Prevod

At the edge of a great forest lived a woodcutter and his wife. They had only one child, a little girl of three. But they were so poor that they no longer had even their daily bread, and did not know what to give her to eat. One morning the woodcutter went out into the forest to work, full of care, and as he was chopping wood, a beautiful, tall woman suddenly stood before him, with a crown of shining stars upon her head. She said to him, “I am the Virgin Mary, the mother of the Christ Child. You are poor and needy. Bring me your child, and I will take her with me, be her mother, and care for her.” The woodcutter obeyed, fetched his child, and gave her to the Virgin Mary, who took her up to heaven. There the child fared well: she ate sweet bread and drank sweet milk, her clothes were of gold, and the little angels played with her. When she had grown to be fourteen years old, the Virgin Mary called her one day and said, “Dear child, I am about to set out on a long journey. Take charge of the keys to the thirteen doors of the kingdom of heaven. You may unlock twelve of them and behold the glories within, but the thirteenth, to which this little key belongs, is forbidden to you. Take care not to unlock it, or misfortune will befall you.” The girl promised to obey, and when the Virgin Mary had gone, she began to explore the chambers of heaven. Each day she unlocked one, until she had visited all twelve. In each sat an apostle surrounded by a great radiance, and she delighted in all the splendor and glory, while the little angels who always accompanied her rejoiced with her. Now only the forbidden door remained, and she felt a great longing to know what lay hidden behind it. She said to the little angels, “I will not open it all the way, nor will I go inside. I will only unlock it so that we can peep through the crack.” “Oh, no,” said the little angels, “that would be a sin. The Virgin Mary has forbidden it, and it could easily bring you misfortune.” At this the girl fell silent, but the desire in her heart would not be still. It gnawed and pecked away at her and gave her no peace. And once, when all the little angels had gone out, she thought, “Now I am quite alone, and I could look inside. No one would ever know.” She found the key, and once she held it in her hand, she put it into the lock; and once she had put it in, she turned it. The door sprang open, and she saw the Holy Trinity seated amid fire and radiance. She stood for a little while, gazing at it all in wonder, then lightly touched the radiance with her finger, and the finger turned entirely to gold. At once she was overcome with terror, slammed the door shut, and ran away. Nor would her fear leave her, whatever she tried to do, and her heart went on pounding and would not be still. The gold, too, remained upon her finger and would not come off, however much she washed and rubbed it.

Before long, the Virgin Mary returned from her journey. She called the girl to her and asked for the keys of heaven back. As the girl handed over the bunch, the Virgin looked into her eyes and said, “You have not opened the thirteenth door, have you?” “No,” she answered. Then Mary laid her hand upon the girl’s heart, felt how it pounded and pounded, and knew full well that she had disobeyed her command and unlocked the door. So she asked again, “Are you certain you did not do it?” “No, I did not,” said the girl a second time. Then Mary caught sight of the finger that had turned to gold at the touch of the heavenly fire, knew that the girl had sinned, and asked a third time, “Did you not do it?” “No,” said the girl for the third time. Then the Virgin Mary said, “You have disobeyed me, and lied as well. You are no longer worthy to remain in heaven.”

Then the girl sank into a deep sleep, and when she awoke, she lay down on earth, in the midst of a wilderness. She tried to cry out, but could not make a sound. She sprang up and tried to run away, but whichever way she turned, she was held back by dense thorn hedges that she could not break through. In the lonely place where she was imprisoned stood an old hollow tree, and this had to be her dwelling. She crept inside when night came and slept there, and when it stormed and rained, she found shelter within it. But it was a wretched life, and when she thought how beautiful it had been in heaven, and how the angels had played with her, she wept bitterly. Roots and wild berries were her only food, and she searched for them as far as she could go. In autumn she gathered fallen nuts and leaves and carried them into the hollow. The nuts were her food in winter, and when snow and ice came, she crept into the leaves like a poor little animal to keep herself from freezing. Before long her clothes tore, and one piece after another fell from her body. When the sun shone warm again, she went outside and sat before the tree, and her long hair covered her on every side like a cloak. So she sat, year after year, and came to know the sorrow and misery of the world.

One day, when the trees were once more clothed in fresh green, the king of the country was hunting in the forest and pursuing a roe deer. As it had fled into the thicket surrounding the clearing, he dismounted, tore the undergrowth apart, and hacked a path with his sword. When at last he had broken through, he saw a maiden of surpassing beauty sitting beneath the tree, covered to her very toes by her golden hair. He stood still and gazed at her in wonder, then spoke to her, saying, “Who are you? Why are you sitting here in this wilderness?” But she gave no answer, for she could not speak. The king went on, “Will you come with me to my castle?” At this she merely gave a little nod. The king took her in his arms, carried her to his horse, and rode home with her. When he reached the royal castle, he had her dressed in fine clothes and gave her everything in abundance. And though she could not speak, she was so beautiful and lovely that he came to love her with all his heart, and before long he married her.

When about a year had passed, the queen gave birth to a son. That night, as she lay alone in her bed, the Virgin Mary appeared to her and said, “If you will tell the truth and confess that you unlocked the forbidden door, I will open your mouth and restore your speech. But if you persist in sin and stubbornly deny it, I will take your newborn child away with me.” The queen was granted the power to answer, but she remained obstinate and said, “No, I did not open the forbidden door.” And the Virgin Mary took the newborn child from her arms and vanished with him. The next morning, when the child could not be found, a murmur spread among the people that the queen was a cannibal and had killed her own child. She heard it all and could say nothing against it, but the king would not believe it, because he loved her so dearly.

A year later the queen gave birth to another son. Again the Virgin Mary came to her in the night and said, “If you will confess that you opened the forbidden door, I will give you back your child and loose your tongue. But if you persist in sin and deny it, I will take this newborn child away with me as well.” Again the queen said, “No, I did not open the forbidden door.” And the Virgin took the child from her arms and carried him away to heaven. In the morning, when this child too had vanished, the people said openly that the queen had devoured him, and the king’s counselors demanded that she be brought to trial. But the king loved her so dearly that he would not believe it, and forbade his counselors, on pain of death, to speak of it again.

The following year the queen gave birth to a beautiful little daughter, and the Virgin Mary appeared to her in the night for the third time and said, “Follow me.” She took her by the hand and led her into heaven, and there she showed her her two elder children, who smiled at her and played with the globe of the world. When the queen rejoiced at the sight, the Virgin Mary said, “Has your heart still not softened? If you confess that you opened the forbidden door, I will give you back your two little sons.” But for the third time the queen answered, “No, I did not open the