Arany mesekönyv

"Arany mesekönyv" by Elek Benedek is a collection of folk and fairy tales written in the early 20th century. Drawing on classic sources such as the Arabian Nights, it offers ornate, episodic adventures where curiosity, honor, and fate collide. Expect porters, caliphs in disguise, proud sisters, one‑eyed wanderers, and enchanted princes moving through lavish palaces and perilous quests. The opening of the collection retells the Baghdadi tale of a cheerful porter who, after helping a beautiful shopper, is welcomed into the secluded home of three sisters—Szobeida, Amina, and Szafia—under a strict rule not to ask questions. Their feast is joined by three one‑eyed “calenders” and, later, by the caliph Harun al‑Rashid with Ja’far and Masrur in disguise. A disturbing ritual follows—two black dogs are whipped and kissed, and Amina reveals scarred flesh—prompting the guests to break the no‑questions rule; the sisters summon armed slaves, then demand each man’s life story as the price of mercy. The first calender recounts a princely fall into exile and the loss of an eye amid palace treachery and a tragic tomb; the second tells of a scholar‑prince turned woodcutter, a hidden palace, a jealous jinn, transformation into a monkey, and rescue by a sorceress who dies defeating the demon; the third begins his sea‑voyage tale as the ships drift toward a deadly blackness and the ominous brazen horseman of a perilous shore. (This is an automatically generated summary.)