PRINCE JANOSZ 

And so thus did young prince Janosz
Fell in love with beauteous Yelitsa,
He had loved her for two summers in a row,
On the third, he decided to marry
One Lubusya, she is the Czech princess.
With his former love, his ties he broke,
Brought to her a purse, all full of money,
And two rattling, solid-gold earrings,
Pearl necklace, done in triple rows;
By himself, in her ears put the earrings,
On her neck he did tie the great necklace,
In her hands he put the purse with money,
On her cheeks he silently did kiss her,
On his steed, he left her by the road.
When Yelitsa by herself remained,
On the ground did she cast the coins,
From her ears did she rip the earrings,
Into two she did then rip the necklace,
And herself - she jumped into Morava.
In the river did then young Yelitsa
End up being the queen of fresh waters,
And she bore then a little daughter,
And she called her daughter Vodyanitsa.

Years passed, first three of them, and then more,
And the prince decide to go hunting,
And he rode on Morava"s shores;
And decided he to sake his steed"s thirst,
With the chilly waters of Morava.
No sooner than its sweaty muzzle
Did the steed stick into river"s waters,
Little hand did thrust from those waters:
And it grasped the horse"s golden bridle!
All afraid, the steed did back away then,
Vodyanitsa hanged-on to the bridle,
Like fish that hanged-on to a line -
Round the meadow did the horse then circle,
Shaking to and fro the golden bridle;
But it couldn"t shake-off Vodyanitsa.
The prince barely had hanged-on to his saddle,
Barely kept his dark horse in power,
Using all the strength in his strong hands, too.
Vodyanitsa did jump down to the ground.
And he asked her, and prince Janosz asked her,
"Tell me, what sort of a being are you:
Were you borne by a mortal woman,
Or by one of those God-curse Vilas?"
Vodyanitsa did to him reply then:
"I was born, why, by young maid Yelitsa,
And prince Janosz, why, he was my father,
And my name, why, is Vodyanitsa."

When the prince did hear then this answer,
He jumped down from his mighty horse,
He embraced his daughter Vodyanitsa,
And, his face awash in tears, did he ask her:
"Where, say, your mother be, Yelitsa?
I heard rumours that instead she drowned."
Vodyanitsa did to him reply then;
"Mother mine is the queen of waters;
And she reigns over all the rivers,
Over rivers and the lakes she reigns;
But the sea is quite beyond her power,
The Great Fish is ruler in the Blue Sea."
And the prince replied to Vodyanitsa:
"Then you go to the waters" ruler,
And do tell her that the prince called Janosz
Sends her a profound bow for a greeting
And he asks her humbly for a meeting
Straight upon the green bank of Morava.
On tomorrow I"ll come back for the answer."
They departed after this exchange.

Early morning, just as dawn had broken,
Did the prince stand right before the river;
And abruptly right straight to her waistline,
From Morava rose water"s ruler
And she asked: "O hoy there, prince Janosz,
You have asked if I can today meet you:
So speak, what else do you desire?"
When the prince did see his ex, Yelitsa,
Then once more he burned with his desire,
He began to call her to the shore.
"My beloved, my young maid Yelitsa,
Join me upon the river"s shore,
Kiss me sweetly, as you did beforehand,
I will love you, as before I loved you." 
But Yelitsa does not respond to his summons,
And instead shakes her hand in refusal:
"Nay, I won"t, I will not, Prince Janosz,
Come to you to land, to river"s shore.
We will not kiss, as we"ve kissed beforehand,
As before, you won"t so love me.
Better tell me, for I plan to listen,
How"s living, are you being happy,
With your new love, with your wedded spouse?"
And the prince Janosz, he then did answer:
"Moon is not warm when it is daytime,
As for love, one"s wife is not one"s lover."