Page:The Czechoslovak Review, vol4, 1920.pdf/181
This page has been proofread, but needs to be validated.
THE CZECHOSLOVAK REVIEW
161
III.
“Arise, my daughter, it is time; The king awaits with mirth and rhyme.Had I but once thought in my mind—Well, let us hope that bliss you’ll find At your king’s residence!”
“Don, sister dear, your choicest things; There will be banquets at the king’s.What lofty aim came to your mind,For lo! you left me far behind; Yet, fare well, anyway!”
“Come, Dora dear, pursue your chance Lest your great bridegroom take offence.Once you start in the woods to roamYou’ll soon forget your humble home— So hasten and come on!”
“Why do you take, dear mother, tell, “With you that knife that’s sharpened well?”“That knife I’ll need—with it I’ll takeSomewhere the eyes out of a snake— But hasten and come on!”
“Why do you carry, sister, tell, That shining ax that’s sharpened well?”“In clumps of brushes, cool and dim,We’ll hew a wild beast, limb from limb— But hasten and come on!”
In deep woods, when she deemed the least: “You are the snake! You are the beast!”A shrill cry pierced the vale and hill,As the two women treated ill The innocent poor maid!
“Try now your pleasure with your king; Enjoy him, venture anything:Embrace his body in delight,Gaze at his forehead, clear and bright, You pretty spinner, you!”
“Oh, mother dear, give me advice Where shall I hide these limbs and eyes?”“Don’t leave them by the body here;Some one might heal them on, my dear, But take them all with you.”
And as the woods were left behind: “Dear daughter, don’t fret in your mind,For you resemble her well-nighAs in the same head eye and eye, The dead one there. Don’t fear!”
And as they neared the residence, The king knew them both at a glance:With all his courtiers did he rideTo meet the mother and the bride, Suspecting no deceit.
A wedding crowned the loathsome sin. With smiles the bride tried all to win.There was a wedding and a feast,And mirth and music never ceased Up to the seventh day.
The eighth day, with the morning star, The king had to leave home for war:“Fare well, my dear wife, while I goTo meet and fight a dreadful foe Upon the battlefield!”
“If I come back home from that strife, Our love will bloom with a new life.Meanwhile, think of me and with zealWork daily at your spinning wheel, Spin steadily at home!”
IV.
But in the deep, vast thicket there, From six wounds, in her body rent,How did the dying maiden fare?Her life-blood slowly oozed and went Down to the greenish moss.
Good fortune brought her near a crown; Now deadly night is falling down:Her body’s cool, her blood does flow—Woe to the time, ah woe, ah woe, When the king met her first!
And lo! That instant from the rocks Came forth a queer man with white locksDown to his knees reached his white beard.Her body with his arms he reared And carried to his cave.