The lake pixie Wítek

No one knows when the pixie Wítek first came to the world. But we know exactly when he came for the second time. And where it happened. You have to jump with us over a few centuries to the past if you want to hear the story.

So - one, two, three - here we go!
Are you here yet? If yes, you are with us in the small castle of Vítkův Hrádek, one of the castles owned by the very powerful lords of Rožmberk. It is the year 1420. We know it exactly because last year was 1419. It is Friday, the thirteenth of May, when Servace, one of the Ice Men, celebrates his name day. A terrible storm is raging outside. There is lightning after lightning. The burgrave, Peter Harachéř of Louzek, has just closed the thick book where he carefully wrote something down. He is one of the few burgraves in the Bohemian Kingdom who learnt the writing and reading skills and now do not have to use services of some unreliable scrivener. He looks after the property of his master, the noble lord Oldřich of Rožmberk, the second of this name, and he attends to it “that the subjects are treated justly and according to law”.

Now he rises from the table. He places the book in the chest and takes out another one, which is at sight much older and thumbed. He stretches his back and puts a few strong birch logs in the fire. He pulls the armchair to the fire as close as possible and sits down. He lays the book on his lap and opens it ...

Suddenly, a horrifying cry cuts through the room. The guards heard the cry although thunder rumbles outside so much that an army in full battle order would not drown its sound even if their armours fell down from the castle tower. The armour-bearer storms in the room, his poleaxe aimed at the possible enemy. He looks around cautiously. There is only one person in the room, the burgrave. The man, hardened in many battles, sits in the armchair, looking very pale. His eyes are nailed on the book lying on the floor and he is mumbling something unclear.

At last he swallows and whispers in a shaking voice: “Záviš, something was snapped in the book!”

“Snapped in?” the loyal Záviš asks because he does not understand.
„Dear me, there was simply something snapped in”, the burgrave is angry now. “I had rarely opened the book when something jumped out on me. It bounced off my shoulder and disappeared. Let the floor swallow me up if I know what kind of imp it could be.” The burgrave still shakes his head perplexedly.

One, two, three, go ... and we are at home again. The storm has headed for Krumlov and Vítkův Hrádek is a ruin now. If the weather is clear, the view from its tower takes your breath away. Let us see, who knows what gave the burgrave such a terrible scare? If you think that it was the pixie Wítek from Vítkův Hrádek, you get first-class honours! Or, if you guessed differently, you have to pay more attention now.

You may ask why the pixie’s name is Wítek, and not Vítek. The answer is simple. Vítkův Hrádek was called Wittinghausen in the distant knightly past. It is as simple as this!

And now let us come back to what happened in the castle during the terrible storm. Only a few people know that if you want to get rid of some pixie for good, the only possibility is to snap him in. Did you know that? The pixie Wítek was snapped in the book like that and no one will ever know if he was snapped in there by purpose or by mistake when someone fell asleep when reading it. We will never know either if he spent in the book a week or one hundred years, for example.

The lake pixie Wítek has not always been the lake pixie Wítek. Yes, he was a pixie, called Wítek, even if snapped in for some time. But he has not always been a lake pixie. He enjoyed going downwards from the castle to the Vltava River, where he learnt to swim excellently and dive fairly well, but he liked to return to the castle every evening. The castle inhabitants got used to him and could not imagine their life without him.

He spent a lot of time mainly with children. Together, they would watch open-mouthed the art of jugglers; they threw quoits, or played hide-and-seek. And if by chance some child threw the ball over the ramparts, the nimble pixie Wítek would quickly flash through and bring the ball so fast that the guards did not take a notice of him. Finally, Wítek made friends with Peter, the burgrave, who had set him free after the stormy night.

Sadly, Vítkův Hrádek began to decline slowly. Fewer and fewer people lived there and even fewer children. Then one day the last guard left the castle and Wítek was left alone for a long time. He would look out from the castle tower to the distance and thought of the old times. Once more, Hrádek reawakened when some armour-bearers moved in. But they did not look after the castle at all, and what is more, no children came with them. They did not invite any jugglers or bear-leaders, and when someone wanted to pay a visit, they would release dogs. Wítek preferred to avoid them.

When a dam was filled below the castle, Wítek could make his dream come true and turn into a lake pixie. He could, of course, become a dam pixie, but the name Wítek, the dam pixie, sounds fairly odd. He simply became a lake pixie for the reason that Lipno looks entirely like a lake.

Wítek had been a lake pixie for a long time, but he still lived in Vítkův Hrádek. Everyone stayed in tents put up around Lipno, and he did not feel like staying in a tent too. Perhaps this feeling was connected to the armour-bearers in the castle, but as soon as they moved out of Vítkův Hrádek, many beautiful houses have been built everywhere and a lot of children with their parents have come to the dam. The pixie Wítek felt like a fish in water again. He left the castle more often now and did not come back every night. Surely, if you swim with children from the morning till the evening, cycle or in-line skate, or ski in winter, bobsleigh, or skate, you are happy to drop to the nearest bed. In the end, the pixie Wítek moved out of the castle for good!

First, he had a slight problem with the name of his new castle - Lipno Lake Resort, but he soon got used to it. Children explained to him that the name means that people spend their holidays in a resort by Lipno Lake, and he liked this explanation. Is he a lake pixie? He is. And does he live near Lipno? He does. So what? The main thing is that there are always many children here. And the pixie Wítek has fast learnt everything new that can be done here. He whizzes downhill on his bicycle, he climbs like a monkey in the rope park or goes in-line skating on the brand new cycle path to Frymburk for ice-cream. In winter, he skis, bobsleighs, skates or warms himself in the swimming pool.

The lake pixie Wítek enjoys teaching all of these activities to children who came to the Lipno Lake Resort. Besides, come and you will see that in your own eyes anytime.