Page:Libussa, Duchess of Bohemia; also, The Man Without a Name.djvu/11

Rh One of the greatest merits of Musus’s tales is, that they are neither borrowed from other nations, nor creations of his own invention; but are, without exception, purely German traditions, which have been transmitted from the great grandfather to the great grandson.

This is the third volume of Musus’s Fancy Tales, which I here offer to the public. The success of the two former volumes allows me to hope that this will meet with a similar favour. The more so, as Libussa is one of the best of Musus’s tales, and may be called an historical fancy tale, being, as may be seen by the notes which I have added, strictly historical. The historiographer of the Bohemian history, Dubravius, describes the persons of Krokus, Libussa, Therba, Bela, and Primislas, just as Musus gives them. Libussa’s speech, when compelled to choose a consort, is a verbal translation from the Latin history of Dubravius. So that by reading this tale the reader will be transplanted into the country which has given birth to Ziska, Huss, and Wallenstein, at a time when the Bohemian people were yet in the cradle