Page:Gregor The story of Bohemia.pdf/50

 account of the episode with the peasant maiden Bozena, which is a parallel to the story of “King Cophetua and the Beggar Maid” of English history. One day, while Ulric was out hunting, he espied a beautiful maiden washing clothes at a spring of water near the village. He was so charmed with the beauty of her face and the grace of her movements that he ordered her to be taken to his castle, where he made her his wife. Having no heir by his first wife, he felt justified in taking a second one. This was about 1010, at which time polygamy was not entirely eradicated from the country. The beautiful poems that celebrate this event, however, never mention the first wife of Ulric.

During the reign of Ulric, the most illustrious person in the country was the hermit Prokop.

It will be remembered that when Christianity was introduced into Moravia, the German priests did all in their power to substitute the Latin for the Slavic ritual. At first they were not successful; but when Moravia lost her independence, both that country and Bohemia finally succumbed to German influence, and Latin became the language of church service. This was a great loss to the people; for in those days, when learning was shared by only a few, the hearing of the church service in their mother-tongue was a means of considerable edification. Thus it was that when the news spread that a new convent was to be built, where only the Čech tongue was to be used, the whole country was filled with rejoicing, and all the people blessed the ruler who was to grant them this privilege. But although the order for the building of the convent