Szép Ilonka) is a Hungarian fairy tale published in Ungarische Märchen by Elisabet Róna-Sklarek. Andrew Lang included it in The Crimson Fairy Book.

The tale is classified in the international Aarne-Thompson-Uther Index as tale type ATU 408, "The Love For Three Oranges", albeit in a variation that appears locally in Hungary: instead of fruits, the fairy maiden comes out of reeds or bulrushes.

Source
The tale was collected by Imre Veres in Orosháza, in dialect, and published in 1875 in Hungarian magazine Magyar Nyelvőr, Vol. 4.

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.

Tale type
Hungarian scholarship classify the tale, according to the Aarne-Thompson-Uther Index, as type ATU 408, "The Love for Three Oranges", and ATU 425, "The Search for the Lost Husband".

The tale is related to type ATU 408, "The Love for Three Oranges" or Die Drei Citronenjungfrauen ("The Three Maidens in the Citron Fruits"). In some tales of the same type, the fruit maiden regains her human form and must bribe the false bride for three nights with her beloved.

In an article in Enzyklopädie des Märchens, scholar Christine Shojaei Kawan separated the tale type into six sections, and stated that parts 3 to 5 represented the "core" of the story:


 * (1) A prince is cursed by an old woman to seek the fruit princess;
 * (2) The prince finds helpers that guide him to the princess's location;
 * (3) The prince finds the fruits (usually three), releases the maidens inside, but only the third survives;
 * (4) The prince leaves the princess up a tree near a spring or stream, and a slave or servant sees the princess's reflection in the water;
 * (5) The slave or servant replaces the princess (transformation sequence);
 * (6) The fruit princess and the prince reunite, and the false bride is punished.

Motifs
The motif of the heroine or maiden buying or bribing her way to her husband's chamber for three nights from the false bride harks back to variants of general tale type ATU 425, "The Search for the Lost Husband", and ATU 425A, "The Animal as Bridegroom".

Scholar Linda Dégh suggested a common origin for tale types ATU 403 ("The Black and the White Bride"), ATU 408 ("The Three Oranges"), ATU 425 ("The Search for the Lost Husband"), ATU 706 ("The Maiden Without Hands") and ATU 707 ("The Three Golden Sons"), since "their variants cross each other constantly and because their blendings are more common than their keeping to their separate type outlines" and even influence each other.

The heroine's appearance
According to Hungarian folktale collector Arnold Ipolyi, Hungarian variants of the tale type usually show the fairy maiden coming out of a plant ("növényből"). In addition, the Hungarian Folktale Catalogue (MNK) named the type A Három Nádszálkisasszony ("The Three Reed Maidens"), since the maidens come out of reeds instead of fruits. However, they may also appear out of eggs (in 5 variants) or from apples (in 3 variants). According to Ákos Dömötör, the motif of "girls from eggs" in variants of type 408 indicate "the Subcarpathian unity" of the tales.

Variants
According to scholar Stith Thompson, Hungarian professor Ágnes Kovács, Hungarian-American folklorist Linda Dégh and German scholar Hans-Jörg Uther, the tale of the reed girls is one of the popular fairy tales in Hungary. In addition, the tale type is known all throughout the Hungarian speaking regions. The Hungarian Folktale Catalogue (MNK) listed 59 variants of type 408, A Három Nádszálkisasszony ("The Three Reed Maidens"), across Hungarian sources. On the other hand, Hans-Jörg Uther reports 79 variants.

A previous study reported four texts in Palóc. Later fieldwork conducted in 1999 by researcher Zoltán Vasvári amongst the Palóc population found 3 texts.

Tales with plants
Another Hungarian tale was collected by László Merényi with the title A nádszál kisasszony and translated by Jeremiah Curtin as The Reed Maiden. In this story, a prince marries a princess, the older sister of the Reed Maiden, but his brother only wants to marry "the most lovely, world-beautiful maiden". The prince asks his sister-in-law who this person could be, and she answers it is her elder sister, hidden with her two ladies-in-waiting in three reeds in a distant land. He releases the two ladies-in-waiting, but forgets to give them water. The prince finally releases the Reed Maiden and gives her the water. Later, before the Reed Maiden is married to the prince, a gypsy comes and replaces her.

In another variant by Elisabeth Rona-Sklárek, Das Waldfräulein ("The Maiden in the Woods"), a lazy prince strolls through the woods and sights a beautiful "Staude" (a perennial plant). He uses his knife to cut some of the plant and releases a maiden. Stunned by her beauty, he cannot fulfill her request for water and she disappears. The same thing happens again to a second plant. In the third time, he gives some water to the fairy maiden and marries her. The fairy woman gives birth to twins, but the evil queen mother substitutes them for puppies. The babies, however, are rescued a pair of two blue woodpeckers and taken to the woods. When the king returns from war and sees the two animals, he banishes his wife to the woods.

