It was part of the nationalist sentiment that swept most of Europe. Since the large towns were dominated by the German-speaking official class, the native traditions were sought in the countryside and small villages, in the local usages, dialects, songs, and tales of the common people.

The best-loved folktale collection was compiled by Bozena Nemcova. First published in 1845, it has gone through countless editions since. Born in 1820, Nemcova epitomized her generation. She grew up speaking German as well as Czech and married an official of the Austrian bureaucracy. She learned of the nationalist movement and met many of its leading lights, including Karel Erben, the other great contemporary collector of folk literature. Nemcova grew up writing verses in German, but once she became a nationalist, she is said to have burned them. She not only collected folktales but also reported on all aspects of folklore: the traditions, habits, sayings and proverbs, dances, costumes, and idiomatic expressions of the countryside.

“The Night Watch,” the story retold below, is grimmer than some of Nemcova’s sunnier, morally uplifting tales and is usually excluded from more recent fairy tale anthologies intended for children.  However, it captures the ethos of a small Bohemian village better than some of her other narratives, which are more concerned with princes winning the hearts of princesses.  In “The Night Watch,” a poor school-teacher fools hellhounds into giving him a fortune with a combination of courage, cunning, and not a little luck.  Note that the holy water that the schoolteacher sprinkles around him to make an impenetrable shield functions more as a magic potion than as a sacramental element.  Note also that the priest who gives him the holy water manages to get a good part of the loot for himself: a bit of realism in a time and place where the stature of the village priest was often in question.

Outsmarting the devil is a favorite theme of Czech folklore.  The devil usually dresses in the green costume of a gamekeeper, one of the more despised representatives of authority.  Gamekeepers’ primary role was to keep poachers—invariably peasants—off the land of their noble masters, even if that meant shooting them.

The other great compiler of folklore was Karel Erben.  An active nationalist, Erben explored all corners of Czech folk culture.  In addition to a collection of Czech folktales, Erben published a book of Pan-Slavic tales in their original dialects and a volume of folk songs and sayings.  These latter run the gamut from clever limericks to poignant plaints.  In one, titled “Honesty,” a gamekeeper is featured.  The speaker is presumably a shepherd.