Marketa Lazarová was first published in Prague in 1931, and in Vančura’s lifetime three more editions followed – in 1932, 1933, and 1934 – the author revising the text himself for future printings. The present translation was made from a 1997 reprint of the 1961 edition published by Československý spisovatel, which save some orthographic revisions is itself a virtual reprinting of the prior 1957 critical edition, the seventh, edited by Vladimír Justl. This served as the base version for the revision process as it is more definitive than any other previously given that Justl compared all four editions of Marketa Lazarová published during the author’s lifetime in relation to the original manuscript and included, along with a lengthy introduction by Milan Kundera, helpful commentary and notes. More importantly, this edition also refrains from much of the unwarranted editorial interference that marred some later editions, most notably the one published in 1986 by Československý spisovatel, which made rather significant alterations (essentially tossing back in many words and phrases that Vančura had at some point discarded). Yet where this edition has added text that we feel helps to clarify a certain passage or returned to an original wording that offers an alternate meaning, we have noted it below. Even so, this has been kept to a minimum.
Dedication: Vančura’s cousin Jiří Mahen (1882-1939) was born Antonín Vančura in Čáslav, Bohemia. A noted writer in his own right, he was associated with anarchism and the interwar avant-garde. In parts of the original manuscript Kozlík is named Vančura, but this was later emended.
Kozlík’s children: Justl gives Simon here instead of Smil, an editorial intervention based on the original manuscript where Smil is changed to Simon everywhere except in this one instance. So considering this an oversight on the author’s part, the name here was emended to Simon as well. Yet the Justl edition is the only to do so, and we have not adopted his alteration.
Pivo by name: we have kept the Czech word for “beer” as the captain’s name to avoid any Germanic overtones that are not present in the original. Moreover, Captain Beer would sound just a bit sillier than perhaps intended. We have also opted for the more common English equivalent “captain” rather than the regional term “hetman” used in the original.
Holinečka: the root of this name means “bare” or “exposed,” which describes the situation of the peasant returning from market and finding himself at the mercy of the brigands.
covered by the shadow of grace: cf. Psalms 91:4.
Landsknecht: a mercenary; Vančura uses the term though it seems to have been coined a couple centuries later than the time of the story.
had their loins girded: cf. 2 Samuel 20:8 and Job 38:3.
Freedom in our tongue: Vančura has the Czech word Svoboda here.
Like a potter: cf. Isaiah 64:8 and Jeremiah 18:3-6.
show up in castles: the Czech here for “in castles” is v hradech, but in the original manuscript, and as late as the second edition, it was v hadrech (“in tatters”), which is the wording adopted by the 1986 edition.
Kulíšek: little owl.
pars pro toto: a synecdoche, a part representing the whole.
St. Apollinaris: a Gothic church (est. 1362) and street in Prague’s New Town district.
the touch of the miller: a reference to God, as in “the mills of God grind slowly,” thus the clear mark stands for purity and could likewise be envisioned as white from the flour on a miller’s fingers.
ox-eyed beauty: or “cow-eyed” is an epithet found in Homer in reference to Hera.
noonday witches and wild women of the woods: cf. Karel Jaromír Erben’s A Bouquet, both the poem “Noon Witch” and Erben’s note to it.
war scythes: this refers to the type of improvised weapon peasants made from farming implements like, for example, those employed by the Hussites.
Čepela: a čepel is a blade, so the pun here is obvious.
that often leads us to commit injustice: cf. Plato’s dialogue Gorgias.
If the unhappy girl had a mother: the 1986 edition includes here a clause from the original manuscript that was omitted in all printed versions to render this as: “If the unhappy girl had a mother, surely she would have brought her a cloak and a bowl of water, surely she would have spoken to her ...”
a ring amidst the roots: likely a reference to fairy rings in folklore.
sovereign lord of times: cf. Daniel 2:21.
more such good fellows: “good fellows” here follows the Czech chlapíci, yet the first three printings instead had hlupáci (“imbeciles”), which is likewise consistent with the context. Since it cannot be assumed that this was a printing error and that Vančura did not make the emendation himself, we have opted to keep the text as it has read since the fourth printing in 1934.
from what clutch the chicken has come: in the manuscript Vančura originally followed this with: “Who knows what rascal settled his bill with it.” This, however, was struck from even the first edition and does not appear in any subsequent edition, save the one from 1986.
saying his final farewells to the countryside and to this oh so lovely world: cf. Karel Hynek Mácha’s classic poem May, in particular the captive’s goodbyes before being beheaded.
Godmother Death: a reference to the Czech folk tale, originally from Moravia, that itself is a variant of the Brothers Grimm’s “Godfather Death.” In Slavic languages “death” has a feminine gender.
Quiet and peace: the first two editions had: “Quiet and bitter peace.”
looked upon the contrite girl: in the manuscript this is followed by the clause: “who was not contrite.”
He is enthralled by death, which ... means peace: in the manuscript and first edition this is followed by: “He is enthralled by love and life.”