Universal Story - Slovakia

One day he was hunting in Romania. There he met a poor orphan boy called Pacala who was herding on his hunting trip. Pacala was a&nbsp;simple but clever and tricky young man and it aroused Fulko’s attention. „This boy is so poor and lonely, he has no parents to control him. He will do what I&nbsp;say to him, especially if I&nbsp;promise him a&nbsp;lot of money“ thought Knight Fulko while he was thinking about his&nbsp;hazardous plans. He knew that Romania is a&nbsp;rich country, it hides many treasures so he decided to get them.

So Păcală was called to answer to these accusations.

„All I did was for you, Master. I wanted to make you even richer. And that happened. But what I want to tell Knight Fulko is that he was never fooled. He did, in fact, work on a very precious mine. Because I think that salt is more precious than diamonds. And I will prove it. If not, you can punish me as you want. But first, let me prepare a great meal for you, so you can all feel better.“

And Păcală went to prepare the feast. He was soon ready and Fulko was invited to eat. He couldn’t decide what to try first: the roasted chicken or the colourful salads, the tasty steaks, rice with vegetables, sausages... He took his fork and tried the first meal... but he was so dissapointed; it was not tasty at all. He tried the second one... no taste, either... he continued with everything and discovered he couldn’t eat anything, althought he was so hungry...&nbsp;

During all this time, Păcală was watching him from a&nbsp;distance. When he saw Knight Fulko was getting angry, he brought him a&nbsp;small black bottle and told him to pour some of its content over the steak, with his eyes closed. Fulko did so, and when he tasted again, he couldn’t stop eating! He had just realised the mysterious powder was salt!

“Now it’s time for your dinner, Wawel Dragon.”&#160;

he said and ran back to the tower where beautiful Lamia was imprisoned. He distracted the dragon’s attention for a while and Pacala served the “sheep” as his dinner. Wawel Dragon saw it, jumped on his meal and ate it up immediately. Shortly afterwards he felt a terrible burning all over his body. He wanted to put out the fire in his stomach but he couldn’t find water anywhere. He had to leave the tower unguarded and he set up to look for water.&nbsp;

Universal Story

Written by 
 Slovakia - Romania - Italy -Slovakia

Universal Story - Slovakia

Written by Základná škola Štefana Koháriho II. s&nbsp;vyučovacím jazykom maďarským – II. Koháry István Alapiskola, Fiľakovo, Slovakia SCOALA GIMNAZIALA NR. 2 DARVARI&nbsp;, Ciorogarla, Romania Istituto Comprensivo "G. Barone" Baranello, Italy

The next day Pacala took him a&nbsp;shining piece of rock salt. Fulko was amazed, he couldn’t believe his eyes. In fact, it wasn’t a&nbsp;rock salt at all. It was an unpolished piece of diamond!

„Look at these fools!...“, he thought to himself. „They are sitting on a diamond mountain and they don’t even know it. I have to think of a good plan to get as many diamonds as this one. Maybe even bigger and more colourful!“

But Păcală was no fool, either... Imagining what was going on in Fulko’s mind, he started complaining:

„I can help you! I am very strong and hardworking“, Fulko quickly responded. „Don’t look for anyone else. I can do this job all by myself. Just show me the place you took this salt piece from. I can start tomorrow! “

&#160;„The work is so hard in the salt mine... and we need as many workers as we can.“

The next day, Fulko awoke very early, waiting for Păcală to come and take him to the „salt mine“. Therefore, when Păcală came, they headed to the mine and started working immediately.&nbsp;

They didn’t wait longer but they set off to Slovakia, to Fulko’s castle. A week later they arrived home. They invited all their friends to the wedding: Pacala, the tricky young man and his Master from the salt mine, Mr Wise, the man who let them stay in his castle and Pinocchio, his long nosed puppet boy who served in the castle. The wedding lasted for three days. Everybody was cheerful, dancing and singing. Lamia was pleased with her life in the castle. Knight Fulko was proud that he had such a beautiful wife. They loved each other very much. They lived happily ever after.

“Oh well…. It’s just a…. well… You know, during the night stones started falling out from the wall onto my bed. We saw a hole in the wall and we looked into it. First we couldn’t see anything but then a beautiful pair of eyes asked for our help and take the treasure hidden there. So we broke down the wall but there was nobody and nothing behind it! Then Pacala found this letter in the wall.” explained Fulko and took out the letter and gave it to Mr Wise.&#160;

He read the letter over and over again, then his eyes filled with tears.

“The beautiful Lamia … She has to go home. She is duck-feeted and she can’t live without water. Save her, please. But be careful. A mystical power and Wawel Dragon keep her locked in the high tower next to the castle.” replied the Lord.

