Prevod

Let no one say that a poor tailor cannot make his way in the world and rise to great honors. All he needs is to find the right opportunity and, most important of all, to have luck on his side. Once a clever, nimble young tailor was traveling about in search of work when he came to a great forest, and, not knowing the way, he lost himself. Night fell, and he had no choice but to find somewhere to sleep in that dreadful solitude. The soft moss would certainly have made him a comfortable bed, but fear of wild beasts gave him no peace there, and at last he resolved to spend the night in a tree. He sought out a tall oak, climbed to its very crown, and thanked God that he had his pressing iron with him, for otherwise the wind blowing over the treetops would have carried him away.

After he had spent several hours in the darkness, with much trembling and misgiving, he caught sight of a light not far off. Thinking there might be a human dwelling there, where he would be better off than among the branches of a tree, he climbed carefully down and followed the light. It led him to a little cottage woven of reeds and rushes. He knocked boldly, the door opened, and by the light that spilled out he saw a little old man with iron-gray hair, dressed in a garment pieced together from scraps of many colors. 'Who are you, and what do you want?' he asked in a rasping voice. 'I am a poor tailor,' the young man replied, 'and night has overtaken me here in the wilderness. I beg you most earnestly to shelter me in your cottage until morning.' 'Be on your way,' the old man answered gruffly. 'I want nothing to do with vagabonds. Find yourself lodging somewhere else.' With these words he was about to slip back into his house, but the tailor caught him by his coattail and pleaded so movingly that the old man, who was not nearly as ill-natured as he pretended, at last relented and took him into his cottage. There he gave him something to eat and then showed him a quite comfortable place to sleep in a corner.

The weary tailor needed no rocking to sleep, but slept soundly until morning, and would not yet have thought of rising had he not been startled awake by a tremendous noise. Fierce cries and bellowing came through the thin walls of the house. Seized by an unexpected burst of courage, the tailor sprang up, hastily pulled on his clothes, and hurried outside. There, close to the cottage, he saw a great black bull and a handsome stag locked in a furious struggle. They charged at one another with such rage that the ground shook beneath their trampling feet and the air rang with their cries. For a long time it was uncertain which would win. At last the stag drove his antlers into his opponent's body, and the bull fell to the earth with a terrible bellow. A few more blows from the stag finished him off.

The tailor, who had watched the struggle in amazement, was still standing motionless when the stag came bounding toward him and, before he could escape, scooped him straight up in his great antlers. There was little time to think, for away they went at a headlong pace over sticks and stones, hill and dale, meadow and forest. He clung with both hands to the tips of the antlers and surrendered himself to his fate. It seemed to him that he was flying through the air. At last the stag stopped before a wall of rock and gently lowered the tailor to the ground. More dead than alive, the tailor needed some time to recover his senses. Once he had somewhat recovered, the stag, which had remained beside him, struck his antlers against a door in the rock with such force that it flew open. Flames burst out, followed by a great cloud of vapor that hid the stag from his sight. The tailor did not know what to do or which way to turn to escape this wilderness and find his way back to human company. As he stood there at a loss, a voice rang out from the rock, calling, 'Come in without fear. No harm shall come to you.' He hesitated, but, urged on by some mysterious power, obeyed the voice and passed through the iron door into a great, spacious hall. Its ceiling, walls, and floor were made of square blocks of gleaming polished stone, each engraved with signs unknown to him. He gazed at everything in wonder and was just about to go outside again when he heard the voice once more. 'Step onto the stone in the middle of the hall,' it said, 'and great good fortune awaits you.'

By now his courage had grown so much that he obeyed the command. The stone began to give way beneath his feet and sank slowly into the depths. When it came to rest and the tailor looked about him, he found himself in a hall as large as the first. Here, however, there was still more to see and admire. Recesses had been cut into the walls, and in them stood vessels of clear glass filled with colored spirits or bluish smoke. On the floor of the hall, opposite one another, stood two great glass cases that at once aroused his curiosity. Approaching one of them, he saw within it a beautiful building resembling a castle, surrounded by outbuildings, stables, barns, and a host of other delightful things. Everything was tiny, but made with the utmost care and delicacy, and seemed to have been carved by a master craftsman with the greatest precision.

