Czech/Slovak FOLK TALES

Czech/Slovak FOLK TALES

Another Czech Fairytale: The cockerel and the hen / O kohoutkovi a slepicce

cockerel google imageOne day the cockerel and the hen went to pick some berries. Then hen found a strawberry, ate one half and gave the other half to the cockerel. In a little while the cockerel found a strawberry too but because he was stingy, he did not want to share it with the hen and ate the whole berry. Well, it got stuck in his throat and he began to choke. “Go and bring me some water from the well,” he whispered to the hen. The hen runs to the well and begs, “Dear well, give me some water for the poor cockerel. A strawberry got stuck in his throat and now he is choking in the courtyard. ” I can’t give you water until you bring me a scarf.” The hen runs to the seamstress named Anicka. “Anicka, Anicka, give me a scarf for the well. The well will give me water for the cockerel, who is choking in the courtyard. “I can’t give you a scarf until you bring me  some shoes.” The hen runs to the shoemaker named Matous. “Matous, Matous! Give me some shoes for Anicka the seamstress. I will  take them to her and she will give me a scarf. I will take the scarf to the well who will give me water for the cockerel, who is choking in the courtyard.” [click to continue…]

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Tagged as: animals, children, literature, traditions

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Another Czech fairytale: Sleepy John / Dalsi ceska pohadka: Ospaly Janek

Sunday is a perfect day for a fairytale! / V nedeli se nic nedela, jen se poslouchaji pohadky…

Sleepy John

Sleepy John was prone to, well, sleeping and one day he passed out in the back of a farmer’s cart. Upon discovering him, the owner, along with his friends, decided to stuff him in an empty beer keg and leave him in the forest. Sleepy John finally woke up, only to find himself trapped in a beer keg. What’s worse, wolves, having picked up on the human scent, were now circling around him. John grabbed the tail of a wolf that was standing too close. Startled, the wolf began to run and the keg hurtled down a hill and smashed open upon a rock. John was free! Continuing on through the mountains, Sleepy John came across a hermit who said, “I shall die in three days. Bury me then, and I will pay you well for it.” [click to continue…]

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Tagged as: children, fairytale

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Another Czech fairytale: Golden Hair / Dalsi krasna ceska pohadka: Zlatovlaska

zlatovlaska google imageMy daughter is all about Repunzel these days and that made me think of  ‘Zlatovlaska’ which would equal to  ‘Golden Hair’ in English? This is one of the most beautiful Czech fairy-tales so enjoy…in both languages!

CZ: Ma dcera Hancicka je naprosto zamilovana do Repunzel, coz mi pripomina nasi krasnou pohadku O Zlatovlasce a tak si pojdme zavzpominat na nase detska leta, kdy lide jeste rozumneli zviratum ;)

Once upon a time there lived a king who wanted to know everything. Old wisemen from all over the world came to teach him what they knew themselves. One day and old womant came to the king and brought him a snake in the basket. “If you eat him, you will be able to understand all of the animals in the world!”, says the old woman. The king liked the idea of knowing something others don’t. At once he ordered Gerge, the cook, to prepare the snake for lunch. He warned him, if George took even just a little bite, the king would kill him. George respected his king very much and promised the king he would not have even one bite. But since he was used to tasting all of kings food, he forgot all about his promise and tasted the snake. As soon as he swallowed the bite, he heard flies and birds talking to each other. George realized what he did and decided not to tell anyone. Then he took the meal to the king.

After the king finished his snake lunch, he took George out for a ride to make sure he did not take a bite of the magic meat. When their horses started talking to each other, George grinned. At that moment the king knew he wasn’t the only one who could understand the animals. Back at the castle, just when George was about to be executed for breakning the king’s orders, he saw two doves fighting over a lock of golden hair, which belonged to a beautiful princess. “Bring me that girl and I will save your life”, said the king. Although George didn’t know which way to go, he set off on a long journey to find Goldilocks – king’s new bride. [click to continue…]

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Tagged as: children

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Another Czech fairytale: How the egg goes for a wander / Jak slo vejce na vandr

This is not one of my all-time favorite Czech tales (it’s kind of boring to tell you the truth)  but nonetheless it does belong to the Czech classics so let’s get it over with :) .

