PREFACE

THE present collection has been selected from the following sources:

Josef Kubín, Povídky kladské, i., ii. (in "Národopisný věstník českoslovanský").

V. Vondrák, Několik pohádek z Dubu u Vodňan (S. Bohemia), in "Český Lid," xiii.

V. Tille, Povídky sebrané na Valas̃sku (S. Moravia). "Národopisný sborník českoslovanský," Svazek vii. Prague, 1901.

Elpl, Řada pohádek a pověstí nasbíraných Lís̃ni u Brna (Moravia).

B. M. Kulda, Morayské národní pohádky a pověsti, i. (Prague, 1874). From Moravia.

The first two stories ("Twelve Months," "Víťazko") have been retold by the novelist Božena Němcová (from the Slovak).

My translation could not be, of course, a literal one, because many phrases in the

p. x

original might seem strange to the English reader's ear.

Finally, I wish to express my thanks to Miss Eleanor Hull and Mr. Robin Flower for revising my English.

JOSEF BAUDIŠ.

LONDON, October 1917.