Mattie the Goose-boy (poem)

Mattie the Goose-boy, or Lúdas Matyi, is a Hungarian epic poem written by Mihály Fazekas (1766–1828) in 1804 and first released in 1817. It is based on a folk-tale of unknown origins. Most film adaptations place the story to the beginning of the 19th century, however based on hints in the poem, as well as the word "ludas" also being used to depict someone suspected of a crime already in the Tripartitum, the original story can be placed at least to the early 16th century.

In the beginning, Matyi, who is a young peasant boy, is trying to sell his geese at the market. Trouble ensues when the local lord, Dániel Döbröghy, proclaims the geese belong to him. Lord Döbröghy orders his servants to punish Matyi with 50 lashes to his back. Matyi makes a vow to get vengeance, that he will repay the punishment three times to the lord.

Three years after Matyi's punishment, Döbröghy begins building a castle for himself. The construction goes on very slowly, because of the lack of carpenters. Matyi identifies this and dresses as an Italian architect-maestro, then he visits the construction site. Matyi lures the lord and his servants to the nearby forest to gather wood for the structure. He orders all the servants and guards to harvest the forest, he then lures Döbröghy away, ties him to a tree with a rope, and beats him the first time.

After being thrashed, Dániel Döbröghy is being cured in his fancy new castle. He orders his soldiers to get him a real doctor, because his wound isn't getting better. The servant go to seek a doctor. Matyi knows about the plan and he dresses as a German battlefield medic. He is brought to the lord and ordered to cure him. He sends the whole folk of the castle out to the nearby field to collect some special herbs. Certainly, he needs fictional plants, but he uses the silliness of the soldiers. While everybody is out harvesting, Matyi gives Döbröghy the second revenge. After that he frees the geese of the village, which formerly were imprisoned by the lord.

It's now winter and the date of the yearly market. Döbröghy knows that Matyi will surely repay the punishment, so he orders his servants to search to whole market for suspicious people. They don't find anything because Matyi now doesn't wear any disguise. He makes an alliance with a local horse rider boy. The boy lures the whole army away, because they think that they're chasing the real Ludas Matyi. But they make a mistake, because the real one stays at the place and finds Döbröghy. The lord now publicly gets his last third of punishment.

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Wikipedia