CZ: Musim se priznat, ze tato ceska pohadka neni jedna z mych nejoblibenejsich (prijde mi z odpustenim trosku nudna); nicmene patri k ceskym klasikam, tak jsem si rekla, ze ji sem pridam.

Once on a beautiful day the egg says, “It’s a nice day today, I am going to go see the world.” On his way he meets a bull. “Where are you going, egg?” asks the bull. “I am going for a walk,” replies the egg. “I will go with you, there will be more of us, we wont be scared of the wolf or anything, ” says the bull. So they go. There are two of them when they meet a horse. “Where are you going?” asks the horse. “We are going for a walk,” says the egg and the bull adds: “Come with us, there will be more of us, we won’t be scared of the wolf or anything else.” So they go. There are now three of them when they meet a cat. The cat decides to go with them  too. So they go and now there are four of them when they meet a turkey. “Where are you going?” asks the turkey. “We are going to see the world,” answers the egg, the bull, the horse and the cat. “Come with us turkey, there will be more of us, we won’t be afraid of the wolf or anything else,” says the cat. [click to continue…]

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Another Czech fairytale: Tom Thumb / Pohadka O Paleckovi

Written by Bozena Nemcova (Brothers Grimm have a similar fairytale by the way. Since Bozena Nemcova was born 35 years later than the Grimm brothers, she may have been ‘influenced’ by their original story a bit ;0)

Tom Thumb /O Paleckovi google image

Once there lived a peasant with his wife in a little cottage. One day his wife said to him, “Life is so empty without children; I wish we had a little boy.” Soon her wish came true and she gave birth to a son. He was healthy and strong, but no bigger than the size of a thumb. Therefore they named him Tom Thumb (Paleček).

One day around lunchtime, said Tom, “Mother, pack some lunch for my father and I will take it to him.” Mother laughed at his idea since he was so little but did as he asked. He set off on a journey to his father’s field, taking a lunch basket with him. Since he was so small, it looked as if the basket was walking on its own. After a while of walking, he reached a stream. But Paleček was smart and knew what to do. He pulled out a wooden spoon out of the basket, put it in the water and sat in it like it was a boat. He pulled the big basket behind him and that is how he got across the stream.

When Tom reached the field he started to shout, “Father, Father, I have lunch for you!” The peasant did not hear him but he saw the moving basket. He lifted it up and to his surprise, he saw his little son. While his father was eating lunch, Tom Thumb climbed into a bull’s ear, yelling commands at the bull and that is how he was plowing his father’s  field. He plowed so fast that he did more work than his father. [click to continue…]

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Tagged as: children, literature, tradition

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Another Czech Fairytale:The wolf and the kids / Vlk a kůzlátka

The wolf and the kids google image /Vlk a kuzlatka google imageOnce there lived a mother goat with her seven kids. Before she left to find food, she told them, “Don’t open the door until you hear my song: “Children, children, open up the door.” One day the wolf heard the song. He ran to the door and sang it. The kids knew it wasn’t their mother and did not open the door. ” Our mother has a very soft, gentle voice,” they said to the wolf. The angry wolf ran to the smith and told him. “File my tongue down so that I have a softer voice!” The smith  did as the wolf wished.

The next day the wolf sang the song to the kids again, but now with a softer voice. “Our mother has a softer, more gentle voice,” said the goatlings and once again didn’t open the door. The wolf was very angry this time. When he came to the smith again, he said: “Make my voice even softer or I will eat you up!”

On the third day the wolf came to the door and sang in a beautiful soft voice. THe kids thought it was their mother and opened the door. But instead of their mommy, they saw the hungry wolf. He jumped in and ate six kids. the smallest of them hid in the clock and the wolf did not find him. When the mother goat came home and her hidden kid told her everything, she ran after the wolf. [click to continue…]

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Czech fairy tales on YouTube (part II)/ Ceske pohadky na YouTube (cast 2.)

Hi Everyone (especially the little ones),
Here is a second part of my Czech-fairy tale video series that you can watch on-line (for the first part click here).