Hungarian linguist Antal Hoger collected the tale A háromágú tölgyfa tündére ("The Fairy from Three-Branched Oak Tree"). A king goes hunting in the woods, but three animals plead for their lives (a deer, a hare and a fox). All three animals point to a magical oak tree with three branches and say, if the king break each of the branches, a maiden shall appear and request water to drink. With the first two branches, the maidens die, but the king gives water to the third one and decides to marry her. They both walk towards the castle and the king says the fairy maiden should wait on the tree. A witch sees the maiden, tricks her and tosses her deep in a well; she replaces the fairy maiden with her own daughter. He also cited two other variants: A tündérkisasszony és a czigányleány ("The Fairy Princess and the Gypsy Girl"), by Laszló Arányi, and A három pomarancs ("The Three Bitter Oranges"), by Jánós Érdelyi.

Hungarian ethnographer János Berze Nagy collected the tale A gallyból gyött királykisasszony ("The Princess from the Tree Branch"): a prince that was hunting breaks three tree branches in the forest and a maiden appears. The prince takes her to a well to wait for him to return with his royal retinue. An ugly gypsy woman approaches the girl and throws her down the well, where she becomes a goldfish.

In a dialectal tale collected from teller Fodor Erzsébet with the title Cigány kirájné (Standard Hungarian: Cigány királyné; English: "The Gypsy Queen"), a prince goes on a hunt in the forest and finds an oak tree. He breaks off a branch and releases a beautiful fairy maiden that asks for water. Since he has no water with him, she dies of thirst, and he buries her. The next time, he goes to the forest again and finds the oak tree again, breaking off a second branch and releasing another fairy maiden. Still not having water, she dies on him, and he buries her. Touched by the death of two maidens, the prince brings a jug of water with him and goes to the oak tree meadow. he breaks off a third branch and gives the maiden water to drink. The fairy maiden accompanies the prince on a trek back home, but, since she is unused to walking, she feels tired. The prince decides to spare her the toil of walking on foot, and bids her climb a tree near a well, as he goes back home to fetch her a carriage. He also warns the fairy maiden that people may deceive her, but he will protect her. After he leaves, a gypsy girl goes to draw water by the well and sees the fairy maiden's reflection, then spots her. The gypsy talks to the fairy maiden, puts on her clothes, and shoves her down the well, where she turns into a goldfish. Soon the prince comes with a carriage and notices the gypsy girl, mistaking her for the fairy maiden, but she lies that she was staying under the Sun too much and by going to the palace her skin will whiten again. The prince also notices that she is trying to catch the goldfish from the well, but returns home. Some time later, the prince begins to take an interest in the fish, and the gypsy bride tells him she needs to eat the fish to get better. The goldfish is caught and cooked, but a sacle remains, sprouting into a tall tree. The gypsy also wants the tree cut down, and says a soup from the tree will cure her. She also orders the remains of the tree to be burnt to ashes. The woodcutters do as ordered, but one of them fetches a chip from the tree and brings it home to his wife. They place the chip inside a box and leave home; when they return, their house is swept clean and their bed made. After some days, they discover the fairy maiden did this and take her in. Later, the fairy maiden asks the woodcutter's wife to tell the king if he wants a new maidservant, since his queen is insatiable. The fairy maiden is then hired to the king and works in the castle, under the gypsy queen's watch. One day, the king discovers the fairy maiden and approaches her. She explains everything to him and he suggests options to execute the false queen. The fairy maiden, instead, decides to spare the gypsy queen. The king banishes the false bride, and marries the fairy maiden.

Tales with vegetables
In the tale A Tökváros ("The Pumpkin Town" or "Squash City"), by Elek Benedek, the son of a poor woman is cursed by a witch that he may not finds a wife until he goes to Pumpkin city, or eats down three iron-baked loaves of bread. He asks his mother to bake the iron bread and goes his merry away. He finds three old women in his travels and gives each the bread. The third reveals the location of the City of Pumpkins and warns him to wait on three squashes in a garden, for, during three days, a maiden shall appear out of one on each day. He does exactly that and gains a wife. They leave town and stop by a well. He tells the pumpkin maiden to wait by the well while he goes home to get a wagon to carry them the rest of the way. Suddenly, an old gypsy woman pushes her into the well and takes her place. When the youth returns, he wonders what happened to her, but seems to accept her explanation. He bends to drink some water from the well, but the false bride convinces him not to. He sees a tulip in the well, plucks it and takes it home. When the youth and the false bride go to church, the maiden emerges from the tulip. One night, the youth awakes to see the pumpkin maiden in his room, discovers the truth and expels the old gypsy.