„Păcală, you are so right! Salt is indeed more valuable than a diamond! I have learnt a valuable lesson: to always appreciate the little things that we sometimes take for granted. I know I am very materialistic but I cannot help it; I like luxury. But in the last months I discovered that I can live with less. Anyway, Păcală, you are still guilty towards me. You used me to make your master rich.“

„I admit I tricked you. Therefore, I will give you my piece of diamond, as a reward for all your hard work. You should know that the salt you extracted, feeded entire villages. And if you want, you can take me with you and I will work for you for the next 6 months. For free. It is your decision.“

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„I’m wondering about the boy’s nose“ said Knight Fulko to Pacalà, as they lay in their beds in a Red Room,

„I’ve never seen such a thing“ Pacalà agreed.

„ We certainly haven’t seen anything else. I think this castle is haunted,“ said Knight Fulko.

„Well, good night,“ Fulko said, turning off the light.&#160;

After the&nbsp;successful hunting Knight Fulko was invited to a&nbsp;feast. There was everything there, mouthwatering meals, delicious cakes, music, dance and beautiful women. However, he wasn’t interested in these. He was looking at Pacala who was serving his Master that night. He believed that Pacala will be the key to his greediness.

Pacala’s Master was a&nbsp;wealthy old man. He owned a&nbsp;large salt mine in that region. His favourite servant was Pacala who worked for him from his childhood. He liked his cleverness and simplicity and he completely trusted him. However, Pacala often lied to him. When the feast was on the top and everbody was cheerful, Knight Fulko started to talk with Pacala.&nbsp;

„My dear friend, Pacala! I‘ve heard that you work in your Master’s salt mine. Is that true?“ asked Fulko.

„Yes, it is. I’ve been working there since my childhood. It’s a huge mine and the work is very hard there.“ replied Pacala.

Fulko was restless, working day and night, pausing just to eat and sleep a&nbsp;little. His greed gave him enormous energy. As days went by, Fulko was getting more and more dissapointed. He often found big pieces of salt that only looked like diamonds, but he never found a&nbsp;real diamond. While his anger was getting bigger, he was getting thinner and Păcală’s master was growing richer, thanks to the big amounts of salt that Fulko was extracting.&nbsp;

Six months had already passed and Fulko started thinking that he was, in fact, the fooled one. So, one day, he decided to stop working and went straight to Păcală’s master:&nbsp;

He got shocked, two big sad eyes were looking out at them. They seemed that they want to tell them something.

„Look inside the hole,“ said Pacalà.&#160;

„I was locked in this hole waiting for the arrival of a man with a big heart, I'm sure it's you, you've come to free me and to take the treasure hidden in this wall,“ answered a sad but pleasurable woman’s voice.&#160;

Welcome, my young friends“, said the man dressed in old-fashioned clothes, he was short and had long white hair. „I’m sure you need hospitality, follow me and I will lead you to your chambers “ he continued.

„I see you’ve already met mr. Wise,“ said a voice behind them, a young boy stood there, dressed with a pointy hat, a jacket and a pair of colored, knee-length pants.“Welcome to my beautiful castle, I hope you‘ll enjoy your stay“, said the boy, while his nose was growing in lenght.

The men thanked him and entered their rooms, when they turned back to the man he was gone. They looked at each other in surprise. 

Students: Agócs Boglárka Čáková Liliana Illés Panka Karcag Levente Kóšik Boglárka Mihályová Veronika Ondrejcsák Anna Péter Emma Vaculčiak Jázmin Vankó Ákos Becze Emília

Teacher editors: Mgr. Jéneyová Timea Mgr. Farkaš Tamás Mgr. Vaculčiaková Agnesa Mgr. Šramková Jana

During the night Pacalà woke up suddenly. He felt a&nbsp;heavy weight on his bed and thought, Knight Fulko had sat down on it. But when he looked, he saw Fulko was asleep. The room felt cold, very, very cold. Suddenly a&nbsp;rectangular block fell out of the wall onto his bed, and then another one, and another one. He jumped out quickly.

Knight Fulko woke up instantly. There was a&nbsp;big hole in the wall. Pacalà stayed close to Knight Fulko, afraid. Fulko lit up a&nbsp;candle and looked into the hole, he felt someone breathing on his neck, he turned over quickly, he saw a&nbsp;figure close to him, it was a&nbsp;young woman, with the body of a&nbsp;woman and legs of a&nbsp;duck, then she vanished.

Knight Fulko paused for a&nbsp;moment, imagining the great adventures ahead and said: 

„Of course, you will work for me, I’m sure we’ll find what I’m looking for.“&#160;

And they set up to search for new adventures immediately. They were wandering all day. When it was late and both were tired, they decided to find a&nbsp;place to sleep.

They saw a&nbsp;castle on the hill, it was surrounded by beautiful ornamental gardens on one side and dark woods on the other. A&nbsp;long private road leads to the castle. Fulko and Pacalà went up to the castle, the gardens were illuminated and all the lights were on inside too. It looked welcoming and they walked to the entrance, the huge wooden doors were open and inside they saw a&nbsp;very very old man. They went in.

