Page:Libussa, Duchess of Bohemia; also, The Man Without a Name.djvu/84

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Libussa.

of divination which she had promised him, and thought that the moment of its fulfilment was come. Promptly seizing his hazel stick, he pushed it deep into the ground, put some loose earth around it in the same way as a tree is planted, and lo! the stick began to bud, the buds to sprout, and the branches to be covered with leaves and flowers. Two of the growing branches, however, decayed, and their withered leaves became the sport of the winds; but the third branch grew stronger, and its fruits ripened. Now the prophetic spirit came upon the enraptured ploughman, and he spoke: “Ye deputies of the princess Libussa and of the people of Bohemia, listen to the words of Primislas, the son of the honourable knight Mnatha, who, under the spirit of prophecy, sees through the mist of futurity. The man who governed the plough has been called upon by you to take into his hands the government of the country before he was able to finish his day’s work. Alas! if the plough had been allowed to plough up the field all around to the mere stone, Bohemia would have remained an independent country to the end of time. But now that you have disturbed too soon the work of the plougher, the soil of your country will fall to the inheritance of a neigh-