Prevod

There was once an emperor who had an only daughter, beautiful beyond measure. In the pride of his power and her beauty, he proclaimed throughout the world that any young man who could guess what mark the maiden bore, and where, should have her for his wife and half his empire besides; but whoever guessed wrong would be turned into a lamb or lose his head. Word of this marvel spread throughout the world, and suitors came in their thousands from every quarter, but all in vain: a great many young men were changed into lambs, and countless others lost their heads. The news also reached a young man who was poor but shrewd and quick-witted. Tempted by the beautiful maiden and half the empire, he went to see her, though not to ask for her hand, but merely to look at her and ask her something. When he reached the emperor’s palace, what should he see? God knows how many little lambs of every kind crowded round him, leaping up at him and bleating, as though to warn him against his purpose, lest he too be turned into a lamb; and every one of the severed heads set in a row upon stakes began to shed tears. At the sight of this, he took fright and was about to flee, but a man barred his way, dressed all in bloody clothes, with wings and a single eye in his head. “Stop!” he shouted. “Where are you going? Turn back, or you are a dead man!” So the young man turned and went to the emperor’s daughter, who received him and said, “Have you come to ask for my hand as well?” “No, noble princess. I have only heard that you intend to marry, and may good fortune attend you, so I have come to ask whether you need any wedding clothes.” “What clothes have you?” she asked, and he answered, “I have drawers of marble, a shift of dew, a kerchief whose warp is sunbeams and whose weft is the stars and the moon, and slippers of pure gold, neither woven nor forged. Now, if you wish to buy all these, command me to go and fetch them. Only you must understand this: when you try on these garments one by one, I will have no one with us but the two of us. If they suit you, we shall easily agree on a price; if they do not, I shall show them to no one else, but keep them for my own bride.” The emperor’s daughter fell for his trick and told him to bring them all. Off he went and brought everything, though God alone knows where he had obtained such things. Then they shut themselves in a chamber, and she began by putting on the drawers, while he kept peeping to see whether she had a mark anywhere on her legs. By good fortune, he caught sight of a golden star on her right knee. When he saw it, he said nothing, but thought to himself, “Fortune smiles on me this morning, and for evermore!” Then the emperor’s daughter tried on the shift and all the rest, but he no longer troubled to look for any other mark. Everything fitted her as though it had been made to measure. They agreed on a price, she paid him the sum they had settled upon, and he took his money away. A few days later, he dressed as finely as he could and went to ask the emperor for his daughter’s hand. When he came before the emperor, he said, “Noble emperor! I have come to ask for your daughter in marriage, and beg you to give her to me.” “Very well,” answered the emperor, “but do you know how my daughter must be wooed? Take good care: if you fail to guess her mark, you are a dead man; but if you guess it, she and half my empire are yours.” The young man bowed to the emperor and said, “My thanks, emperor and father-in-law! If that is so, she is mine. She has a golden star on her right knee.” The emperor marvelled that he should know this, but he had no choice: he gave him his daughter, and the young man married her. When the time came to divide off half the empire for him, his son-in-law said, “Keep your half of the empire, with my blessing! Only restore these poor souls to what they were before.” The emperor replied that this was not in his power, but in his daughter’s—“And your wife’s,” he added. So the young man appealed to his wife, and she said, “Draw blood from beneath this star, and let each lamb take just one lick of it with its tongue. Smear some on the lower lip of every head as well. Then each lamb will turn back into a man, and the heads will come to life and become men as they were before.” He did as she said, and when everyone had been restored to his former self, he invited them all to join his wedding party. Then he set off home with his bride, with singing and the firing of guns, and there he feasted them with food and drink. At last each went home, while he remained with his bride. God alone knows what became of them after that, but their tale is told to this day.