Before a Low Threshold Even Great Lords Must Stoop

The whole multitude of the Bohemian people gathered before Libuše and asked her to show them by her prophecies a suitable place; they wished, they said, to build a great and strong city where they might all come together and defend themselves, should it ever happen that enemies entered their land. Libuše answered them: 'My faithful and beloved, I ask you to have a little patience; when I judge the time suitable for building and have sought out a fitting place, so that the city you are to found may endure for ever, I will show it to you and tell you at what time the building should begin.' Three years later Libuše stood at the castle of Libušín with Přemysl, the lechs and the nobles, and looking out over the land she spoke with the spirit of prophecy: 'I see a great city whose glory shall touch the stars. It is a place in the forest, thirty furlongs distant from this castle of mine, and the Vltava washes its low foot. On the north side the brook Brusnice mightily encloses it, flowing through a deep hollow, and to the south rises the hill of Petřín and overtops the place. When you come to that brook, you will find in the midst of the forest a man hewing a threshold for a house. And because even great lords must stoop before a low threshold, you shall call the castle you are to build Praha, that is, the Threshold. In this castle two golden olive trees shall one day spring up, which with their crowns shall reach into heaven and shall shine over all the world with signs and wonders; all the generations of the Bohemian land and other nations besides shall honour them with offerings and gifts and pray to them.' This is interpreted as referring to Saint Wenceslas and Saint Adalbert.