Prevod

Once upon a time there was a king’s daughter who had a hall high beneath the battlements of her castle, with twelve windows looking out in every direction. Whenever she climbed up and looked around, she could survey her whole kingdom. From the first window she could already see more keenly than other people, from the second better still, from the third more clearly yet, and so on, until at the twelfth she could see everything above and below the earth, and nothing could remain hidden from her. But she was proud, would submit to no one, and wished to keep the rule entirely in her own hands. So she proclaimed that no man should become her husband unless he could hide from her so well that she could not possibly find him. Anyone who tried and was discovered would have his head cut off and set upon a stake. Ninety-seven stakes bearing dead men’s heads already stood before the castle, and for a long time no one came forward. The princess was pleased and thought, “Now I shall remain free all my life.” Then three brothers appeared before her and announced that they wished to try their luck. The eldest thought he would be safe if he crept into a lime pit, but she spotted him from the very first window, had him dragged out, and ordered his head cut off. The second crept into the castle cellar, but she saw him too from the first window, and that was the end of him: his head went on the ninety-ninth stake. Then the youngest stepped forward and asked her to give him a day to think, and also to be gracious enough to spare him twice if she discovered him. If he failed a third time, he would lay no further claim to his life. Because he was so handsome and pleaded so earnestly, she said, “Yes, I will grant you that, but you will not succeed.”

The next day he thought long and hard about where to hide, but all in vain. At last he took up his gun and went out hunting. He saw a raven and took aim at it; he was just about to fire when the raven cried, “Do not shoot! I will repay you!” He lowered his gun, went on, and came to a lake, where he surprised a large fish that had risen from the depths to the surface. When he took aim, the fish cried, “Do not shoot! I will repay you!” He let it dive beneath the water, went on, and met a fox that was limping. He fired and missed, whereupon the fox cried, “Come here instead and pull the thorn out of my foot.” He did so, but then he meant to kill the fox and skin it. The fox said, “Spare me! I will repay you!” The young man let it go, and as evening had come, he returned home.

The next day he was to hide, but however much he racked his brains, he could not think where to go. He went into the forest to the raven and said, “I spared your life. Now tell me where I can hide so that the princess cannot see me.” The raven lowered its head and thought for a long time. At last it croaked, “I have it!” It fetched an egg from its nest, split it in two, and shut the young man inside. Then it made the egg whole again and sat on it. When the princess stepped up to the first window, she could not discover him, nor could she at the windows that followed, and she began to grow uneasy. But at the eleventh she caught sight of him. She had the raven shot and the egg brought to her and broken, and the young man had to come out. She said, “You are spared this once. If you do no better, you are lost.”

The following day he went to the lake, called the fish, and said, “I spared your life. Now tell me where I can hide so that the princess cannot see me.” The fish pondered, and at last cried, “I have it! I will hide you in my belly.” It swallowed him and swam down to the bottom of the lake. The princess looked through her windows, and even at the eleventh she could not see him and was dismayed. But at last, at the twelfth, she discovered him. She had the fish caught and killed, and the young man came to light. Anyone can imagine how he felt. She said, “You have been spared twice, but your head will surely go on the hundredth stake.”

On the last day he went out into the fields with a heavy heart and met the fox. “You know how to find every hiding place,” he said. “I spared your life. Now advise me where to hide so that the princess cannot find me.” “A difficult business,” replied the fox, looking doubtful. At last it cried, “I have it!” It took him to a spring, plunged into it, and came out as a market trader and animal dealer. The young man had to plunge into the water too, and was transformed into a little sea-hare. The merchant went into town and displayed the pretty little creature. A great crowd gathered to see it. At last the princess came too, and she was so taken with it that she bought it, paying the merchant a large sum. Before handing it over to her, he said to it, “When the princess goes to the window, creep quickly beneath her braid.” Now the time came for her to search for him. She went to the windows in turn, from the first to the eleventh, and did not see him. When she failed to see him even at the twelfth, she was so full of fear and anger that she slammed it shut with such force that the glass in every window shattered into a thousand pieces, and the whole castle shook.

She turned back and felt the little sea-hare beneath her braid. Seizing it, she threw it to the floor and cried, “Out of my sight!” It ran to the merchant, and together they hurried to the spring, where they plunged into the water and regained their true forms. The young man thanked the fox and said, “The raven and the fish are utter fools compared with you. You know all the right tricks, that is certain!”

The young man went straight to the castle. The princess was already waiting for him and submitted to her fate. The wedding was celebrated, and he was now king and lord of the whole realm. He never told her where he had hidden the third time, or who had helped him, so she believed he had done it all by his own skill and held him in respect, for she thought to herself, “He knows more than you do, after all!”