Prevod

A poor man had so many children that he had already asked everyone in the world to stand godparent, and when he had yet another child, there was no one left whom he could ask. He did not know what to do, and in his distress he lay down and fell asleep. Then he dreamed that he should go outside the town gate and ask the first person he met to be godfather. When he awoke, he decided to follow his dream, went out through the gate, and asked the first person he met to stand godfather. The stranger gave him a little vial of water and said, “This is a wondrous water with which you can heal the sick. You need only look to see where Death is standing. If he stands at the sick person’s head, give them some of the water, and they will recover; but if he stands at their feet, all your efforts will be in vain: they must die.” From then on, the man could always tell whether a sick person could be saved or not, and he became famous for his skill and earned a great deal of money. Once he was summoned to the king’s child, and when he entered, he saw Death standing at the child’s head and cured it with the water. The same thing happened the second time, but the third time Death stood at the child’s feet, and the child had to die.

One day the man decided to visit the godfather and tell him how things had gone with the water. But when he entered the house, he found the strangest goings-on. On the first flight of stairs, a shovel and a broom were quarreling and striking each other furiously. He asked them, “Where does the godfather live?” The broom replied, “One flight higher.”

When he came to the second flight, he saw a great many dead fingers lying there. He asked, “Where does the godfather live?” One of the fingers replied, “One flight higher.” On the third flight lay a heap of skulls, and they too directed him one flight higher. On the fourth flight he saw fish over the fire, sizzling in a pan and frying themselves. They also said, “One flight higher.” And when he had climbed the fifth flight, he came to a room and peered through the keyhole. There he saw the godfather, who had a pair of long horns. When he opened the door and went in, the godfather quickly lay down on the bed and pulled the covers over himself. Then the man said, “Godfather, what strange goings-on there are in your house! When I came to your first flight of stairs, a shovel and a broom were quarreling and striking each other furiously.” “How can you be so simple?” said the godfather. “That was the manservant and the maid talking to each other.” “But on the second flight I saw dead fingers lying about.” “Oh, how foolish you are! Those were scorzonera roots.” “On the third flight there was a heap of skulls.” “Silly man, those were heads of cabbage.” “On the fourth I saw fish in a pan, sizzling and frying themselves.” As soon as he had said this, the fish came in and served themselves. “And when I had climbed the fifth flight, I peered through a door’s keyhole, and there I saw you, Godfather, and you had long horns.” “Why, that is not true.” The man grew frightened and ran away, and who knows what the godfather might otherwise have done to him.