Translation:Collection of Slavic Folk Tales/XIII
XIII
THE SPIRIT OF THE DEAD
(POLISH TALE)
A poor clerk, heading to the city, came across the body of a man neglected for burial near the gate under the walls; he didn’t have much in his purse, but he gladly gave it to have the man buried so he could escape the insults of passersby. He said prayers over the fresh grave and then continued his travels through the world. Sleep overtook him in an oak forest, and he fell asleep; when he woke, he saw with astonishment that his pocket was filled with gold. He thanked the unknown hand to which he owed this gift and reached a large river he had to cross by boat. The boatmen, seeing his gold, took him aboard, and, in the middle of the current, threw him into the water after robbing him.
As the current carried him away unconscious, he grabbed a plank by chance that supported him and allowed him to reach the shore safely. It wasn’t a plank; it was the spirit of the man he had buried. It spoke to him thus:
“You honored my remains. I want to show my gratitude. I will teach you how to transform into a crow, a hare, and a deer.”
The clerk resumed his journey; he eventually arrived at the court of a powerful king who accepted him among his archers. This king had a very beautiful daughter; she lived in a bronze castle on an island and possessed a sword so powerful that whoever held it could defeat the largest armies. But how to get this sword? No one had yet managed to reach the lonely island.
At that moment, enemies were attacking the king’s borders; he greatly needed the victorious sword. But how to obtain it? He announced everywhere that whoever brought the victorious sword would win his daughter’s hand and become the presumptive heir to the kingdom.
No one dared step forward. The clerk, however, dared. He went to the king, asked for a letter to the princess so she would give him the formidable weapon. Everyone was astonished, and the king handed over the requested letter. The archer set off through a forest, unaware that another archer was following his tracks. To go faster, he transformed successively into a hare and a deer and reached the seashore without delay. Then he turned into a crow, flew across the waves, and rested only when he reached the island.
He entered the bronze castle, gave the princess her father’s letter, and asked her to hand over the victorious sword. The beautiful princess looked curiously at the young archer; at first glance, he won her heart. She asked with interest how he had managed to enter this castle, surrounded by water on all sides, which hadn’t seen a man in years. The archer then told her he knew mysterious formulas that allowed him to transform into a deer, a hare, and a crow. She asked him to transform into a deer before her eyes. No sooner said than done. The graceful deer frolicked and caressed the princess; meanwhile, she plucked a tuft of fur from his back without him noticing. Then he turned into a black crow and fluttered about the room; the princess plucked a few feathers from his wings without him noticing. When he turned into a hare, she also plucked a tuft of fur. Then she wrote a letter to her father and gave the sword to the messenger.
He crossed the sea again as a crow, ran as a deer to the forest, and crossed the forest as a hare. The other archer had stayed in the forest to spy on him; he saw the moment he turned into a hare. He drew his bow, aimed an arrow, and killed him. He took the letter and the sword; arriving at the castle, he presented them to the king, at the same time claiming the promised reward.
The king, overjoyed, immediately granted him his daughter’s hand, leapt onto his horse, and set off to war against the enemies. As soon as he saw their banners, he brandished the sword in all directions. With each movement, enemy ranks fell; the rear guard, seized with terror, fled at a gallop. The prince returned joyful with considerable spoils and summoned his daughter to marry the one who brought the sword.
The wedding was already being prepared; the musicians played; the castle shone with a thousand lights. Only the princess was sad; the archer destined for her wasn’t the one she saw in the castle, but she didn’t dare ask her father what had become of him. She wept in secret, and her heart was deeply troubled.
Meanwhile, the poor clerk, killed in his hare skin, lay under an oak in the forest. Suddenly, he was awakened from his deathly sleep. Before him stood a spirit, that of the man whose remains he had buried. The spirit recounted his adventures, restored him to life, and said:
“Tomorrow is the princess’s wedding; hurry to the castle as fast as you can, she will recognize you, as will the archer who treacherously killed you.”
The young man rushed forward, entered the great hall where the guests were already gathered, his heart trembling with fear; the princess cried out with joy and fainted, the murderer paled with terror. Then the young man recounted his comrade’s vile betrayal and, to prove his story, turned into a deer and caressed the princess; she placed the tuft of fur she had plucked back on his back, and it immediately grew back. He turned into a hare, and the fur grew back likewise. Everyone was amazed. Suddenly, he transformed into a crow; the princess placed the feathers, which grew back as well. The king, seeing this, ordered the treacherous archer’s execution; four wild horses were brought, whipped furiously; in a moment, the wretch was torn apart. Thus, the former clerk won the hand of the adorable princess. The whole castle was in celebration; they ate and drank with fervor, and the princess wept no more, for she had the one she loved.