This year my A to Z theme is Small Town Legends. I am exploring folklore from villages and small towns around Hungary, bringing you the most entertaining bits. You can plan your next visit around them!
This story comes from Méra, a village belonging to the municipality of Kisbács in Transylvania, with a population about 1,300 (mostly Hungarian-speaking) people. It is fairly unique in folklore as far as I know.
Here it goes:
The storyteller who told this legend claims that it happened to his father one night, when he was heading home from playing cards with a friend. Admittedly, both were heavily drunk on pálinka. The kuli (card demon) followed them in the shape of a large, hairy humanoid creature. It eventually caught up and blocked their way, so one man tore a stake from a fence and fought it. The demon kept getting larger and stronger the more they beat it, and blocked their way again three other times. By the time they finally got home they were exhausted and drenched in sweat.
The storyteller also added that the demon could have been defeated if they had slapped it with their left hand. Hitting it with a right hand only makes it stronger. Allegedly, it is a demon that punishes people for gambling.
(Story from this book)
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