A Bouquet of Czech Folktales

Erben compiled and wrote *A Bouquet* based on his studies of Slavic folktales and folk songs. First published in 1853, it is dotted with murder and mayhem : graves opening and the dead walking the earth, the animate becoming the inanimate and vice versa, ogres and monsters of lake and wood, human transformations reminiscent of Ovid’s *Metamorphoses*. Written as ballads, Marcela Sulak’s new translation perfectly captures the cadence and rhythm in an English that is fresh and energetic. Through the years *A Bouquet* has come to be regarded as a masterpiece and wellspring of inspiration to artists of all stripes, including Antonín Dvořák, who composed a series of symphonic poems to some of these tales. Of the many illustrators who have contributed to the various editions that have appeared over the past century and a half, Alén Diviš’s artwork is generally considered the most powerful. This edition also includes Erben’s own notes explaining the origins of many of these tales.