Hudičeve spletke in Božja moč

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Hudičeve spletke in Božja moč

One morning the emperor’s son set out hunting. As he trudged through the snow, his nose began to bleed, and, seeing how beautiful the red blood looked against the white snow, he thought to himself, “Oh, if only I could marry a maiden as white as snow and as rosy as blood!” Walking on with this thought in mind, he met an old woman and asked her whether there were any such maidens anywhere. She told him that farther on, in the forest, there was a house with no door and only a single window through which one entered and left, and that just such a maiden lived there. “But, my son,” she said, “of all those who have gone there to seek her hand, not one has ever returned.” “By God, even if I never return either,” answered the emperor’s son, “I am going. Only tell me, is this the way?” When the old woman heard this, she took pity on him, reached into her bosom, and drew out a little piece of bread, which she gave him, saying, “Here, take this bread, but guard it as the apple of your eye.” He took the bread and went on, and before long he met another old woman.

She asked him where he was going, and he told her he was going to seek the hand of a maiden in such and such a place. The old woman tried to dissuade him, telling him the same thing as the first, but he said, “By God, old woman, I am going, even if I never come back.” Then she gave him a hazelnut, saying, “Keep this hazelnut with you, for it will serve you well.” He took the hazelnut and went on, and soon came upon a third old woman sitting by the roadside. She too asked him where he was going, and he told her he was going to seek the hand of a maiden in such and such a place.

When the old woman heard this, she began to weep and implore him to leave the maiden alone, telling him what the others had told him, but he would not listen to her either. Then she gave him a walnut, saying, “Take this walnut and keep it until you need it.” Puzzled by these gifts, he asked the third old woman what it meant that the first had given him a little bread, the second a hazelnut, and she a walnut. The old woman told him, “When you reach the house, throw the bread to the wild beasts so that they do not devour you. And when you find yourself in the direst straits, ask the hazelnut first, and then the walnut.”

Then the emperor’s son went on until he came into a dense forest, and there he caught sight of the house. When he approached it, a throng of wild beasts of every kind sprang at him, but, as the old woman had told him, he threw them the bread. As soon as each beast sniffed it, it dropped onto its belly and tucked its tail beneath it. Now the house had no door, and the window was too high for him to climb up to it. But all at once he saw a woman letting down her golden hair from the window. He ran forward and caught hold of it, and she pulled him up into the house. And who should she be but the very maiden he sought! They rejoiced at the sight of one another, and the maiden said to him, “Thank God my mother happens to be away from home. She has gone to gather herbs in the forest, with which she bewitches young men and turns them into wild beasts, just as she did to all those who sought my hand. They would very nearly have torn you to pieces too, had God not helped you. Come, let us flee!”

Then they fled through the forest as fast as they could. As they ran, they looked back and saw her mother racing after them. They were terrified, and the old woman was almost upon them when, in his distress, the emperor’s son remembered the hazelnut. He took it out and asked, “Ah, for God’s sake! What shall we do now?” The hazelnut answered, “Open me.” When he opened it, raging rivers burst forth and barred the mother’s way. But she touched the water with her staff, and the waters parted in two, and on she came after them.

When they saw that she was about to catch them again, the emperor’s son took out the walnut and cried, “Now you tell us what to do!” “Crack me!” answered the walnut. The moment he cracked it, fire blazed out of it so fiercely that it nearly set the whole forest alight. But the maiden’s mother spat into the fire, and it went out that very instant, and still she pursued them.

Then the emperor’s son saw that this was the devil’s sorcery. He turned to the east, crossed himself, and called upon mighty God to help him. A bolt of lightning flashed from heaven and burned the maiden’s mother to ashes, and the earth opened beneath her and swallowed her bones. Thus the emperor’s son escaped safely home with the maiden, had her baptized, and married her. And may God grant you joy!