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Hungarian folk tales, Peter and Paul.
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Once upon a time, there was a poor man.
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He was as poor as a church mouse, children he had many though, but apart from them, he had nothing but a single cockerel.
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Next door to him there lived a rich man, he was so rich that he had absolutely no idea of all that he had.
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His yard was full of hens, cockerels and fine farm animals.
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Cock-a-doodle-doo!
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Cock-a-doodle-doo!
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It happened one day that poor man Peter's cockerel went over to rich man Paul's yard.
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The cockerel went over to the hens because he was so bored all alone in Peter's yard.
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The rich man, greedy Paul, saw this and he said to the poor man, listen here Peter, do something with this cockerel, either kill it or sell it, but get it out of my yard, otherwise I'll batter it and it'll be of no use to you anymore.
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I don't want it to come over to my yard.
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Poor man Peter was desperate, what should he do?
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He thought hard.
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He'd kill it and cook it for his children, but his children had never eaten meat in their lives before, and they would get used to the taste of meat and want it at every meal.
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Oh well, he thought, I'll take it to my master and give it to him as a gift.
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Maybe he will give me something in return.
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So he did just this.
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And his master said to him, hey Peter, you're a poor man with many children, wouldn't you have been better off cooking this cockerel for your children at home?
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No sir, said Peter, because we're so many at home, there are so many children that one cockerel would never satisfy them all.
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They'd each just have one bite, and once they had tasted the meat, they'd realize it was better than boiled potatoes or simple soup, and they'd never want to eat those things anymore.
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They'd always want to eat meat.
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All right Peter, we'll roast this cockerel for dinner today, but I want you to be here to serve it to us.
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The master had two sons, two daughters, and a wife, so they were six.
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Peter went to their house at midday when dinner was going to be served.
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There was the roast cockerel on the table.
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Peter thought hard and began to carve.
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He reasoned thus.
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The master and the lady of the house are the head of the family.
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So I'll cut the head and the neck off for them.
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I'll give the two wings to the two young ladies so they can fly off with more ease when it comes to marrying.
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The young masters will get the two feet so they can run better.
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And I, poor devil, will make do with what is left.
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This way he himself had the bulk of the cockerel.
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The master rewarded Peter for his wisdom, he gave him a horse, a cart, a plow, and everything to go with it, as well as some land to farm as his own.
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He told him to run his own farm and grow rich on it.
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Rich man Paul got word of this.
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He was ever so envious.
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If his neighbor had been given so many things for one single cockerel, how much would the master give him for five cockerels he wanted?
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Rich man Paul finally made up his mind to take his five cockerels to the master.
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He was so envious.
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He gave them all as a gift.
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The master said to rich man Paul, listen here Paul.
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We'll roast these five cockerels for dinner today.
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I want you to serve us at table.
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If you fail to divide the roast justly, I'll have you whipped 50 lashes.
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But if you manage to divide it well, I'll reward you richly.
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The five cockerels were roasted and none was cut up.
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They were all in one piece.
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Rich man Paul went to the master's house, but he couldn't divide the meat justly.
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In any way.
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Then the master said to his servant.
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Go and fetch Peter.
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So Peter came.
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Well Peter, you'll have to divide these five cockerels among us.
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Peter thought hard.
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Well, he said, I've always believed in the Holy Trinity.
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This time I'll be guided by it too.
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I reckon the master and the lady of the house and a cockerel will make a trinity.
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By the same token, he said, the two young ladies and a cockerel will make a trinity.
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The two young masters and a cockerel also.
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So I, poor devil, and two cockerels will also make a trinity.
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This cheeky but shrewd way of dividing the roast made the master and his entire family laugh.
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The master richly rewarded Peter again and had the rich man Paul whipped as he had pledged.
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Paul was given 50 lashes and told never to return to the palace again.
