Czech Folk Tales

So they flew after them, and they reached the castle just as the fugitives were going in through the gate.

The dragon snapped the princess away, saying to the lad: “You rascal! I told you I would tear you to pieces if you came a third time for her.”

So he caught hold of him, and took a foot in each claw, and tore him in two. Then he went off with the princess and the horse.

The lad’s horse took the healing water, dipped the two halves into it, put the one against the other, and they grew together. Then he took the water of life and poured it into the lad’s mouth, and he was alive again. Then they went into the castle.

The lad was weeping bitterly and crying out that all was over, that now he would be separated from his wife for ever. But the horse gave him comfort, saying:

“Well, I really don’t know what advice I ought to give you now. We have been three times, and he caught up with us every time. And the last time you were torn in pieces. I don’t know how things will turn out. But I have another brother across the Red Sea, and he is stronger than I or the dragon. If we could only get him, we should be sure to kill the dragon. But it’s a hard thing to do, for he is in service with the Devil’s grandmother. We will try it together, if only we can manage to cross the Red Sea. And, if you follow the advice I give you, you will get the horse.

“You must serve the Devil’s grandmother for three days, and, when you have served the three days, you must ask for that lean horse as wages. You will have to herd twelve horses for three days. Nobody has ever managed to do it yet. When the first day’s service is done, on the next day the Devil’s grandmother always cuts off the servant’s head and hangs it on a hook. Now, listen carefully. While you are herding the horses, anything the hag gives you to eat at home, eat your fill of it. But, if she gives you anything to eat in the field, do not eat it, but throw it away. If you were to eat it, sleep would come down on you, your horses would stray, and the Devil’s grandmother would cut off your head and hang it upon a hook.”

So off they went together till they came to the Red Sea. As they were drawing near to the sea, they saw a huge fly entangled in a cobweb and struggling to free itself. So the lad went up to it and said: “Poor fly! You can’t get out of that cobweb; wait a bit, and I will help you.”

The cobweb was as big as a sheet, but he tore it in two and the fly crept out.

The fly said: “Thank you for helping me out of the cobweb. Tear one of my feet from under my belly, and, whenever you are in need, think of me, and I will help you.”

The lad thought: “Poor fly! how could you help me?” Nevertheless, he tore off one of her feet and kept it.

Then he went on his way, and he saw a wolf with his tail trapped under a heavy log, and he was unable to help himself, for wolves have stiff backs, and no wolf has ever been able to turn. The lad rolled the log away and released the wolf.

The wolf said: “Thank you for helping me. Take one of my claws, and, whenever you are in sore need, think of me, and I will help you.” So the lad took one of his claws and kept it.

When he got quite close to the sea, he saw a crab as big as a barrel. The crab was lying on the sand with his belly upwards, and he couldn’t manage to turn himself over again. So the lad went and turned the crab over again. The crab asked him where he was going. He said he was going to the Devil’s grandmother across the Red Sea.

The crab said: “My dear lad, I’ll make a bridge for you across the sea, so that you will be able to get across. But, besides that, you must pluck off one of my claws from under my belly, and when you are in sore need, think of me, and I will help you.”

So he plucked off one of the claws and kept it. The crab sidled into the sea, and immediately all the crabs of the sea came together, and they closed in on one another so that they made a bridge across the sea. The lad crossed the bridge and came to the Devil’s grandmother. She was standing waiting for him in the doorway of her house, and welcomed him. He’d just come at the right time; she wanted him to herd her horses. She gave him plenty of good food to eat, and sent him out to the fields. She put twelve horses in his charge, and said to him:

“Look to it that you herd them well, for if you lose one of them you will lose your head. Just look here at these twenty-four posts, with a hook on each one of them. There are heads on twenty-three of them. The last hook is waiting for your head. If you herd my horses badly, that hook is waiting for your head.”

Then she fitted him out for herding the horses. She gave him a piece of bread, so that he might have enough to eat and not starve. He meant to follow the horse’s advice, and threw the bread away. But a fierce hunger came upon him, and he had to go and look for the bread and eat it up.

The moment he had eaten it he fell asleep and all the horses were lost. When he awoke there wasn’t a single horse there. Sorrowfully he said: “The Devil’s grandmother was right; my head will hang from that hook.” In his grief he thought of the fly, and it came flying up and called out: “Why are you weeping and wailing?”

He said that he had been hungry, and had been forced to eat the bread, so that he fell asleep and all the horses were lost.

The fly tried to comfort him, saying: “Don’t be troubled, dear lad; I will help you.”

So she called together all the flies, and they flew everywhere looking for the horses, and when they found them, they buzzed round them and plagued them till they drove them up to the herdsman. He drove them joyfully home.

The Devil’s grandmother welcomed them, and when she saw that all the horses were there, she said: “You’ve herded them well enough, for you have brought them all back.” Then she seized a hatchet and began to beat the horses with it, and most of all the lean one, till the flesh hung in strips from its body. The lad was sorry for the horse, for the hag was beating it hardest and it was the leanest of them all. But the Devil’s grandmother took a salve and anointed the horses’ wounds, and they were healed by morning.

