Reading Diary A : Czech Folktales

Czech Folktales 

The Bear, the eagle, and the Fish : 

• there were three daughters and they were very beautiful 
• the youngest daughter was the most beautiful 
• the father liked to go hunting but one day while he was hunting he got lost and a bear rushed to him 
• in order to spare his life the bear said that he would help the count out of the forest and give him riches if he could have one of the count's daughter in marriage 
• the count was pleased and said yes but he ran out of money again and decided that he needed to to go hunting again 
• he went to the forest and got lost again and then came an eagle and said once again that he would help and show him the way out and give him more money if the eagle could have the second daughter in marriage 
• only the last daughter was left but only for a little while as the count sold her to a fish 
• the count was sad and all alone until he had a son 
• the son then went out after a long time and said good bye to his parents 
• on his journey he found his eldest sister who was married to the bear and the bear gave him three hairs to aid him in case he ever needed help 
• the eagle gave him three feathers 
• and the fish gave him three fish scales 
• on his journey the brother found out that these animals were actually all related and they were brothers, the son of a king but were turned into animals after the work of a magician 
• the brother made it his purpose to find this magician and get rid of him and when he found him he use all the gifts from his brothers in law and they all cam against the magician 
• then there was a house filled with joy, princes, wives and children 

The Waternick :

• there were a pair of sibling, a boy and a girl and their father was dead 
• the mother sent them one day to get wood for a fire but they had to find a way to make sure that they knew how to get back to their home 
• the girl said that she would use thread from her ball of wool and tie it to a tree so that they could come back 
• they went walking but when they looked back they realized that some animals had cut the thread 
• they were lost and were taken by the Waternick 
• the waternick took the children to his wife and she was happy and made the kids her servants 
• the children were there for years and did not want to be there anymore and took advantage of a day were the Waternick's wife fell asleep while he had gone out to get more human souls
• they were only able to run so far until get got caught and in order to prevent them fleeing again the Waternick's gave them a lot of more work so that they could be busy 
• one day the children decided to release the souls of those humans in the cups and the Waternick's were not happy 
• One day the decided to try escaping again and so they let the wife fall asleep and they ran until they were tired and fell asleep under a tree where the forester found them and thought that they were the children of the widow that had lost her children 
• the children were once again back home again and they lived with their mother until she died 

                                                  

A statue of a waternick in the Czech Republic