Page:The Czechoslovak Review, vol4, 1920.pdf/183
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THE CZECHOSLOVAK REVIEW
163
The boy took the two eyes with heed And hastened to the woods in speed.—“Bring me that water with life’s charm;The body shall retain no harm, But shall be as before.”
He set the eyes in their own place, And life flashed through the maiden’s face
Amazed, the maiden gazed around—But she saw no one on the ground But herself, left alone.
V.
And when three weeks were gone and past The victor-king came gay at last.“How are you, lady dear and kind?Tell me, have you kept in your mind My parting words to you?”
“Oh, in my heart of you I thought! Behold, my lord, what I have bought:The rarest spinning wheel that’s sold,A distaff, a rack—all of gold, All for the love of you!”
“Then, come, sit down, my darling wife; A golden thread spin to my life.”— —She went to spin to prove her tale:The wheel went ’round—her face grew pale— Alas! how queer a song!
“Burr—burr—thou spinst a grewsome string! Thou camest to only cheat the king:Thou killedst thy sister, chokedst her cries;Thou cutst her limbs and tooks her eyes— Burr—burr—the grewsome string!”
“You have the queerest spinning wheel! The strangest song it does reveal!Oh lady, spin again, Oh spin!I can’t conceive what those words mean; Oh spin, my lady, spin!”
“Burr—burr—thou spinst a grewsome string!Thy aim was just to cheat the king:Thou murderedst in the woods his brideTo take her place in thy vain pride— Burr—burr—the grewsome string!”
“Ho lady, what a frightful song! You’re not as sweet as seems your tongue!Play, lady, still another timeSo I can hear all of that rhyme; Spin on, o lady, spin!”
“Burr—burr—thou spinst a grewsome string! Thou camest to only cheat the king:Thy sister’s in a forest cave;Thou stolest her husband, the king brave— Burr—burr—the grewsome string!”
The king had heard the song. In speed He sought the woods on his black steed,And through the forests wailed his sound:“Where can my Dora dear be found? Where are you, Dora dear?”
VI.
From green woods o’er a stretch of land A couple’s riding, hand in hand;They’re mounted on a high black steed—The hoofs ring loud in joyous speed The castle is their aim.
A wedding followed their gay ride; Like a sweet blossom gleamed the bride;There was a great time, a great feast,And mirth and music never ceased For three long happy weeks.
And what of the old vixen-dame? And of her child of viper’s fame?Ho, in the woods howl four wolves grim,Each dragging a bare human limb Two female bodies’ limbs.
Their eyes were promptly goaded out, Their legs and arms hewn on the rout;What they had first done to the girlCame back to them now in a whirl In those deep, gloomy woods.
And what about the spinning wheel? With what song did it henceforth reel?It came to play but those three times,And no one heard again its rhymes Nor saw it with his eyes.