preparation 2

Once there was a man who lived in little village.  He and his family were very poor, so one day when a storm took the roof off their shack, he could only go to the altar by the road to pray for help.  The altar was for St. John Nepomuk, so naturally that's who he prayed to, but the saint did not appear.  Instead, a dove appeared.  "I can help you, poor man," it said, "But later you have to help me."  The man agreed, thinking that a dove couldn't ask for very complicated help.  "Good," said the dove, "Now go home.  In the garden you will find tools and material to fix your roof.  When your roof is fixed, offer to help your neighbors.  When nobody needs more help, return here and hear my request."

The man went home, as the dove told him, and found the tools and material.  He and his sons fixed their roof and then went to the neighbors to offer help to them.  Once all was complete, the man went back to the altar and saw the dove sitting on top of it.  "Now hear my request: your youngest son will marry my oldest daughter."

The man worried about what his son would say, but he brought him to the altar.  When they arrived, a beautiful young woman stepped out from behind it.  The young people fell in love immediately and were happy to marry.  After the wedding, they went away to a cabin in the woods for a year and a day.  A problem arose the very first night.  When the sun went down, the new wife turned into a crow, and flew out the window.  When the sun rose, the crow returned to the cabin and was a woman again.  This happened every night.  After the year and the day had passed, they returned to the poor man's home, and the son told his father of his trouble.  The young woman started to cry and said, "Everything your son says is true.  My family is cursed and I am the only one who is even sometimes human.  Will you help us, father-in-law?"  The poor man had no idea how to help, but he wanted his son to be happy, so he agreed.

He went back to the altar to pray, and this time neither the saint nor the dove appeared.  Instead, he heard a voice that said, "I can help."  The voice came from the bottom of a nearby well.

"You can break the curse?"

"Oh yes, it's no problem.  I know how it started.  Your daughter-in-law's great-grandmother offended an air spirit, who then cursed the whole family.  I can remove it, but I need to be surrounded by trees."

"Wait a moment, and I'll find a ladder or a rope."  The man was very happy to have a simple problem.

"No, no," said the voice, "I can only escape with a living thing.  You must find a magic vine that will grow from the water."

The man sighed.  Nothing was easy.

The man and his son set off the next morning.  They went all around the village doing chores and asking about the vine, but nobody knew anything about it.  Then they went to the city with the same idea and had the same luck.  In the evening, sad, they started home.  They had just left the city when suddenly, a man on the road called to them: "Hello, hello!  Good sirs!"

"What is it, chapman?" They could see by his cart of wares he was a chapman. "Is there a problem?"

"Yes there is, my good...carpenter?"  The chapman was looking at the toolbox, "My horse has thrown a shoe.  I simply cannot travel without a horse." He pointed to the heavily loaded cart.  The poor man opened the box and found a hammer and nails, although he did not remember seeing them there before.  He managed to fix the shoe, at least for a while, and the chapman said to him, "Thanks, good sir, many thanks!  I carry no great luxuries, but perhaps your lady wife or daughter would like this cotton cloth?  The dye is guaranteed not to fade."

"You are most generous, good chapman," said the poor man, "and my wife would certainly like this cloth, but what we need now is information, not goods.  You wouldn't happen to know where we could find a magic vine that grows in water, would you?"

"Coincidentally, just this afternoon I made a delivery to the giant of the Black Castle.  In spite of his fearsome reputation, he is an excellent gardener, and uses my cloth to protect his young plants.  He will have the vine you want, or know where to find it."

The son was overjoyed.  "Father!  We can go to the castle now and speak to the giant this evening!  What luck!"  The man was not happy, since he was afraid of the giant, but he wanted to help his son, so they went.  Night had fallen when they arrived and the black gate towered dark above their heads.  The man lifted the knocker and let it fall.  Immediately, a voice shouted: "Go away!  I don't know anything about any maidens!  And I don't want any encyclopedias!"

"But good giant," said the man in a trembling voice, "we just want to ask you about a magic vine that grows in water.  The chapman said you could help us."  The gate swung open and the giant stood there before them.  He was ugly, with black eyes and dirty clothes.