Tales with fruits
German philologist Heinrich Christoph Gottlieb Stier collected a variant from Münster titled Die drei Pomeranzen ("The Three Bitter Oranges"): an old lady gives three princely brothers a bitter orange each and warns them to crack open the fruit near a body of water. The first two princes disobey and inadvertently kill the maiden that comes out of the orange. Only the youngest prince opens near a city fountain and saves the fairy maiden. Later, a gypsy woman replaces the fairy maiden, who turns into a fish and a tree and later hides in a piece of wood. The tale was translated and published into English as The Three Oranges.

English scholar A. H. Wratislaw collected the tale The Three Lemons from a Hungarian-Slovenish source and published it in his Sixty Folk-Tales from Exclusively Slavonic Sources. In this tale, the prince goes on a quest for three lemons on a glass hill and is helped by three old Jezibabas on his way. When he finds the lemons and cracks open each one, a maiden comes out and asks if the prince has prepared a meal for her and a pretty dress for her to wear. When he saves the third maiden, she is replaced by a gypsy maidservant who sticks a golden pin in her hair and transforms the fruit maiden into a dove.

In another tale from Elek Benedek's collection, A fazékfedő ("The Potlid"), on their father's suggestion, the king's three unmarried sons go on a quest for wives in another country. They depart and reach a witch's house who welcomes them to spend the night. The next morning, the witch gives each of them a red apple, and warns them to open the fruits only near a fountain. The three princes make their way back to their homeland, and the elder two cut open their respective apples and release a maiden that asks for water, but are given none and die of thirst. They bury the two maidens and return home. The third prince obeys the witch's warning and opens his near a fountain, saving the maiden by giving her water. The prince leaves the maiden up a tree and goes back home to bring her some clothes. While he is away, a gypsy girl arrives to drink from the fountain and mistakes the maiden's reflection for her own. She then sights the fairy maiden, climbs up the tree and shoves her down the well. The gypsy girl takes the maiden's place and tricks the prince that she will return to normal if she returns home. As for the apple maiden, she becomes a little red fish, which the gypsy requests the prince to catch. She then asks the cook to make a meal out of it and to burn every fish scale. However, a scale survives and becomes a tree. The gypsy notices the tree is her rival and asks for the tree to be felled down. Not every part of the tree is destroyed: the woodcutter hides away part of the wood to make a pot lid and brings it to his home. While the woodcutter is away, the apple maiden emerges from the potlid to do chores at his house, and returns to the potlid. The woodcutter and his wife discover her, then go to report the finding to the prince. The prince goes to the woodcutter's house and reunites with the apple maiden. He takes the maiden to the palace with him, then banishes the gypsy girl. The tale was translated to French with the title Les Trois Pommes ("The Three Apples"), by Michel Klimo.

Tales with eggs
In a different variation of the tale type, A griffmadár leánya ("The Daughter of the Griffin Bird"), a prince asks his father for money to use on his journey, and the monarch tells his son he is not to return until he is married to the daughter of the griffin bird. The prince meets an old man in the woods who directs him to a griffin's nest, with five eggs. The prince grabs all five eggs and cracks them open, a girl in a beautiful dress appearing out of each one. Only the last maiden survives because the prince gave her water to drink. He tells the maiden to wait by the well, but a gypsy girl arrives and, seeing the egg girl, throws her in the well and takes her place. The maiden becomes a goldfish and later a tree.

In another tale with the egg, from Baranya, A tojásból teremtett lány ("The Girl who was created from an Egg"), the king asks his son to find a wife "just like his mother": "one who was never born, but created!" The prince, on his journeys, finds an egg on the road. He cracks open the egg and a maiden comes out of it; she asks for water to drink, but dies. This repeats with a second egg. With the third, the prince gives water to the egg-born maiden. He goes back to the castle to find her some clothes. While she awaits, a gypsy girl meets the egg maiden and throws her in the well. The gypsy maiden takes the place of the egg girl and marries the prince. Some time later, an old gypsy shows the prince a goldfish he found in the well. The usual transformation sequence happens: the false queen wants to eat the fish; a fish scale falls to the ground and becomes a rosewood; the gypsy wants the rosewood to be burnt down, but a splinter remains. At the end of the tale, the egg princess regains her human form and goes to a ceremony of kneading corn, and joins the other harvesters in telling stories to pass time. She narrates her life story and the king recognizes her.

