Page:The Czechoslovak Review, vol4, 1920.pdf/261
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THE CZECHOSLOVAK REVIEW
233
“Very well.—I’ll let you go
From this deep wet hollow,
But I order you one thing
Strictly there to follow.
From this deep wet hollow,
But I order you one thing
Strictly there to follow.
“Don’t embrace your mother there
And none else to-morrow:
Or else your great earthly love
Will be changed to sorrow.
And none else to-morrow:
Or else your great earthly love
Will be changed to sorrow.
“Don’t embrace there anyone
Till night from the morning,
And before the evening bell
Think of your returning.
Till night from the morning,
And before the evening bell
Think of your returning.
“From the dawn till evening bell
Your stay up there may be:
For a warrant you shall leave
Here this little baby.”
Your stay up there may be:
For a warrant you shall leave
Here this little baby.”
IV.
If bereft of warming sun-rays,
What would be left of the spring?
If without a warm embracement,
What joy would a meeting bring?
After their long separation,
If a daughter with love’s passion
Will again embrace her mother,
Who’ll think ill of such a thing?
If bereft of warming sun-rays,
What would be left of the spring?
If without a warm embracement,
What joy would a meeting bring?
After their long separation,
If a daughter with love’s passion
Will again embrace her mother,
Who’ll think ill of such a thing?
The whole day enjoys her mother,
Weeping, the wife from the lake:
“Ah, fare-well, fare-well, dear mother!
What fears does the night awake!”—
“Do not fear, my darling daughter,
That assassin from the water;
I’ll not leave that water-hoodoo
Now possession of you take!”
Weeping, the wife from the lake:
“Ah, fare-well, fare-well, dear mother!
What fears does the night awake!”—
“Do not fear, my darling daughter,
That assassin from the water;
I’ll not leave that water-hoodoo
Now possession of you take!”
The night came. In it the green man
Stalks outside ’round in the yard.
In the chamber, the two women,
And the door is fastened hard.
“Don’t allow your fear to break you;
On dry land he cannot take you;
Up above here the assassin
From the lake has lost his card.”—
Stalks outside ’round in the yard.
In the chamber, the two women,
And the door is fastened hard.
“Don’t allow your fear to break you;
On dry land he cannot take you;
Up above here the assassin
From the lake has lost his card.”—
As the evening bell ceased pealing,
Knock, knock! outside on the door:
“Come, my wife, I had no supper,
And from hunger I feel sore.”—
“Get thee gone, you wretched growler,
From our threshold, murd’rous prowler;
Get your supper in your lake there
As you used to do before!”—
Knock, knock! outside on the door:
“Come, my wife, I had no supper,
And from hunger I feel sore.”—
“Get thee gone, you wretched growler,
From our threshold, murd’rous prowler;
Get your supper in your lake there
As you used to do before!”—
Then again at midnight, knock, knock!
On the door with hand of lead:
“Come, come home, my wife! ’Tis time now;
Come to make for me my bed!”—
“Get thee gone, you wretched growler,
From our threshold, wistful prowler!
Let him get your foul bed ready
Who before this always had!”—
On the door with hand of lead:
“Come, come home, my wife! ’Tis time now;
Come to make for me my bed!”—
“Get thee gone, you wretched growler,
From our threshold, wistful prowler!
Let him get your foul bed ready
Who before this always had!”—
And at dawn, the third time, knock, knock!
Sounds again with greater zest:
“Come, come home, my wife! ’Tis time now;
Our babe cries; come, give it breast!”—
“Mother dear! My soul is shaking;
For my babe my heart is breaking;
Let me go now, my dear mother!
Let me go, I have no rest!”—
Sounds again with greater zest:
“Come, come home, my wife! ’Tis time now;
Our babe cries; come, give it breast!”—
“Mother dear! My soul is shaking;
For my babe my heart is breaking;
Let me go now, my dear mother!
Let me go, I have no rest!”—
“Treacherous is the assassin
Don’t go with him, daughter dear!
Though you fear for your sweet baby,
I for you have greater fear.—
Get thee gone back to your water!
Nowhere shall I leave my daughter;
If at home your baby’s crying,
Bring it to our threshold here!”—
Don’t go with him, daughter dear!
Though you fear for your sweet baby,
I for you have greater fear.—
Get thee gone back to your water!
Nowhere shall I leave my daughter;
If at home your baby’s crying,
Bring it to our threshold here!”—
On the lake a tempest’s raging;
In it cries the little thing.
Its cries fiercely pierce the soul’s depth;
Then, at once, they cease to ring.
“Ah, dear mother, from that crying
My blood stops, my heart is dying!
Mother, mother, ah, dear mother,
How I fear the Water King!”
In it cries the little thing.
Its cries fiercely pierce the soul’s depth;
Then, at once, they cease to ring.
“Ah, dear mother, from that crying
My blood stops, my heart is dying!
Mother, mother, ah, dear mother,
How I fear the Water King!”
Something fell. Upon the threshold
Splashed a fluid—bloody, red,
And as the old woman opened—
How the horror can be said!?
Two things lie here in blood heaping—
Up the body frost is creeping—
A child’s head without the body
And the body without head.
Splashed a fluid—bloody, red,
And as the old woman opened—
How the horror can be said!?
Two things lie here in blood heaping—
Up the body frost is creeping—
A child’s head without the body
And the body without head.