(Monuments, Cemeteries)
Traditions
& Legends
Godmother Death
This, and the next story, are very old tales, and exist in different versions, with many different titles. Like all Dances of Death, they are stories of fatalism, but they show Death in a slightly different light. The following is one story as it was told to me, the second comes from a collection of legends by Karl Jaromír Erben (see the Literature & Film page).
Once upon a time, a man had been to market in town, and he was on his way back to his own village. As he walked along the forest path, thinking of his family at home waiting for him, he was surprised to see a woman approaching him on another connecting path. He couldn't see her face very clearly, but he noticed that she was elegantly dressed, and wondered if perhaps she was a local noblewoman. As she drew nearer, he saw her face. Although she looked quite young, he had the impression that she was very old. She surprised him by walking directly up to him and addressing him by name. She then invited him to follow her, and he felt compelled to do so, feeling that it was of the utmost importance to go with her.
She led him through the forest, coming out into a beautiful meadow, and on a hill was a magnificent palace, which was their destination. He noticed, but was not surprised to see, that it had suddenly grown dark in the meantime. They arrived in the palace, which was richly furnished but quite dark, illuminated only by the full moon shining through the windows. When he looked at the woman again, the spell was broken, and he realized who she was and whither she had led him. He cried out that she was Death, and began babbling hysterically that it wasn't possible, that he was too young. He argued that his aged parents needed him to support them, and his wife had just given birth to a son, and who would take care of them, and so on.
He refused to accept his fate, and she said that she would show him. She led him through the palace to a pair of great doors, and when she opened them, they entered a vast hall, so enormous that he couldn't see the ceiling or the far end. The chamber simply vanished into a hazy darkness. The side walls were lined with tables, covered with burning candles, and these tables too, stretched off into seeming infinity. She explained that each candle is a record of someone's life. When a child is born, she lights a candle in its name. When the candle burns down to the end, she will bring that person to the palace, where they must remain.
As they continued walking through the hall, he looked nervously at the rows and rows of candles. Some were quite tall, some were mere puddles on the verge of going out, some were already out; some burned brightly, others flickered dimly. Each of them was placed in a golden candleholder.
After some time, she stopped and pointed to one small pool of wax, its flame spluttering its last gasps. The man read his own name engraved on the golden holder. He glanced around in panic, still denying that it was really happening. He stared at his dying flame, thinking of his family; his aged parents, his newborn son, when he was suddenly posessed of an idea.
With fear and panic breaking in his voice, he asked if his fate can be changed. She replied that it was possible - he could exchange his candle with another one. He looked quickly over the array of candles before him, but the only name he could read was his own. He grabbed a tall candle from the back and put his own remaining fragment in its place, and firmly set the tall candle in his own holder, waiting breathlessly to see if it would succeed.
It did succeed, and the new candle burned on, giving his life many, many more years. Death said simply that he no longer belonged there and he was free to go. She led him out of the hall and back through the palace, and he tried to ask about whose candle he had taken. She only replied that he would learn that soon enough, and that the flame was already out. Outside, the sun was now shining as it had been when he had been walking home. He wasn't sure at what point she was no longer beside him, but when he reached the bottom of the hill, he turned around; of course, he was completely alone and the palace was no longer there.
He hurried home, grateful to be free and back in the land of the living. But his joy was short lived, for, as he approached his house, he could hear crying from within. He stepped inside, and saw the family standing around the baby's crib, weeping and wailing. The baby had suddenly and mysteriously died, soon before he had arrived. He realized then what Death had meant, and whose candle he had taken for his own.
Another story of Godmother Death
This story takes place many long years ago, when Jesus and St. Peter still walked the Earth.
One day, Jesus and St. Peter came to the home of a smith, and asked him if they could spend the night in his house. He was very friendly and welcoming, and led them into the sitting room to relax, while his wife made a good dinner for them. After dinner, he gave them his own bed, while he and his wife slept in the barn. In the morning, Jesus and St. Peter came out to find a big breakfast waiting for them, and as they were preparing to leave, the smith gave them a bag of pastries to take with them on their journey.
St. Peter took Jesus aside, and whispered, "These are really very good people, and we should give them something as a reward". Jesus whispered back, "They'll receive a proper reward in Heaven, but you're right, we should give them something in return for their hospitality".
Jesus then turned to the smith and said, "For your generosity, I will fullfil three of your wishes". The smith replied gladly, "I want to live to be a hundred, always as healthy and alert as I am now". Jesus said it would be granted.