In a Hungarian tale collected from a source in Potyondon, Rábaköz with the dialectal title Léán, aki sé anyátú, sé apátú nem született ("The Girl, never born from father, nor mother"), a prince has been cursed by his parents to search for a girl who has not been born by neither father, nor mother. He wanders the world and ventures into a forest, where he meets a witch. The witch directs him to a very tall tree with 999 branches, upon one lies a nest with tree eggs, and a magic fountain nearby. The witch then tells the prince to open the egg near the fountain, for a girl will emerge of it. The prince follows the instructions and fetches the eggs from the nest, cracking open the first: a maiden comes out of it and asks for water, but he cannot give any and he dies. He cracks open the second one and releases another maiden, who dies for not being given water. With the last egg, the prince breaks open the egg near the fountain, and gives water to the egg maiden. Noticing her nakedness, he leaves her by the fountain and promises to return with clothes for her. While he is away, a gypsy duo comes and drowns the maiden in the fountain, then the gypsy girl replaces the egg maiden. The prince returns and notices the egg maiden's skin has changed colour, and the false egg maiden says the sun darkened her skin. Still, he takes her to the palace. As for the true egg maiden, she has turned into a fish in the fountain. The gypsy asks the fish to be cooked and served her. The egg maiden turns into a little bird that sings to the prince, but the gypsy girl wants the prince to knock out the bird, since she dislikes its song. The prince, however, does not listen to her, finds the bird and touches its wings: the bird turns back into the egg maiden, and she retells the whole story to him, which alerts him to the false bride. The prince executes the false bride, and marries the egg maiden.

In a Hungarian tale collected from a source in Újkenéz with the title A kényes királyfi ("The Gentle Prince"), a gentle prince lives in a city. One day, he goes to the market and breaks the eggs inside an old woman's basket. She then curses him for his wife not to come from an egg. The prince dismisses the old woman's words, but becomes interested in the idea and goes to search for such a girl. He wanders the world until he ventures into a deep forest, where he meets an old man by a fire. The prince tells him about the old woman's words, and the old man gives him a ball of yarn to throw and follow, for it will direct him to a tree with a golden cockatoo's nest with three eggs inside. The prince does as instructed and fetches the eggs while the bird is not looking, and brings it back to the old man, who advises him to return home and not open them until he is near a body of water, for a maiden will come out of it asking for water. The prince departs and goes back home, but, doubting the old man's words, decides to break open one of the eggs: a beautiful maiden springs from the egg and asks for water, but, since the prince does not have any with him, she dies. The same thing happens to the second egg, which also releases a maiden who dies for not having water. Finally, he reaches a spring on the shade of an willow tree, and cracks open the last egg, releasing a maiden seven thousand times more beautiful than the previous two. He gives her water, then goes back home to find her some clothes. While he is away, she goes up the willow tree to wait for him, when a pair of gypsy women, mother and daughter, appear to draw water. The daughter finds the maiden's reflection in the water, and her mother points her to the maiden on the tree. They decide to kill the maiden and replace her as the prince's bride: they shove her down into the spring and place the gypsy daughter atop the tree. The prince returns with a wedding party and notices the maiden has darker skin, which the gypsy girl explains it was caused by the sun and the wind. As for the true egg maiden, she turns into a goldfish a man accidentally fishes out of the water when he goes to draw water, and sells it to the prince. The fish is placed into a tub, but the gypsy girl, advised by her mother, says she needs to eat the fish to be healthier. With this, the fish is killed and cooked, but a fish scale remains and a pear tree sprouts. The gypsy girl feigns illness and says she must lie on a bed made of the wood of the pear tree to be cured. Thus, the pear tree is cut down, but the old woman, who once cursed the prince, goes to fetch a twig and brings it home. She uses the twig as firewood and places it in a fire, but the twig bounces back. Defeated, she places the twig in the fire and goes to church. After she comes back, she finds the table is set for her. The old woman spies her house the next day and finds the beautiful maiden cooking at her stove, and adopts her. Some time later, the prince invites everyone for plucking feathers at the castle, and the old woman and the egg maiden go to the gathering. The prince bids them tell a story, and the egg maiden starts to relate her tale. The gypsy girl tries to interrupt her, but the prince insists she continues. Thus, the egg maiden tells everything that happened to her, which alerts the prince about the false bride. He lets the gypsy go away, marries the egg maiden in a grand ceremony, and takes the old woman to live with them.

Adaptations
Another Hungarian variant of the tale was adapted into an episode of the Hungarian television series Magyar népmesék ("Hungarian Folk Tales") (hu), with the title A háromágú tölgyfa tündére ("The Fairy from the Oak Tree").