John the Valiant

"János Vitéz" ("John the Valiant") is an epic poem written in Hungarian by Sándor Petőfi and a musical by Pongrác Kacsóh adapted from the poem. It was written in 1845, and is notable for its length, 370 quatrains divided into 27 chapters, and for its wordplay. It is a story of the young shepherd who is forced to leave his home and undergoes adventures as he defeats the villains such as Turks and witches while searching for his true love.

The poem has gained immense popularity in Hungary, and is today considered a classic of Hungarian literature. In 1904, it was adapted into a popular musical. In 1973, it was adapted into the animated feature film Johnny Corncob, the first of its kind in Hungary.

Kukorica Jancsi ("Johnny Corn") is found abandoned in a corn field as an infant; he is taken in by a peasant landowner, and by his adolescent years, is a shepherd for his master. He is in love with an orphan girl, Iluska, who is being raised by her wicked stepmother. Jancsi and Iluska hope to be married, but once, while they are spending time together, many of Jancsi's sheep wander away, and he is chased from the village by his master.

Dejected, he joins a company of hussars, who are en route to France to fight the Turkish invasion there. The hussars journey from Hungary to France (crossing the many, heavily fictionized countries in between, such as Venice, India and Mongolia, where they arrive just in time for the battle. Jancsi saves the French princess from capture, and the king in gratitude offers him her hand in marriage and the kingdom to rule. Jancsi turns the offers down, telling the king about his love for Iluska; the king then gives him a reward of gold, and names him János Vitéz ("Sir John").

János travels back to Hungary by boat, only to learn that Iluska was worked to death by her stepmother. In memory of her, he plucks the single rose growing from her grave and keeps it. He then sets off on a series of increasingly more dangerous adventures, hoping to end his life in some glorious feat. He reaches the Land of the Giants, where he kills the king in his castle and has all the other giants pledge fealty to him. Later, he arrives in the Country of Darkness, ruled by a coven of wicked witches. After the witches gather and prepare for an occult ritual in their lair, he calls on his mighty giant vassals to help him wipe out the evil women. As each witch dies, the forest becomes a little brighter, and János notices that one of them is Iluska's stepmother. She is the last to be destroyed, leaving the land in full daylight.

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