Page:Bohemian poems, ancient and modern (Lyra czecho-slovanska).djvu/12

viii taken from an Annual published in German at Prague, and although the writer, under whose name it appeared, Carl Rain, professes to have translated it from the old Bohemian, I was never able to hear of any ancient Slavonic original. I translated it in the year 1845, and have now reprinted it as, at any rate, a very beautiful Bohemian production, and an extremely skilful imitation of the Ancient Ballads of the nation.

Several of the poems in the Queen’s-Court Manuscript, which appear in the present volume, and also some modern pieces, have already been translated by Dr Bowring. With respect to the latter I do not come into competition with him in any single case; with respect to the former very wide discrepancies will be found upon a comparison of our translations. I would request the reader not to pass judgment against me without comparing either the original or the excellent German translation of Wenzel Swoboda, which is appended to every edition of the original manuscript.