"Come right in!" he roared, "Somebody interested in gardening!  Fantastic!"  And the poor man and his son entered the giant's garden.  They sat in a small patio and the giant brought them large mugs of mead.  The three drank together and the man and his son explained what had happened to them and what they needed to do.  The giant listened and nodded.  When they finished the tale, he said, "It just so happens that I have some seeds right now.  I've been working on them for a couple of months.  Maybe that plant is what you need.  But..." and the giant stopped.

"But what?" cried the man.

"That plant is valuable, you know, I can't just give away my seeds."

"Perhaps, this cloth..." the man began, uncertainly.  The giant laughed loudly at him.

"The chapman already brought me cloth.  Maybe you have a daughter?"

All the way home, the man worried that none of his daughters would agree to marry the giant and he would never get the magic vine.  The poor man had ten children, five sons and five daughters.  The oldest daughter was tall and a little heavy, with small black eyes and hair that always looked unwashed.  But she was also clever, with more common sense than her brothers and sisters together.  She knew this was her best opportunity to marry.  "What woman wouldn't be happy with a garden full of flowers?" she said.

The very next day the poor man, his son and his daughter went to the castle.  Now the man worried that the giant would reject his daughter, and be angry.  They arrived at the castle, knocked at the gate, and the giant opened it.  For a moment, the giant and the man's daughter stared at each other, then the daughter said loudly, "Father!  You didn't tell me my new husband was so handsome!"

The giant roared with laughter and said, "Little man, I've always wanted an intelligent wife!  Looks like a breeder, too.  Do you like children, m'dear?"

"Of course.  My mother had ten."

"Perfect!  We can start right away!"  And daughter and giant strode off towards the castle, arm in arm.

"Good gardener giant..."

"Yes?  You need something, father-in-law?"

"Er...the seeds..."

"Oh, yes, yes, of course, of course," and the giant dug around in his pockets and pulled out a handful of seeds.  He examined them carefully and chose one large, golden one.  "Here.  This seed should serve your needs.  And come visit soon!  With the wife!  She'll want to see the grandkids!"

Then they all said goodbye, and the man and son went back home.  "My god," thought the man to himself, "A giant for a son-in-law, a crow for a daughter-in-law, who would have foreseen it?"

Once home, the man went to the well and tossed in the seed.  He saw a glow in the bottom and the voice said, "It's working!  Now we must wait about half an hour for the vine to reach the top."  The man went for his son and his son's wife, and the three of them were waiting when the owner of the voice climbed out of the well.  They couldn't tell if it was man or woman.  It had long hair that covered it like a cloak and was tall and slender.  It saw their confusion and smiled, "I am a nymph.  Seventy years ago, a young man fell in love with me, but not I with him.  He got angry and threw me in the well."

"Oh dear," mumbled the poor man, "I think that man was my grandfather.  He told us the story of the fairy many times, but I never really believed him."

"Don't worry," said the nymph, "Seventy years is nothing much for an immortal.  Besides, your grandfather wasn't a bad man.  He was sorry he'd done it, but he never knew where to find the vine."

"Can you break my curse now?" asked the young wife.

"It's already broken," answered the nymph as it disappeared among the trees.  And indeed, just then a man wearing gold and purple robes and silk slippers approached them.

"Father!" screamed the young woman and she ran towards him.

"Yes, daughter, we are free," said the man, and they hugged tightly.  "Now, dear man, the time has come for me to thank you.  I am a rich and powerful raj from the East, and I assure you my thanks will be generous."

"I wasn't hoping for a reward, I just wanted to help."

The raj stared hard at the poor man.  "I have a lot of money and a lot of pride.  I will not accept that you do not accept my reward as thanks."

The poor man agreed, and naturally, soon he was no longer poor.  The raj bought him a country house and lands, and gave him money so that his children could do what they wanted.  Some wanted to marry, some wanted to go away to study, and one son opened a shop in the city.  The raj's daughter stayed with her husband in the village, but every year an elephant wearing a jeweled golden cloth came to take her to visit her family in the East, and after a week and a day, she returned.