In Search of Pagan Treasures

According to ancient tradition, a cave inside Vyšehrad holds a silver horse once presented to Prince Nezamysl by miners from Lipnice. Other treasures of the land are kept here too: Libuše’s little golden frog and a golden hen with twelve golden eggs. The underground treasure is guarded by the legendary Bohemian lion with twelve cubs. From time to time one of the cubs stirs and asks, “Is it time yet, little brothers?” So far the answer has always been, “No, not yet.” The treasures are said to bloom once every hundred years. A soldier on guard supposedly once mistook them for a thistle and chopped them up. In the morning, only a golden sprig remained in his lapel.