Knjigice
Fairy tale · Slovenian tales
King Matjaž
The tale of the king who sleeps under Mount Peca
Also in: Kralj Matjaž (Slovenian) · Kráľ Matiaš (Slovak)
Once upon a time, a good king named Matjaž ruled the land. He made sure everyone had enough bread, and no one was ever alone. People sang: "In the days of King Matjaž, every field was golden!"
1
But hard times came. Dark clouds rolled in from every side, and the king and his army had to retreat high up to Mount Peca.
2
Then a miracle happened. The mountain opened like a great stone door and invited the king and his soldiers into a warm, safe home under the earth.
3
In the great hall, King Matjaž sat down at a stone table and fell asleep. Around him, all his soldiers fell asleep too. And the king's white beard grew slowly, slowly — it wound itself around the table, once, twice, three times…
4
A hundred years passed, and a hundred more. One summer, a shepherd boy named Tine was grazing his sheep on Mount Peca. One little sheep wandered off between the rocks — and following her, Tine found a secret doorway into the mountain.
5
Tine stepped inside. A golden light glowed in the great hall. Soldiers slept everywhere, and at the stone table slept a king with a long white beard. Just then, the king opened one eye.
6
"Tell me, little shepherd," said the king in a warm voice, "do the swallows still bring the spring, and do the linden trees still bloom?" "They do, King Matjaž, every year!" Tine answered bravely.
7
The king smiled. "Then the world is still good. When my beard winds nine times around this table, we will wake — and then the finest of times will come." And he placed a gold coin in Tine's palm.
8
The mountain closed quietly behind Tine. He ran home with the gold coin and a story nobody ever forgot. "King Matjaž is sleeping and waiting," he would say, "and one day he will wake!"
9
And even today, when you pass Mount Peca, walk softly. Deep beneath the rocks sleeps good King Matjaž with his army. His beard grows and grows — and when it winds nine times around the stone table, golden times will come for everyone.
10The End
