I turn you in my fingers like amethyst. But no. I only have to walk about and, as though through a magic mirror of dusted crystal, which is Prague itself, I see a man, his expression all excitement, a man whose fate is to find himself and wander, a man whose fate is to find himself through wandering.
Vitezslav Nezval (Walker of Prague)
For a thousand years stories have been told in Prague, magical, mysterious, romantic legends, stories of love and adventure. The foundation of Prague New Town is one of them:
Once of an evening the Bohemian king and Roman emperor of the House of Premyslides, Charles IV, sat by the window of Prague Castle and he and all his company gazed at the city, lovely in the light of early evening. Snow had touched the roofs with silver and the blanched beauty of the town was borne up to the castle windows.
The Bohemian king looked with delight at the capital city of his kingdom, prophesying its glory, as the Princess Libuse, his ancestress, had done. Then he invited the astrologer to speak too about the future of Prague. The astrologer remained a moment in melancholy silence and then spoke.
“If you command me to speak, my king, I will tell you what I know – but rather would I offer you – reconsider your request…”
The king repeated it.
“The fate of this city is written in the stars above our heads. In them, as in silver letters, its whole future is written and this sparkling inscrption, my king, bodes no good… Behold, the town below the castle, the Little Quarter, will be consumed by fire, look across the river to the Old Town – it will be destroyed by floods. The whole of Prague – so it is written in the stars, will perish…”
The Bohemian king was silent for a while, reflecting.
Then he looked round at his frightened listeners and said:
“You are wrong, astrologer. My beloved Prague will not perish. Perhaps what yoy say you read in silver letters on the sky will come about. But I shall found a New Town of Prague, I shall found it above the Old Town of Prague – and that town, you shall know, will not perish!”
And straightway he told his guests what the New Town that he would found would look like, where it would start and how far it would reach, where its gates would be – and his guests were amazed at the magnificence and magnanimity of the town that the king had dreamt up.
Vitezslav Nezval (Walker of Prague)
For a thousand years stories have been told in Prague, magical, mysterious, romantic legends, stories of love and adventure. The foundation of Prague New Town is one of them:
Once of an evening the Bohemian king and Roman emperor of the House of Premyslides, Charles IV, sat by the window of Prague Castle and he and all his company gazed at the city, lovely in the light of early evening. Snow had touched the roofs with silver and the blanched beauty of the town was borne up to the castle windows.
The Bohemian king looked with delight at the capital city of his kingdom, prophesying its glory, as the Princess Libuse, his ancestress, had done. Then he invited the astrologer to speak too about the future of Prague. The astrologer remained a moment in melancholy silence and then spoke.
“If you command me to speak, my king, I will tell you what I know – but rather would I offer you – reconsider your request…”
The king repeated it.
“The fate of this city is written in the stars above our heads. In them, as in silver letters, its whole future is written and this sparkling inscrption, my king, bodes no good… Behold, the town below the castle, the Little Quarter, will be consumed by fire, look across the river to the Old Town – it will be destroyed by floods. The whole of Prague – so it is written in the stars, will perish…”
The Bohemian king was silent for a while, reflecting.
Then he looked round at his frightened listeners and said:
“You are wrong, astrologer. My beloved Prague will not perish. Perhaps what yoy say you read in silver letters on the sky will come about. But I shall found a New Town of Prague, I shall found it above the Old Town of Prague – and that town, you shall know, will not perish!”
And straightway he told his guests what the New Town that he would found would look like, where it would start and how far it would reach, where its gates would be – and his guests were amazed at the magnificence and magnanimity of the town that the king had dreamt up.
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