Then the smith said, "For my second wish, I always want to have the same amount of work, and never have to scrounge". It too was granted.
The smith had no idea what to ask for as a third wish, but after thinking for some time, he came up with an idea. He said, "For my third wish, Sir, I want it that whoever should sit in the chair where You are sitting now, would never be able to get up from it until I allow them to. Jesus granted that wish as well.
Jesus and St. Peter departed, and the smith went back to work. Everything that Jesus had promised came to pass. The smith lived a long, healthy life, and always had enough work to keep him comfortable. But when he reached his hundredth birthday, the smith saw an elegant lady approach the house and heard her knock on the door. He opened the door and politely invited Death into the sitting room, offering Her the chair which Jesus had sat on.
Death didn't suspect any tricks from this long living, hard working smith, and sat down. The smith laughed and told Godmother that she would have to stay there until he allowed her to get up. Death tried to jump up; she strained and pushed, but nothing would work. She was not able to stand up from the chair. The smith went off to work, happy that Death couldn't take him away.
Time passed, and a celebration was approaching. The smith had been fattening a calf for the celebration, and decided it was time to slaughter the calf and start preparing it. He took his axe and struck the calf on the head with it. The calf fell to the ground, but when he tried to cut its throat with a knife, it jumped up again and ran off.
Surprised, the smith watched the calf run away, and then decided that he would take a goose instead. He went to the coop and took the biggest, fattest goose he could find. He tried to cut its throat with his knife, but no blood would flow, and when he took the knife away, no wound remained on the goose's neck. As soon as he let go of the goose, it flew off, following the escaping calf.
The smith sat down, wondering what was going on, when he realized that he had locked Death in his house, and therefore nothing would be able to die. But he still didn't want to release Death, so he decided to bake some bread, pastries and vegetables. As long as his supply of grain and vegetables held out, everything was fine, but soon came spring. All the animals which would have normally died in the hard winter were still alive, and started giving birth, filling the fields and woods with hungry offspring. Everything in the fields and orchards was eaten by ravenous birds, caterpillars, and grasshoppers, and nobody was able to kill any of them, because Death was still sitting in the smith's house, unable to leave Her chair.
Soon nobody was even able to drink, as all the lakes and rivers were filled with incalculable numbers of fish, frogs and other animals, so that the water began to stink and grow stale. The smith even saw people wandering about like shades, thin and gaunt, because they too, were unable to die, although their time had come.
The smith saw all of this, and realized that it was all a result of his foolish wish to hold Death at bay. He said to himself, "The Lord understood well why he sent Death into our world".
He went home and apologized to Death, allowing Her to get out of the chair. She took hold of him immediately, and lead him away, and the world was soon able to return to its natural order.
The following stories come from the book, "Povesti ceských hradu a zámku, Volume II", by Josef Pavel, published by Levné Knihy KMa, Prague, 2000. Their website is: http://www.levneknihy.cz.
The Tombstones of Opocno
In the parish church, which evolved from the castle chapel dedicated to St. Andrew, there are grave stones embedded in the walls bearing engraved images of knights in chain mail armour. They represent the Lords of Lípa, Vilem and Jaroslav Trcka, who were buried here. Fate was cruel to this ancient Czech family. Vilem fell at the Battle of Jagr in 1596, betrayed by mercenaries, his brother Jaroslav perished in battle against the Turks in 1601. The last of this powerful family to rule in Opocno was Jan Rudolf. Following a failed Protestant uprising, he officially embraced Catholocism in an effort to protect the family property, which he was able to expand by buying up land which had been confiscated by the Catholic Church from Protestant families. In this way, Rudolf became a very wealthy and powerful magnate.
Even so, they could not avoid the evil fate that awaited the family. His son Adam was murdered together with Lord Valdstejn in Cheb, and he himself was said to have had secret dealings with Prince Frydlantský and was indicted for betrayal. Before he could be given his sentence, however, he died, bringing the line of the Trcka family to an end. His estate was confiscated, and given to a foreign adventurer in the Emperors service, who had helped to supress Valdstejns revolt. Thus Opocno came into the hands of the Colloredo-Mansfeld family.
The old proverb about ingratitude, which rules the world, proved right once again for the Lords of Lípa. During the time that the lord of Opocno was Jeronym Colloredo, who was the Governor of Milan, in Italy, the gravestones of the Trckas - founders of the castle and chapel - were removed from the chapel walls by his vindictive servants and carelessly thrown out onto the street.
