Prevod

A woman went out across the fields with her daughter and stepdaughter to cut fodder. The good Lord came to them in the guise of a poor man and asked, “Which way leads to the village?” “If you want to know,” said the mother, “find it yourself,” and her daughter added, “If you’re afraid you won’t find it, take a guide along.” But the stepdaughter said, “Poor man, I will show you the way. Come with me.” Then the good Lord grew angry with the mother and daughter, turned his back on them, and cursed them to become as black as night and as ugly as sin. But God showed kindness to the poor stepdaughter and went with her, and when they were near the village, he blessed her and said, “Choose three things, and I will grant them to you.” The girl said, “I should like to be as beautiful and pure as the sun,” and at once she became as fair and beautiful as the day. “Then I should like a purse that would never be empty.” The good Lord gave her that as well, but said, “Do not forget the best of all.” She said, “For my third wish, I wish for the eternal kingdom of heaven when I die.” This, too, was granted her, and then the good Lord took his leave.

When the stepmother came home with her daughter and saw that they were both coal-black and ugly, while the stepdaughter was fair and beautiful, the malice in her heart grew greater still, and she could think of nothing but how to do the girl harm. Now the stepdaughter had a brother named Reginer, whom she loved dearly, and she told him all that had happened. One day Reginer said to her, “Dear sister, I will paint your portrait so that I may always have you before my eyes, for I love you so much that I should like to look at you all the time.” She answered, “But please, let no one see the picture.” So he painted his sister’s portrait and hung it in his room. He lived in the king’s palace, for he was the king’s coachman. Every day he stood before it and thanked God for his dear sister’s good fortune. Now the king he served had just lost his wife, who had been so beautiful that no one could be found to equal her, and he was in deep mourning. The servants at court noticed that the coachman stood before the beautiful picture every day, begrudged him this pleasure, and told the king. The king had the portrait brought before him, and when he saw that it resembled his dead wife in every way, only that it was even more beautiful, he fell desperately in love with it. He summoned the coachman and asked whom the picture portrayed. The coachman said it was his sister, and the king resolved to marry no one but her. He gave him a carriage and horses and magnificent golden garments, and sent him off to fetch his chosen bride. When Reginer arrived with the news, his sister rejoiced, but the black girl was jealous of her good fortune and furious beyond measure. She said to her mother, “What use are all your arts if you cannot bring me such good fortune?” “Be quiet,” said the old woman. “I shall see that it comes your way.” And with her witchcraft she clouded the coachman’s eyes until he was half-blind, and stopped up the fair girl’s ears until she was half-deaf. Then they climbed into the carriage, first the bride in her splendid royal garments, then the stepmother and her daughter, while Reginer sat on the box to drive. When they had been on their way a little while, the coachman called, “Cover yourself, dear little sister, so the rain does not wet you, so the wind does not dust you, so you come to the king fair and lovely.”

The bride asked, “What does my dear brother say?” “Oh,” said the old woman, “he said you should take off your golden gown and give it to your sister.” So she took it off and put it on the black girl, who gave her a shabby grey smock in return. They drove on, and after a little while her brother called again, “Cover yourself, dear little sister,

so the rain does not wet you, so the wind does not dust you, and you come to the king fair and lovely.” The bride asked, “What does my dear brother say?” “Oh,” said the old woman, “he said you should take off your golden cap and give it to your sister.” So she took off her cap and put it on the black girl, and sat there bareheaded. They drove on, and after a little while her brother called once more, “Cover yourself, dear little sister, so the rain does not wet you, so the wind does not dust you, and you come to the king fair and lovely.”

The bride asked, “What does my dear brother say?” “Oh,” said the old woman, “he said you should take a look out of the carriage.” Just then they were crossing a bridge over deep water. When the bride stood up and leaned out of the carriage, the two of them pushed her out, and she fell into the water below. The very moment she sank beneath the surface, a snow-white duck rose out of the water and swam down the river. Her brother had noticed nothing at all and drove on until they reached the court. There he presented the black girl to the king as his sister, truly believing it was she, for his sight was clouded, though he could still see the golden garments shimmering. When the king beheld the utter ugliness of his supposed bride, he grew very angry and ordered the coachman to be thrown into a pit full of vipers and other serpents. But the old witch knew how to ensnare the king and blind him with her arts, so that he kept her and her daughter at court. Indeed, the daughter came to seem quite tolerable to him, and he actually married her.

One evening, while the black bride sat on the king’s lap, a white duck came swimming into the kitchen through the drain and said to the kitchen boy, “Little boy, light a fire for me,

so I may warm my feathers.” The kitchen boy did as she asked and lit a fire on the hearth. The duck came and settled beside it, shook herself, and smoothed her feathers with her beak. As she sat there enjoying the warmth, she asked, “How fares my brother Reginer?”

The kitchen boy answered, “He lies imprisoned in a pit, with vipers and snakes for company.” Then she asked, “How fares the black witch in the house?”

The kitchen boy answered, “She sits warm in the king’s embrace.” “May God have mercy!” said the duck, and swam out through the drain. The next evening she returned and asked the same questions, and on the third evening she came again. Then the kitchen boy could bear it no longer, and went to the king and told him everything. The king wished to see for himself, so he went there the following evening, and when the duck poked her head through the drain, he took his sword and cut through her neck. At once she turned into the most beautiful maiden, the very image of the portrait her brother had painted. The king was overjoyed, and because she stood there soaking wet, he had exquisite clothes brought and ordered that she be dressed in them. Then she told him how she had been deceived by cunning and treachery and at last thrown into the river, and her first request was that her brother be brought out of the snake pit. When the king had granted this request, he went to the chamber where the old witch sat and asked, “What does a woman deserve who has done such things?” And he recounted all that had happened. She was so blinded that she suspected nothing and said, “She deserves to be stripped naked and put into a barrel studded with nails, and a horse should be harnessed to the barrel and driven out into the wide world.” All this was done to her and her black daughter. But the king married the fair and beautiful bride, and rewarded her faithful brother by making him a rich and respected man.