But suddenly, there was a&nbsp;strong wind, or another force, which pulled it away. Pacalà rushed to look out of the corridor. There was nothing there. No eyes and no wind. Now, the two men were curious to find the treasure, they looked again into the hole &nbsp;and were amazed. The hole was shining like gold!&nbsp;

“ It’s a magic, Pacala! Let’s find this beautiful woman, I want to free her! I’m sure, she is hiding near here and she’s got plenty of treasure!” shouted the enthusiastic Fulko.&#160;

However, there was a problem. They couldn’t figure out how to free the beautiful voice. They didn’t want to break down the wall but that was the only option. So they started to work. They tried to take out the stones from the wall quietly but that was literally impossible, so they agreed to do it fast. Pacala locked the door and pushed the bed in front of it, to be sure that no one can go in, then Fulko grabbed a big stone and pulled it out. It was really loud, they could hear that someone was coming, so they started to hurry. Suddenly someone wanted to open the door. Fulko and Pacala panicked. Then Fulko&nbsp;kicked the wall really hard, and it suddenly fell down. However, there wasn’t any treasure there. And the woman disappeared, as well. They were very disappointed and Fulko was very angry, too. As they were talking, Pacala found a note. It said:

„Can you bring me a piece of salt from that mine?“ wondered the Knight.

„If you bring me a nice piece, I will reward you.“ promised Fulko.

This story was written for the eTwinning project called Universal Story in 2018 / 2019 Editor: Základná škola Štefana Koháriho II. s&nbsp;vyučovacím jazykom maďarským – II. Koháry István Alapiskola Fiľakovo Slovakia

Knight Fulko promised to save her. He packed his stuff and grabbed his sword and waited. When the night came, he went to find the tower. He had been looking for it for about an hour when suddenly he saw something taller than the trees. It was the tower! He started running but some bad smell tickled his nose, and then he remembered the dragon. He was breathing fire and smoke from his mouth. If he kills the dragon while he’s asleep, he can easily free Lamia. But the dragon wasn’t sleeping at all. He was waiting for his dinner angrily. Fulko was very brave. He started to fight and wanted to stub him with his sword but the dragon was more powerful. He had to think of another plan. He went back to the castle and asked a sheepskin from Mr Wise. Then Pacala helped him to fill it with sulphar and they sewed it up tightly so that it looked like a real sheep.&nbsp;

&nbsp;“I am very sorry you couldn’t find me here. An unknown magical power hides me behind walls. If the wall falls down, the power takes me to another place. Now I’m trapped in a high tower next to the castle. It is guarded by the scary Wawel Dragon. It is asleep during the night. I really need your help. If you come, you’ll have to be very quiet because if the dragon wakes up he’ll eat us up. Please, help me! Lamia.”

Fulko and Pacala couldn’t wait till the morning. They got up, made their beds and went to find the owner of the castle. They opened the first door that they saw and found Mr. Wise sitting at his table.

“Dear Mr Wise. Thank you for letting us stay here but we can’t sleep at all” said Pacala.

“Why? What happened? What was that noise coming from your room at night?” continued Mr. Wise.

A&nbsp;great while ago, when the world was full of wonders, there was a&nbsp;knight called Fulko. He was a&nbsp;proud and rich young man. He lived in his own castle in Fiľakovo. He was so handsome that all the girls wished to be his wife. However, he didn’t respect women. He loved amusements. His favourite hobbies were eating, drinking and hunting. He had friends everywhere in the world. Once he was hunting for bear in the Romanian forests, the other time he was flirting with pretty women in Spain. He travelled the world looking for adventures. When he ran out of money, he just came back to his stone castle in Fiľakovo.

He adored riches and wealth. He was able to cheat people to get more and more money. He even had an illegal mint in the cellar of his castle where he counterfeited coins. There was a&nbsp;secret underground tunnel in his castle and he could smuggle gold coins out of his home easily. So he was a&nbsp;dangerous and greedy young man.

„I am a Knight!“ he said. „You once invited me to a party. I know I look like a beggar now, because I’ve been working on your salt mine. Your servant, Păcală, tricked me. He made me believe that you had diamonds there. And I’ve been working like a slave to find these diamonds “.

„I remember you, Knight Fulko and I had no idea about this. I will send for Păcală immediately and punish him. If, in fact, he had found diamonds on my lands and didn’t tell me, I would banish him.“

Knight Fulko was hiding in the forest and waiting for that moment. When he saw the dragon escaping, he ran to the tower and shouted:

“Lamia, I’m here to free you. I have chased away the dragon.”

“There should be a ladder in the woods. Bring it to me so I can climb down.”

And Fulko did as she said. He brought the ladder and saved Lamia. She climbed down from the tower on her own duck-feet.

“Thank you, my dear knight, you are my hero forever. Now you can wish what you want.” said Lamia gratefully.&#160;

Fulko immediately fell in love with beautiful duck-feet Lamia.&nbsp;

“Happily, my dear knight” said Lamia because she fancied Fulko as well.&#160;

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