He would not yet have turned his eyes from these wonders had the voice not spoken again. It bade him turn around and look at the glass case opposite. How much greater was his astonishment when he saw within it a maiden of surpassing beauty. She lay as though asleep, wrapped in her long fair hair as in a costly mantle. Her eyes were tightly closed, but the fresh color in her face and a ribbon that rose and fell with her breathing left no doubt that she was alive. The tailor was gazing at the beautiful maiden with a pounding heart when suddenly she opened her eyes and started at the sight of him in joyful alarm. 'Merciful heaven!' she cried. 'My deliverance is at hand! Quickly, quickly, help me out of my prison. Slide back the bolt on this glass coffin, and I shall be free.' The tailor obeyed without hesitation. At once she raised the glass lid, stepped out, and hurried into a corner of the hall, where she wrapped herself in a wide cloak. Then she sat down on a stone and beckoned the young man to her. After pressing a tender kiss upon his lips, she said, 'My long-awaited deliverer, kind heaven has led me to you and put an end to my sufferings. On the very day they end, your happiness shall begin. You are the husband heaven has chosen for me, and, loved by me and showered with every earthly blessing, you shall spend your life in undisturbed joy. Sit down and hear the story of my fate.

I am the daughter of a wealthy count. My parents died when I was still very young, and in their will they entrusted me to my elder brother, in whose care I was brought up. We loved one another so dearly and were so alike in our thoughts and inclinations that we both resolved never to marry, but to remain together to the end of our lives. There was never any lack of company in our house. Neighbors and friends often visited us, and we offered everyone the fullest hospitality. And so it happened one evening that a stranger rode up to our castle and, claiming that he could no longer reach the next town, asked for a night's lodging. We granted his request with every courtesy, and throughout supper he entertained us most charmingly with his conversation and the stories he mingled with it. My brother took such a liking to him that he asked him to stay with us for a few days, and after some demur he agreed. It was late at night when we rose from the table. The stranger was shown to a room, and, tired as I was, I hurried away to sink into my soft feather bed. I had scarcely fallen into a light sleep when the strains of sweet and delicate music awoke me. Unable to understand where they came from, I tried to call my maid, who slept in the next room, but to my astonishment I found that some unknown power had robbed me of speech, as though a nightmare spirit were weighing upon my breast, and I could not utter the slightest sound. Then, by the glow of the night lamp, I saw the stranger enter my room, though both its doors were securely locked. He approached me and said that, by the magical powers at his command, he had caused the sweet music to sound in order to wake me, and had now passed through every lock to offer me his heart and hand. But my aversion to his sorcery was so great that I did not deign to answer him. For a while he stood motionless, doubtless hoping for a favorable reply, but when I continued to remain silent he declared angrily that he would take his revenge and find a way to punish my pride. With that he left the room. I passed the night in the greatest distress and did not fall asleep until toward morning. When I awoke, I hurried to my brother to tell him what had happened, but I did not find him in his room, and the servant told me that he had ridden out hunting with the stranger at daybreak.

At once I had a foreboding of evil. I dressed quickly, ordered my riding horse saddled, and galloped toward the forest, accompanied by only one servant. The servant fell with his horse and could not follow me, for the horse had broken its leg. Without stopping, I rode on, and within a few minutes I saw the stranger coming toward me, leading a handsome stag on a leash. I asked him where he had left my brother and how he had come by this stag, from whose great eyes I could see tears flowing. Instead of answering me, he began to laugh aloud. This threw me into such a rage that I drew a pistol and fired at the monster, but the bullet rebounded from his breast and struck my horse in the head. I fell to the ground, and the stranger murmured a few words that robbed me of consciousness.

When I came to my senses, I found myself in a glass coffin in this underground vault. The sorcerer appeared once more and told me that he had changed my brother into a stag, shrunk my castle and everything belonging to it and shut them in the other glass case, and turned my servants into smoke and imprisoned them in glass bottles. If I would now yield to his wishes, he could easily restore everything to its former state. He had only to open the vessels, and everything would return to its natural shape. I answered him no more than I had the first time. He vanished and left me lying in my prison, where a deep sleep came over me. Among the visions that passed before my soul was the comforting sight of a young man who came and set me free. And now, when I open my eyes today, I see you and find my dream fulfilled. Help me accomplish what followed in that vision. First, we must lift the glass case containing my castle onto that broad stone.'

As soon as the weight was laid upon it, the stone rose with the maiden and the young man, passing through the opening in the ceiling into the upper hall, from which they could easily reach the open air. Here the maiden opened the lid, and it was a wonder to behold how the castle, houses, and farmyards expanded and grew with the greatest speed to their natural size. Then they returned to the underground cavern and had the stone carry up the glass vessels filled with smoke. No sooner had the maiden opened the bottles than the blue smoke poured out and turned into living people, whom she recognized as her servants and household. Her joy grew greater still when her brother, who had killed the sorcerer in the shape of the bull, came out of the forest in human form. And that very day, true to her promise, the maiden gave the fortunate tailor her hand at the altar.