From that day on, Count Jeronym was plagued by terrible nightmares. The Lords of Lípa appeared to him as ghosts, sometimes headless, other times with sword in hand, waving it menacingly before his very eyes. Every night he would awaken in a cold sweat. One night he saw a vision before him, and as he looked closely, he saw the gravestones of the Trckas lying in the street. He at once wrote to Opocno, asking them to confirm what he had seen in his vision. They answered him, saying that the stones had indeed been removed and tossed into the street, at which the Count immediately ordered them to return the stones to their rightful, honoured place in the chapel.
The tomb of the Lords of Lípa, which is located below the altar, was opened in 1741. Soldiers broke into the tomb, believing that there was gold and jewels to be found, and in their haste they damaged the 17 tin coffins which were laid to rest within.
The coffins and the last remains of the brothers Vilem and Jaroslav Trcka are now entombed beside the sacristy, where they rest in peace.
The Crypt of the Lords of Zerotín
In 1559, Lord John the elder of Zerotín ordered a chapel and crypt and small cemetery to be built in the village of Loukot, near Brandýs nad Orlící. When the Catholic Church forced Karl the elder of Zerotín to leave Bohemia (as he was a Protestant), he agreed to go on the condition that his body would be returned after his death, and laid to rest in the family crypt. This was granted to him and he took refuge in Vratislav in Silesia, taking a collection of his personal library with him. Soon after, his wife Catherine followed him. An aristocratic lady, Catherine, by virtue of her generosity and kindness, left many a wet eye behind when she departed from Brandýs.
Very rarely did they return to their properties in Moravia and Bohemia, regretting that they could never again live in their own homeland. On a visit to Prerov (in Moravia) in 1636, Lord Zerotín died, and according to his wish, his body was taken to Brandýs. Here he was ushered to the crypt by a large number of mourners, for many still remembered how bravely the Hussite Brother stood forth against his Catholic attackers, how 12 years earlier he had ripped down with his own hands the seal on the door of the Brothers cathedral, placed there by order of the Prague archbishop. He was placed in a copper coffin and interred in the family crypt at Lokout, which was then bricked up.
A deathly silence settled on the abandoned cemetery, where no one was ever buried again. The chapel, where the Czech Brethren used to meet for their services, fell to ruin, for the Brethren had been dispersed around the world like a herd of sheep. When those who remembered had all passed away, and the years had passed over Brandýs, everything fell into ruin, the ground was overgrown with weeds and thorns, and almost all was forgotten. But some legend persevered, collected and nurtured in the minds of the people, that in this place once stood a chapel, that there was once here a crypt, where the Lords of Zerotín were laid to rest in magnificent silver coffins.
And so in time, people started digging in the ruins, and hoped that they might by chance discover the lost crypt. In 1724 a section of the corridor was uncovered, leading underground to a vaulted chamber, in which stood a row of coffins. None, however, were of silver. Two were of copper, eleven of tin.
A great commotion suddenly arose, as people rushed into the crypt, breaking open the coffins and rummaging around inside, certain that the Lords must have taken their jewels and gold with them. Civil servants stepped in, intent on taking away all that was of value, for the coffers of the State.
A dispute developed between the descendants of the Zerotíns and the State, which went on for 23 years. It finally ended when the coffins and everything contained with fell to the Church, and the descendents of the Zerotíns received damages in the amount of 500 Zlaty. The coffins were opened, the remains of the deceased were deprived of all of their valuables by the greedy hands of unscrupulous jackals, and the bones were then collected together and packed into a single oak casket which was tossed back into the empty crypt. When the wooden coffin finally deteriorated, the bones were scattered to all corners of the crypt.
Thus cruelly did the brutality of those times deal with the last mortal remains of a great and honoured family, thus wilfully were the remains of the renowned Karl of Zerotín desecrated, a man who at one time decided the fate of Moravia, and whose favours were sought by kings and emperors!
Only after some hundred years did the surviving relatives of the Zerotíns, living in Moravia, remember their duty to their ancestors, and took their bones from the crypt, and finally laid them to rest in a cemetery in Moravia.
The White Lady of Jindrichuv Hradec
After the death of her husband, Henry II of Hradec, Lady Margaret handed over the Hradec estate to her son and entered a convent. Perhaps even at that time, when she appeared at the castle in her white habit of the Klariska nuns, the tales of the White Lady had already begun to arise.
The White Lady of Hradec remained behind in the castle after her death, and appeared from time to time, particularly when some event took place which was significant for the family. She wore a white cloak and a white bonnet, from which a thick veil hung, partially covering her pale face. A ring of keys hung from her belt, which would rattle thunderously if something happened to anger her.
