The Three Roses: A Czech Folktale

Once upon a time， there was a mother who had three daughters. As she was preparing to go to the market， she asked her daughters what she should bring back for them. Two of them began to list many things， and demanded that she buy them all. When the mother had heard enough， she asked her third daughter， “And you， don’t you want anything？”

“No， but， if you like， you can bring me three roses， please，” she replied. Once the mother knew what the girls wanted， she set off for the market. She bought everything she could afford， piled it high on her back， and started for home. But soon nightfall overtook her. The poor woman got lost and could go no further. She wandered aimlessly through the woods until she grew tired. Then， she came upon a palace， which was quite strange as she had never before heard of any palace in the woods. A large rose garden surrounded the palace， and it seemed to the woman that all the roses were smiling at her. She remembered her youngest daughter， who had asked sweetly for just such beautiful roses. She thought， “There are so many lovely roses here. No one will mind if I take just three.”

She tiptoed into the garden and picked the roses. Suddenly， an old wizard came down and demanded the woman’s daughter in exchange for the roses. The woman was petrified and tried to throw the flowers away， but the wizard laughed and threatened to send her into the dark woods forever. The woman promised him her daughter， and then sadly made her way home， roses in hand. She gave the three roses to her daughter and said， “Here are the roses you asked for， but I had to pay dearly for them. You must now go to the palace in the woods in return for the roses. I don’t know if you will ever come back.”

But the youngest daughter seemed not to mind at all， and her mother led her to the palace. “The wizard reappeared and told the girl that she had to feed him three fine meals a day.

For a long time， the girl worked hard to prepare fine meals for the old wizard. Then one day， the wizard asked her to cut his head off！ She protested， but the wizard raged， and so she did it. The wizard’s head rolled onto the ground， and from out of his body came a terrible hissing snake. Again， the snake asked her to cut his head off. This time， the girl did not hesitate and cut his head off at once. The evil serpent immediately changed into a handsome young man， and said to the girl in a pleasant and grateful voice， “This castle is mine and， now， because you have saved me， I wish to marry you.”

There was a great wedding， and the young man and the girl lived happily ever after.