A very long time ago,
in the far away land, almost at the end of the Vltava River, before merging
with other rivers, lived a smart ruler named Krok with his wife and three
daughters. All three daughters were clever and gifted. Kazi had a gift of
healing people. Teta had a gift of pulling tricks and entertaining her
companions. And Libuse had a gift of prophetic power such as seeing events in
the future, which helped her with making the right decisions. Therefore, her
father saw that she would be the right daughter to lead the people once he was
gone.
The day came, when the
father was laid to rest in peace. The townspeople mourned the death of the
smart and just king. The uncertain future concerned them as there was no male
descendant, only daughters. Even though, the king picked Libuse to rule after
him, the people were still concerned raising questions if she would be able to
take on all the responsibilities.
Libuse quickly had
proved that she could rule wisely and justly, resolving disputes among the
tribe people. But the males of the community didn’t want a woman to be ruling
over them. Therefore, they demanded Libuse to get married.
“How shall I find the
one, who would see the right path for my people as I see it?” She spoke to her
sisters and it was more of a confession than a question.
“It will come to you
as it always does,” both sisters tried to cheer her up.
She didn’t have to
worry about this much longer. As soon as she spoke her fears out loud, the
answer came to her. It was like releasing her fears out and letting the answer
come to her. On the following day, before a rooster alarmed the townspeople,
she had a vision in which she saw a man who would rule with her peacefully.
After the rooster
announced the morning, the councilmen had gathered as instructed. Libuse no
longer feeling a pressure of finding a husband, now spoke with confidence. “I
have found the suitor and it’s time to bring him here.” Some eyebrows were
raised, nevertheless, she continued, “You will take my horse and let it loose
at a junction of the roads. It will take you to a village, where you will find a
farmer wearing a torn sandal.”
One of the councilmen
cleared his throat before questioning, “A sandal?”
“Yes, one sandal,”
responded Libuse without giving anybody a chance to raise another question.
“He will be ploughing
a field.” More eyebrows were raised, but nobody spoke.
A following day, a
horse was let loose at an intersection as instructed and two men followed him.
It was the first village they came across, where at its boarders stretched out
a field in which they noticed a farmer wearing only one sandal. Once approached
and upon careful inspection, they confirmed that the only sandal on farmer’s
foot was worn out.
“The princess has
invited you to the castle,” spoke one of the men.
The farmer didn’t
question the invitation almost as if he had known what was going to happen. “Is this
horse for me?” He asked pointing to the horse, which found him.
“It certainly is,”
answered the other man, who was taken aback by the forwardness of the farmer, however
his face didn’t give a trace of his surprise.
Upon arrival at the
castle, the farmer, whose name was Premysl, was introduced to the princess.
Premysl looked at the beautiful princess and gasped. She looked like the
princess from his dream. When the princess locked her eyes with the deep brown
eyes of the farmer, they both instantly understood that they were meant to be
together and to rule by the same token.
“I promise to be yours
and to be faithful to you the rest of my life,” said Premysl.
“As do I,” responded
the princess.
A marriage of Libuse
and Premysl was celebrated with all royalty and townspeople. What a night it
was. Tables were pulled from inside the houses and placed outside continuously
across the town; decorated with flowers of pastel colors; filled to the edges
with flavorful food, sweet fruits and freshly baked pies. Townsfolk put on the
best gowns they owned for this special occasion. The night filled with
laughter, singing and dancing until the early hours of the next day.
In the following
years, Libuse and Premysl ruled together peacefully. During those years, they
had three sons. The oldest one continued the Premyslid dynasty, started
officially by his father. Libuse also had
another vision, in which she saw a great city with spirals reaching for the
stars.
After the night’s
vision, she gathered the councilmen by the river and pointed to a forested hill
across the river and proclaimed, “Among those trees, there is a man building a
threshold of a house. I want our men to join him and build a city there.” In
Czech a threshold translates to prah, so she continued, “And it will be called
Praha.”
The hill on which the
city was built and grew from is known today as Vysehrad. And within its walls
stands the statue of Premysl and Libuse, who overlook the city of Prague.
No comments:
Post a Comment