Retold from: Božena Němcová

Božena Němcová is the most beloved Czech writer of fairy tales of the 19th century, the author of the novel “The Grandmother” and a collector of folk tales.

She was born in 1820 in Vienna and spent her childhood in the village of Ratibořice in eastern Bohemia, beside her grandmother, who knew countless songs and stories. Later Němcová portrayed her in the novel “The Grandmother” (1855), one of the best-loved books of Czech literature. The writer died in Prague in 1862.

Němcová wrote down tales in Czech and Slovak villages and retold them in plain, lively language. Her collection “Národní báchorky a pověsti” (Folk Tales and Legends) came out in the mid-1840s. Today her portrait can be seen on the Czech 500-crown banknote.

The site already has her tale “The Twelve Months”, about kind Marushka, whom her stepmother sends out in winter for violets, strawberries and apples, and about the twelve months by their magic fire.