Prevod

A certain man had a shepherd who had served him faithfully and honestly for many years. One day, as he followed his sheep, the shepherd heard a shrill cry in the woods, but could not tell what it was. He went into the woods to see what was making the sound. There he found a fire burning, and a snake shrieking in the flames. The shepherd stood watching to see what the snake would do, for the fire surrounded it on every side and was drawing steadily closer. Then the snake cried out from the flames: “Shepherd, for God’s sake, save me from this fire!” The shepherd stretched his staff across the flames, and the snake climbed along it onto his hand, then crept up his arm to his neck and wound itself around his throat. At this the shepherd was aghast and said to the snake: “What is this? Woe is me! I have saved you and brought about my own death.” The snake answered: “Do not be afraid. Only carry me home to my father. My father is the king of the snakes.” The shepherd began pleading with it, saying that he could not leave his sheep, but the snake told him: “Do not worry about the sheep. No harm will come to them. Only hurry.” So the shepherd set off through the woods with the snake, and at last came to a gate made entirely of snakes. When they reached it, the snake around the shepherd’s neck gave a whistle, and all the snakes at once unwound themselves. Then the snake said to the shepherd: “When we come to my father’s court, he will offer you whatever you ask for: silver, gold, and precious stones. But take none of these. Ask instead for the language of all living things. He will be reluctant to give it to you, but in the end he will agree.” Just then they reached the father’s court, and the father asked the snake, weeping: “For God’s sake, my son, where have you been?” The snake told him everything in turn: how the fire had surrounded it and how the shepherd had saved it. Then the king of the snakes said to the shepherd: “What shall I give you for saving my son?” The shepherd answered: “I want nothing but the language of all living things.” But the king said: “That is not for you, for if I gave it to you and you told anyone about it, you would die that very moment. Ask for anything else you please, and I will give it to you.” The shepherd replied: “If you mean to give me anything, give me the language of all living things. If you will not give me that, then farewell! I have no need of anything else.” And he turned to go. Then the king called him back, saying: “Wait! Come here, if that is truly what you want. Open your mouth!” The shepherd opened his mouth, and the king of the snakes spat into it, then said: “Now spit into my mouth.” The shepherd spat into his mouth, and the king of the snakes spat into the shepherd’s again. Three times they spat into each other’s mouths, and then the king of the snakes said: “Now you have the language of all living things. Go in peace, but on your life, tell no one, for if you tell anyone, you will die at once.” The shepherd set off through the woods, and as he went he could hear and understand everything the birds and the grasses and all the things in the world were saying. When he reached his sheep and found them all there, safe and peaceful, he lay down to rest a little. No sooner had he lain down than two ravens flew over, settled in a tree, and began talking in their own language: “If only this shepherd knew! Here, where that black yearling is lying, there is a cellar underground full of silver and gold.” When the shepherd heard this, he went and told his master. His master brought a cart, and they dug down to the cellar door and carried the treasure home. This master was an honest man, and he gave all the treasure to the shepherd, saying: “Here, my son, all this treasure is yours. God has given it to you. Build yourself a house, marry, and live on this wealth.” The shepherd took the treasure, built a house, married, and settled down. Little by little he became the richest man not only in the village, but in the whole surrounding country. He had his own shepherd, cowherd, groom, and swineherd, extensive property, and great wealth. Once, on Christmas Day itself, he said to his wife: “Get some wine and rakija ready, and everything else we shall need. Tomorrow we will go out to the farm and take it to the herdsmen, so that they too may make merry.” His wife did as he asked and prepared everything as he had told her. The next day they went to the farm, and that evening the master said to all the herdsmen: “Now gather together, all of you, and eat and drink and make merry. I shall stay with the livestock all night.” So the master went off and stayed with the animals. Around midnight the wolves began to howl and the dogs to bark. The wolves said in their own language: “May we come and take some livestock? There will be meat for you too.” And the dogs answered in their own language: “Come, so that we too may eat our fill!” But among the dogs there was an old one with only two teeth left in his head. This old dog said to the wolves: “A curse on you! So long as these two teeth remain in my head, you shall do my master no harm.” The master heard and understood everything they said. When morning came, he ordered all the dogs to be killed except the old one. The servants protested: “For God’s sake, master, what a waste!” But the master answered: “Do as I have told you.” Then he made ready to go home with his wife, and they set off on horseback, he on a stallion and she on a mare. As they rode along, the man drew ahead and his wife fell behind. Then the horse beneath the man neighed, saying to the mare: “Come along, hurry! Why are you lagging behind?” And the mare answered: “It is easy for you. You carry only one master, while I carry three: my mistress, the child inside her, and the foal inside me.” At this the man looked back and laughed. His wife noticed, quickly spurred the mare, caught up with him, and asked why he had laughed. He answered: “At nothing. I just laughed.” But this did not satisfy his wife, and she pressed him to tell her why he had laughed. He tried to put her off: “Leave me be, woman, for heaven’s sake! What has got into you? I do not know myself.” But the more he resisted, the more she insisted that he tell her why he had laughed. At last the man said: “If I tell you, I shall die that very moment.” Yet even this did not concern her, and she kept insisting, saying that nothing would do but that he must tell her. Meanwhile they reached home. As soon as he dismounted, the man ordered a coffin, and when it was ready, he had it placed in front of the house and said to his wife: “Now I shall lie down in the coffin and tell you why I laughed. But the moment I tell you, I shall die.” So he lay down in the coffin and looked around him once more. There was the old dog, who had come from the livestock and sat down by his head, weeping. Seeing this, the man said to his wife: “Bring a piece of bread and give it to that dog.” His wife brought a piece of bread and threw it before the dog, but the dog would not even look at it. A rooster came up and began pecking at the bread. Then the dog said to the rooster: “You greedy wretch! All you think of is eating, when you can see that our master is about to die!” The rooster answered: “Then let him die, if he is such a fool. I have a hundred wives, and whenever I find a single grain of maize, I call them all to it. When they come, I gobble it up myself. If any of them gets angry, I give her a peck at once. Yet he cannot manage to quiet even one wife.” When the man heard this, he rose from the coffin, took a stick, and called his wife into the room. “Come, wife, and I shall tell you.” Then he began beating her with the stick. “There you have it, wife! There you have it, wife!” And so his wife quieted down, and never again asked him to tell her why he had laughed.