There was once a king who enjoyed hunting wild animals. One day as the king was hunting he rode deep into the forests. There the king lost his way. By this time it was almost evening.
In front of him the king saw a tiny little cottage in the middle of the dense forest.
The cottage belonged to a charcoal burner.
The king knocked on the door. "I have lost my way. Can you lead me back to my home outside the forest? I will pay you well for it."
The charcoal burner was a poor man but right now he was worried. He shook his head on hearing the king. "My wife is going to have a child tonight. I need to be with her. Tomorrow morning after my child is born, I will take you outside the forest. Until then please lie down in my home."
The king realized that the charcoal burner would not leave his wife for the night and rested there in the charcoal burner's house.
However the king could not sleep well at night. The hard floor and the general poor conditions around kept the king awake.
At night the king saw a bright light coming from the inner room of the charcoal burner's house. He peered inside and saw that the charcoal burner and his wife were both fast asleep. There was a little baby who was lying beside the charcoal burner's wife.
The king had seen the bright light because there were three old women standing beside the little baby.
The first old woman looked at the baby. “My gift to the boy is that he will face many dangers.”
The second old woman looked at the child. “My gift to him is that he will overcome all these dangers and live a long life.
The third old woman studied the baby. “And I gave this boy, the baby daughter of the king outside, as his wife.”
The three old women were the Fates and they had given their gifts to the boy.
The king overheard all of this and he was stunned. He could not believe that this poor man's son could become his son-in-law.
In the morning the king went to the charcoal burner. “Give me your baby. I will take care of it and I will give you so much money that you do not have to burn charcoal any more.”
The charcoal burner was delighted.
However the king could not carry the baby immediately and he promised to send for it after he had reached his kingdom.
There in the kingdom the king was thrilled because a baby girl had been born to him the previous night.
The king realized that things were coming to pass exactly as the three old women had asked and he turned to his servant. “Go to a cottage in the middle of the forest and you will find a charcoal burner. There give him this money and get his child. Take the child and drown it. If you do not drown the child,” the king finished in a thundering voice. “You will be killed!”
However the servant could not bring himself to do this.
He paid the money to the charcoal burner and took the baby.
But he put the baby in a basket and when he came across a bridge in the forest the servant let the basket flow in the waters.
The servant went back to the king and told the king that the deed had been done.
The king thought that he had averted the words of the Fates.
The baby floated on the basket and it came down to a fisherman's cottage.
The fisherman was in the bank of the waters mending his nets. There he saw a floating basket and brought it towards him.
He found the baby in the basket and carried the baby to his wife.
They decided to bring up the little baby as their own.
As the baby was found floating in the river they named the child as “Floatling” or “Plaváczek”.
Time passed on and the young boy grew up as the fisherman's son. He grew up to be a very handsome man.
It so happened that the same king rode the way onto the fisherman's cottage one day.
The king went towards the fisherman's cottage and asked for some water.
The fisherman asked his son to bring some water for the king.
The king was stunned to see such a handsome looking boy in a fisherman's cottage. “Is he your son?
The fisherman ambiguously shook his head. “He is and he isn't. Twenty years ago he floated as a little baby down the river in a basket. Since then we have brought him up.” The king realized at once that he had been fooled and this was the charcoal burner's son.
The king collected himself and looked sharply at the fisherman and his son. “I have to send a message back home but I do not have any messengers with me. Is it possible for your son to take the message for me?
The fishermen happily agreed.
The king wrote a letter. “The boy who is bringing this letter is a dangerous enemy. Kill him as soon as he brings the letter to you. Do it before I return.”
The king gave the letter to Floatling and asked Floatling to deliver the letter to his castle.
Adapted from Bohemian folk tales
No comments:
Post a Comment