One day, at the stroke of noon, a few people caught sight of her at a window of the tower, which was inaccesable. After they greeted her respectfully, she returned the greeting with a nod of her head, and then shrank away until she was completely gone.
In 1604 she appeared to the rector of the Jesuit college, Jáchym Oldrich of Hradec, in order to warn him to take care, that the last hours of his life were approaching.She then lead the rector Mikulás Pistorio to the door of the chamber where the dead body lay, lighting the way for him. Then she disappeared.
Aside from the "White Lady", there was also a "Black Lady" who dwelt in the castle in curse. She plotted and intrigued against the family, and one day she tried to kidnap the eldest son, making off with him through a wall which had opened before her. The family gave chase, but the wall closed up behind her and they were stopped in their tracks. The White Lady, who appeared at that moment outside the tower, in an opening closed by a stone slab, froze into stone through fear. From that time, she has remained standing like a marble statue.
Afterwards, the Black Lady's fingerprints, black and uneraseable, remained on the wall where she had disappeared with her valuable booty.
These next stories come from the book, Povesti od kladského pomezí a dvou Orlic, by Josef Tríska, published by OFTIS, Ústí nad Orlící, 1993. Their website: http://www.oftis.cz.
Death Calls
Forester Jacob Kubelka from Výpraktice went into the forest one night. Suddenly he heard a voice call out his name, Jacob! He walked towards the voice until he came to a stream running past a cliff. He listened for a moment, and heard the call again, coming from the cliff face. Believing it was the echo of someone calling to him, Jacob called out in response, but it was followed only by an empty silence. The forester was seized with horror, and ran out of the forest straight home. He banged on the door, and it opened. Jacob jumped over the threshold of death and into the sitting room, where a shadowy figure sat waiting for him. Death had called, and Jacob had answered.
Shadow below Jedlína
In the old brickworks below Jedlína, near Habrina, there worked brickmakers from Licno. It was said that one night a card game got out of hand and one man ended up being killed. One night soon after, just before midnight, the door opened and a shadow entered the building. The shadow walked around each man, and then went out the door again. The door then slammed shut so violently that the whole building shook.
A shadow in Kunzvald
As two men from Kunzvald were walking through the woods on their way home one night, they noticed a shadow following them on the side of the path. They rushed home, and the neighbours agreed that it had been the ghost of a recently deceased neighbour. About three weeks earlier, this neighbour had disappeared, and nobody knew where or how. One day a girl was cutting grass in a ditch, when suddenly, beneath the leaves of the marigolds, she discovered a corpse, which had been lying there for at least two weeks. It turned out to be the missing neighbour, who had fallen into the ditch when it was full of water and drowned. After the corpse was buried, the shadow was never seen again.
The Keys of Death
Once upon a time, a tailor from Albrechtice named Hajdl was returning home from Sázava late in the evening. As he approached the two spruce trees by Hajks pub, at the statue of the Most Holy Trinity, he met a headless man engulfed in flames. The man offered Hajdl a glowing key, saying, Please, go into town, and with this key, open the gates of the churchyard at St. Annas! Hajdl was seized with fear and was unable to take the key and carry out the mans request. He turned and ran away. Breathless and white with fear, he collapsed into the parlour of his own house. Following that, he began to weaken and waste away, and died very soon after.
One morning in May, a group of village girls were on their way to Mass when they happened to meet a friend of theirs, Zofka. When they were returning from the church, Zofka was dead. That night, around 11 o clock, Zofkas brother heard the sound of feet padding around the parlour of the house, and, looking into the room, recognized his poor deceased sister. He asked, Zofka, what are you looking for? Zofka replied, The key to the pantry. And then she was gone. And really, the key to the pantry disappeared, and was never found. And Zofka never appeared again. But certainly she had her reason for taking the key.
Cemeteries
A family buried their 12 year old daughter in the Klásterec cemetery and around her grave they set up a flower garden with a wooden border. But as they grew older, they began to neglect the grave, and the flower garden fell into disrepair. One year there was a hard winter, and the family ran out of firewood. The mother went to the cemetery, dismantled the ruined flower garden and headed back to the gate, carrying the boards on her back. She had the impression that she was being watched and looked behind her. When she saw her deceased daughter walking towards her, she dropped the boards and ran out of the cemetery straight home. In the morning she went back to the cemetery, and there she saw two sets of footprints in the snow. She recognized one set as her own, but the other set was much smaller, and started at her daughters grave. She recognized them as well.