CZ: Ahoj, zejmena maminky a deti, nasla jsem vam dalsi pohadky, na ktere se muzete divat pres internet (pro cast 1. kliknete zde)

1. Prasatko Pepina – fairly new kid cartoon (and a little silly if you ask me) but children like it…and it’s in Czech!

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Tagged as: children, Czech language, practical, YouTube

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All-time favorite Czech fairy-tales on YouTube (I) / Oblibene ceske pohadky a vecernicky na YouTube (I)

maxipes-fik-v-boudeI have put together a list of YouTube videos of my favorite (and now also my daughter’s favorite) Czech fairy tales – well, most of them are Czech – and I hope it will put a smile on you face when you reminisce about the old times (notice that this is only the first part, two more posts like this are coming soon!). And you know what are other bonus? It will teach your kids Czech and it will also keep them quiet for a few minutes ;0)

PS: For those who do not understand Czech I apologize – all of these are in Czech only. But don’t worry, the next posts will have some silent videos too!
CZ:  Dala jsem dohromady list svych nejoblibenejsich vecernicku/pohadek meho detsvti, tak doufam, ze vas potesi. Nejen ze si muzete zavzpominat, ale take je to velmi poucne pro vase ditka z hlediska ceskeho jazyka (a zaroven je to taky na par minut utisi ;0). Je to pouze prvni seznam, dva dalsi takove seznamy zverejnim v blizke budoucnosti, tak si drzte klobouky – bude to rychla jizda!!!

1. I used to love that theme song!

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Tagged as: children, Czech language, YouTube

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Another Czech fairytale classics: “Cook, mug, cook!” / Dalsi klasicka ceska pohadka: “Hrnecku,var!”

hrnecku_var google imageI got motivated from our previous fairytale discussion and dug out yet another Czech (and also Slovak?) fairytale classics, this time it is called ‘Cook, Mug, Cook!’ (‘Hrnecku,var!’). I was so happy to find a YouTube movie that goes along with it! It is a silent movie so anyone can watch it :)

CZ: Z nasi posledni pohadkove diskuze jsem se rozhodla ozivit dalsi klasickou ceskou pohadku, tentokrat “Hrnecku, var!” Diky Marice a jeji zlate dcerce Michelle, mam take ten anglicky preklad, tak je to kompletni. Dokonce jsem i nasla YouTube video!!



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Tagged as: children, traditions, YouTube

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Czech fairytale about the 12 months / Ceska pohadka o 12 mesickach

snowy forest/ flickr image To add to the diversity of this blog I decided I am going to introduce you to the world of Czech and Slovak fairy tales (and if you know all about them it may just be a good review for you). Since we are currently in the middle of – for some of us – quite the hash winter, there is no better suited children’s tale than the one about the Twelve Months (O Dvanacti Mesickach). I found it translated into English  in the “Hudba in the Czech Republic” blog and that person did a marvelous job (Czech translation can be found here):

CZ: Ahoj! Tak jsem si rikala, ze bych mohla k pestrosti tohoto blogu take pridat treba pohadky. Vestina lidi ted dosti mrzne, tak jsem si rikala, ze je velmi vhodne venovat se pohadce O dvanacti mesickach, co rikate? Anglicky preklad jsem nasla na blogu zvanem “Hudba in the Czech Republic” a cesky preklad muzete najit zde (kliknete zde).

ONCE UPON A TIME there lived a mother who had two daughters. One was her own child, the other her stepdaughter. She was very fond of her own daughter, but she would not so much as look at her step-daughter. The only reason was that Maruša, the stepdaughter, was prettier than her own daughter, Holena. The gentle-hearted Maruša did not know how beautiful she was, and so she could never make out why her mother was so cross with her whenever she looked at her. She had to do all the housework, tidying up the cottage, cooking, washing, and sewing, and then she had to take the hay to the cow and look after her. She did all this work alone, while Holena spent the time adorning herself and lazing about. But Maruša liked work, for she was a patient girl, and when her mother scolded and rated her, she bore it like a lamb. [click to continue…]

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Tagged as: books, children, fairytale, literature, traditions

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