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Monday, April 30, 2018

Z is for a Zoo (WTF Hungary - Weird Things in Hungarian Folktales)

Welcome to this year's A to Z Challenge titled WTF Hungary - Weird Things in Hungarian Folktales! You can find all other participating blogs on the A to Z Challenge main blog.

If they ask you if you know a folktale that features a zoo, now you can say yes.

The tale is titled the Frog Brother-in-Law, and it starts out very much like a Frog Prince story. A princess encounters the frog who tells her he is a prince. She insists on marrying him, but her father the king orders them to go live in a pig sty. The frog of course soon turns out to be an enchanted being, capable of all kinds of magic.

One day, the two brothers-in-law (the husbands of the two elder princesses) go out hunting, as a contest against their frog brother-in-law. When they are gone, the frog turns into a diamond prince, and conjures up a zoo full of all kinds of animals. Since the two princes can't hunt anything all day, they decide to stop by at the zoo on the way home, and buy some prey. The diamond prince sells them some rabbits, in exchange for permission to brand the princes with his signet ring. Eventually, it turns out that the frog is a diamond prince, and the two brothers-in-law are useless hunters. Happy end.

Let's be honest: We all know the kind of person that would shop for hunting trophies at a zoo...

Bonus: This folktale was collected from the same woman who brought us The Diamond Prince in the Rubber Suit at the beginning of the month.

THANK YOU all for following all the Hungarian folktale weirdness this month! Your comments were delightful :) For those of you participating, congratulations on reaching the end of A to Z! See you on May 7th for Reflections!

13 comments:

  1. What on earth is a diamond prince? 😀 I do like the business of the guys buying rabbits to show they have been hunting. I bet they and the frog prince had some unpleasant family events after that...

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  2. Congratulations on completing the challenge. I've loved reading your posts!

    Zero to Hero from Hercules (and Zombie by The Cranberries)

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  3. A happy end to a wonderful month. Thank you so much for this insight into the weird world of Hungarian folktales - a rich selection of fantastic stories. Congratulations on finishing the challenge :-)
    https://iainkellywriting.com/2018/04/30/z-is-for-zaragoza-spain/

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  4. Oh I do love a happy ending, and I especially love the Diamond Prince tales you've shared. What a fun series - so much delightful weirdness - thank you for sharing these glimpses of Hungarian treasures.

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  5. Hunting trophies from a zoo - good lord, that really is not trying :)
    Tasha
    Tasha's Thinkings - Movie Monsters

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  6. I hope the cheating princes got the scorn they deserved. Great month! Congratulations.

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  7. I've enjoyed reading these folktales immensely, Tarkabarka. Thank you for sharing these strange and humerus stories with us, this month.
    Facing Cancer with Grace – Zero in on Self-Care

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  8. I love reading about these tails. They're so weird at times and I wonder what they were smoking when they came up with them. LOL

    Congrats on getting to Z.

    ~Patricia Lynne aka Patricia Josephine~
    My A to Z’s of Dining with IC
    Patricia Lynne, Indie Author

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  9. How cool to find a zoo story:)
    Was this the same diamond prince who wore a rubber suit or am I all muddled after Ayeing to Zeeing all month!
    Cheers for some fun and some weird folktales Csenge. I've skipped a few but whatever I've read, I've enjoyed:)
    Z is for Zaroorat and Zahrah

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  10. Congrats to you too! I have loved reading your A-Z posts these past years. Sadly, there are too many people who'd buy hunting trophies - okay in fairy tales, not okay in the real world.

    Thank you for co-hosting and also your support through out the month.

    Best wishes,
    Nilanjana.

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  11. Love your posts. Congrats on another year of the challenge. I think it gets a little better each year (of my 3 anyway). How much time do you spend in research? & where do you find the info?

    Pulp Paper & Pigment-My Fiber Art Blog

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  12. Hi! Another interesting story for the letter z. I enjoy reading folktales and it was nice reading different Hungarian folktales for each letter.

    Best wishes,
    Jui Positive Cookies

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  13. Congrats for finishing the challenge! Sorry it took me so long to get through your all of posts, but I really enjoyed reading all the lovely tales, and appreciated your comments on my challenge as well. Take care!
    Jamie Lyn Weigt | Writing Dragons

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