There was a poor orphan lad who had neither father nor mother, and
was compelled to go out to service to get his living. He travelled a
long way without being able to obtain an engagement, till one day he
came to a hovel all by itself under a wood. On the threshold sat an
old man, who had dark caverns in his head instead of eyes. The
goats were bleating in the stall, and the old man said: 'I wish I
could take you, poor goats, to pasture, but I can't, I am blind; and
I have nobody to send with you.' 'Daddy, send me,' answered the lad;
'I will pasture your goats, and also be glad to wait upon you.' 'Who
are you? and what is your name?' The lad told him all, and that they
called him Johnny. 'Well, Johnny, I will take you; but drive out the
goats for me to pasture first of all. But don't lead them to yon
hill in the forest; the Jezinkas will come to you, will put you to
sleep, and will then tear out your eyes, as they have mine.' 'Never
fear, Daddy,' answered Johnny; 'the Jezinkas won't tear out _my_
eyes.' He then let the goats out of the stall, and drove them to
pasture. The first and second day he pastured them under the forest,
but the third day he said to himself: 'Why should I be afraid of the
Jezinkas? I'll drive them where there is better pasture.' He then
broke off three green shoots of bramble, put them into his hat, and
drove the goats straight on to the hill in the forest. There the
goats wandered about for pasture, and Johnny sat down on a stone in
the cool. He had not sat long, when all of a sudden, how it came
about he knew not, a beautiful damsel stood before him, all dressed
in white, with her hair--raven-black--prettily dressed and flowing
down her back, and eyes like sloes. 'God bless you, young goatherd!'
said she. 'See what apples grow in our garden! Here's one for you;
I'll give it you, that you may know how good they are.' She offered
him a beautiful rosy apple. But Johnny knew that if he took the
apple and ate it he would fall asleep, and she would afterwards tear
out his eyes, so he said: 'I am much obliged to you, beautiful
damsel! My master has an apple-tree in his garden, on which still
handsomer apples grow; I have eaten my fill of them.' 'Well, if
you'd rather not, I won't compel you,' said the damsel, and went
away. After a while came another, still prettier, damsel, with a
beautiful red rose in her hand, and said: 'God bless you, young
goatherd! See what a beautiful rose I've just plucked off the hedge.
It smells so nice; smell it yourself.' 'I am much obliged to you,
beautiful damsel. My master has still handsomer roses in his garden;
I have smelt my fill of them.' 'Well, then, if you won't, let it
alone!' said the damsel, quite enraged, turned round, and retired.
After a while, a third damsel, the youngest and prettiest of them
all, came up. 'God bless you, young goatherd!' 'Thank you, beautiful
damsel!' 'Indeed, you're a fine lad,' said the damsel, 'but you'd be
still handsomer if you had your hair nicely combed and dressed.
Come, I'll comb it for you.' Johnny said nothing, but when the
damsel came up to him to comb his hair, he took his hat from his
head, drew out a bramble-shoot, and pop! struck her on both hands.
The damsel screamed 'Help, help!' began to weep, but was unable to
move from the place. Johnny cared naught for her weeping, and bound
her hands together with the bramble. Then up ran the other two
damsels, and, seeing their sister a captive, began to beg Johnny to
unbind her and let her go. 'Unbind her yourselves,' said Johnny.
'Alas! we can't, we have tender hands, we should prick ourselves.'
But when they saw that the lad would not do as they wished, they
went to their sister and wanted to unfasten the bramble. Thereupon
Johnny leapt up, and pop! pop! struck them too with a spray, and
then bound both their hands together. 'See, I've got you, you wicked
Jezinkas! Why did you tear out my master's eyes?' After this, he
went home to his master, and said, 'Come, daddy, I've found somebody
who will give you your eyes again.' When they came to the hill, he
said to the first Jezinka, 'Now tell me where the old man's eyes
are. If you don't tell me, I shall throw you at once into the
water.' The Jezinka made excuse that she didn't know, and Johnny was
going to throw her into the river, which flowed hard by under the
hill. 'Don't, Johnny, don't!' entreated the Jezinka, 'and I'll give
you the old man's eyes.' She conducted him into a cavern, where was
a great heap of eyes, large and small, black, red, blue and green,
and took two out of the heap. But when Johnny placed them in the old
man's sockets, the poor man began to cry: 'Alas, alas! these are not
my eyes. I see nothing but owls.' Johnny became exasperated, seized
the Jezinka, and threw her into the water. He then said to the
second: 'Tell me, you, where the old man's eyes are.' She, too,
began to make excuses that she didn't know; but when the lad
threatened to throw her, too, into the water, she led him again to
the cavern, and took out two other eyes. But the old man cried
again: 'Alas! these are not my eyes. I see nothing but wolves.' The
same was done to the second Jezinka as to the first; the water
closed over her. 'Tell me, you, where the old man's eyes are,' said
Johnny to the third and youngest Jezinka. She, too, led him to the
heap in the cavern, and took out two eyes for him. But when they
were inserted, the old man cried out again that they were not his
eyes. 'I see nothing but pike.' Johnny saw that she, too, was
cheating him, and was going to drown her as well; but the Jezinka
besought him with tears: 'Don't, Johnny, don't! I will give you the
old man's proper eyes.' She took them from under the whole heap. And
when Johnny inserted them into the old man's sockets, he cried out
joyfully: 'These, these are my eyes! Praise be to God! now I see
well again!' Afterwards Johnny and the old man lived together
happily; Johnny pastured the goats, and the old man made cheeses at
home, and they ate them together; but the Jezinka never showed
herself again on that hill.