The next day she fitted him out again for herding the horses, and gave him some more of the bread, telling him to eat it all. But when he came to the pasture he crumbled the bread and trampled the crumbs into the ground, so that it should be uneatable. But it was no good. He was forced to dig it up and eat it, earth and all, so great was the hunger that the Devil’s grandmother had sent against him. In a moment he fell asleep and all the horses were lost.

When he woke he saw that there were no horses there. He wept and wailed. But he thought of the wolf, and the wolf came running up and asked him: “Why are you weeping and wailing? Don’t be troubled; I will help you.”

He went and summoned all the wolves. A great flock of wolves ran up, and they scattered everywhere, looking for the horses. When they found them, they drove them to the herdsman, each horse with a wolf at its side leading it by the ear. The herdsman was overjoyed, and took the horses and drove them home.

The Devil’s grandmother was waiting for him in front of the house. She said: “Indeed you have herded them well; this is the second day that you have brought them all home.” But she beat the horses with the hatchet far worse than the day before; then she anointed their wounds with the salve, so that they should be healed by morning.

On the third day she sent him out again to herd the horses, and gave him some more of the bread, telling him to eat it and not to throw it away. But when he came to the pasture he threw the bread down on the sand and trampled it in, so that it should be uneatable. But he had to search it out again, so great was the hunger the Devil’s grandmother sent against him. The moment he had finished it he fell asleep and the horses were lost. When he woke he burst into tears. This time it was all up with him; the fly and the wolf had helped him before, but the crab had already made a bridge for him, so there was nobody to help him. The horses didn’t know where to hide themselves to save themselves from being beaten by the Devil’s grandmother, so they leapt into the sea, where nobody could find them.

The herdsman was in agony, and he kept on wailing that now his head must hang upon that hook. At last he thought of the crab. The crab turned round in the sea, and instantly all the crabs collected and began searching the sea for the horses, and they pinched them until they drove them out of the sea. But the lean one, since he couldn’t think of a better hiding-place, crouched under the crab’s belly. The other crabs set to work to look for him, and at last they found him. The big crab had to turn over, and then they drove the lean horse out. The herdsman took the horses and drove them home joyfully, because his three days of service were now over.

The Devil’s grandmother was waiting for him, and she beat the horses with the hatchet so fiercely that their flesh hung in strips from their bodies. Then she anointed them with the salve, and the wounds healed by morning. In the morning she asked the herdsman what wages he wanted. He answered: “I want nothing but that lean old horse.”

She said: “It would be a sorry thing to give you such a wretched horse in return for such good service; I will give you the best horse.”

He answered: “I won’t take any horse but the lean one.”

She asked him why he wanted the leanest one. He replied: “Because I am sorry for him, for he always gets the worst beating. I will have that one, and no other.”

So she said: “Well, I will give him to you, if you must have him, but I will give you this fat one too. You can ride on his back home and lead the lean one with you.”

He mounted the fat horse and rode off. But when they were drawing near to the gate, the lean horse said: “Get down from that horse and mount me, or you will be the worse for it.”

So he jumped down from the fat horse and mounted the lean one.

The fat horse growled: “It’s the Devil gave you that advice.”

And the lean horse said: “If you had gone under the gate on that horse’s back, he would have dashed you against the vault of the gate, so that your head would have been knocked off, and you would have been killed.”

So they came safely home. When the princesses saw him come back they were delighted.

The other horse said: “Now, brother, let us go. The dragon is away from home, and the princess will be ours.” So they went and carried off the princess.

When the dragon came home, he asked his horse: “Where is my princess?”

The horse replied: “She has gone, and this time we shan’t get her back. The horse from the Red Sea has come, and he will get the better of us all.”

The dragon took no heed of that, but flew after them and caught them up just by the gate. He was going to snap the princess away, but this time he could not do it. For the horse from over the Red Sea kicked his nose with his hoof, so that the dragon fell down from his horse, and the other two horses fell upon him, and between them they killed the dragon.

They came to the castle with the princess, and they were congratulating one another on their victory over their enemy. Then the horse which had been giving good advice to his rider all the time said: “Now, dear brother-in-law, take my sword there hanging from the ceiling and cut my head off.”

He was sad and said: “How could I do that, after all the acts of kindness you have done for me?”

The horse said: “My good friend, I cannot tell you why you must behead me, but you would do me a great wrong if you did not do it.”

So he hesitated no longer, but cut his head off. The blood spurted up twelve feet high, and instantly the horse became a beautiful youth. Seeing that, the lad was quick to behead the other horses, and they all turned into handsome princes like the first one.

They all thanked him for delivering them, and they made him king of that castle, and there he lived with his wife and her two sisters in all happiness and harmony till they died. The three brothers took possession of the dragon’s castle.

THE BEAR, THE EAGLE, AND THE FISH

Once there was a count and he had three daughters. All of them were young and as pretty as peacocks, but the youngest was the loveliest of them all. The count had little money to spend, for he had lost it all by gambling. And so – since he had to spend the time in some way or other – he used to go hunting. One day, when he was out hunting he lost his way in a forest, and he could not find his way out of it. Suddenly a big bear rushed out at him, shouting at the top of his voice. He said he would show him the way out of the forest and, besides, he would give him as much gold and silver as he wanted on one condition, and that condition was that the count should give him one of his daughters in marriage. The count was terrified. But after thinking it over for a time, he consented at last. The bear showed him the way out of the forest and gave him everything he had promised, and so the count was pleased.