Prevod

Once upon a time there was a poor man who could no longer feed his only son. Then the son said, “Dear Father, you are so badly off, and I am a burden to you. I would rather go out into the world myself and see how I can earn my bread.” So his father gave him his blessing and took leave of him with great sorrow. At that time the king of a mighty realm was at war, and the young man entered his service and went into battle. When he came face to face with the enemy, a battle was fought, and the danger was great: bullets rained down, and his comrades fell on every side. When their commander too was killed, the rest were ready to flee, but the young man stepped forward, rallied their courage, and cried, “We will not let our fatherland perish!” The others followed him, and he charged ahead and defeated the enemy. When the king heard that he owed his victory to this young man alone, he raised him above all the others, gave him great riches, and made him the foremost man in his kingdom.

The king had a daughter who was very beautiful, but also very peculiar. She had vowed to take no man as her lord and husband unless he promised that, if she died first, he would let himself be buried alive with her. “If he loves me with all his heart,” she said, “what use would life be to him then?” In return she would do the same, and if he died first, she would go down into the grave with him. This strange vow had frightened off every suitor so far, but the young man was so captivated by her beauty that he paid no heed to anything else and asked her father for her hand. “Do you know,” said the king, “what you must promise?” “I must go into the grave with her,” he answered, “if I outlive her. But my love is so great that I care nothing for the danger.” Then the king consented, and the wedding was celebrated with great splendour.

For a time they lived happily and contentedly together, but then the young queen fell gravely ill, and no physician could help her. When she lay dead, the young king remembered the promise he had been obliged to make, and he shuddered at the thought of lying down alive in the grave. But there was no escape: the king had posted guards at every gate, and there was no way to evade his fate. When the day came for the body to be laid in the royal vault, he too was led down into it, and then the door was bolted and locked.

Beside the coffin stood a table with four candles, four loaves of bread, and four bottles of wine. Once these provisions ran out, he would have to waste away. So he sat there full of grief and sorrow, eating only a little morsel of bread each day and drinking only a sip of wine, yet still watching death draw ever nearer. As he sat staring before him, he saw a snake crawl out of a corner of the vault and approach the body. Thinking it had come to gnaw at her, he drew his sword and said, “As long as I live, you shall not touch her,” and cut it into three pieces. A little while later, a second snake crawled out of the corner, but when it saw the other lying dead and dismembered, it went back and soon returned with three green leaves in its mouth. Then it took the three pieces of the snake, laid them together as they belonged, and placed a leaf on each wound. At once the severed parts joined together, the snake stirred and came back to life, and the two hurried away together. The leaves remained lying on the ground, and the unhappy man, who had watched it all, began to wonder whether the wondrous power of the leaves that had restored the snake to life might also help a human being. So he picked up the leaves and laid one on the dead woman’s mouth and the other two on her eyes. Scarcely had he done so when the blood began to flow through her veins, rising into her pale face and bringing colour back to it. Then she drew breath, opened her eyes, and said, “Oh, God, where am I?” “You are with me, dear wife,” he answered, and told her all that had happened and how he had brought her back to life. Then he gave her some wine and bread, and when she had regained her strength, she rose, and they went to the door and knocked and called so loudly that the guards heard them and reported it to the king. The king came down himself and opened the door. There he found them both alive and well, and rejoiced with them that all their troubles were now over. But the young king took the three snake leaves with him, gave them to a servant, and said, “Keep these safe for me, and carry them with you at all times. Who knows what trouble they may yet help us out of?”

But a change had come over his wife since she had been brought back to life: it was as though all love for her husband had left her heart. Some time later, when he wished to make a voyage across the sea to visit his old father and they had gone aboard a ship, she forgot the great love and faithfulness he had shown her, with which he had saved her from death, and conceived a wicked passion for the captain. One day, while the young king lay asleep, she called the captain over and took the sleeping man by the head, while the captain had to take him by the feet, and together they threw him into the sea. When the shameful deed was done, she said to him, “Now let us return home and say that he died on the voyage. I shall praise you so highly to my father that he will marry me to you and make you heir to his crown.” But the faithful servant, who had seen everything, secretly untied a little boat from the ship, climbed into it, and rowed after his master, letting the traitors sail on. He pulled the dead man out of the water and, with the help of the three snake leaves he carried with him, which he laid on his eyes and mouth, succeeded in bringing him back to life.

The two of them rowed with all their strength, day and night, and their little boat flew along so swiftly that they reached the old king before the other ship. He was astonished to see them arrive alone and asked what had happened to them. When he heard of his daughter’s wickedness, he said, “I cannot believe she has acted so vilely, but the truth will soon come to light,” and told them both to go into a hidden chamber and keep out of everyone’s sight. Soon afterwards the great ship arrived, and the wicked woman appeared before her father with a sorrowful face. He said, “Why have you returned alone? Where is your husband?” “Oh, dear Father,” she answered, “I come home in great sorrow. My husband suddenly fell ill and died during the voyage, and if the good captain had not stood by me, I should have fared very badly. He was there when my husband died and can tell you everything.” The king said, “I shall bring the dead man back to life,” and opened the chamber and called the two men out. When the woman caught sight of her husband, she was thunderstruck, sank to her knees, and begged for mercy. The king said, “There is no mercy for you. He was ready to die with you and restored you to life, but you murdered him in his sleep, and you shall receive your just reward.” Then she and her accomplice were put into a boat riddled with holes and sent out to sea, where they soon sank beneath the waves.