The Spindle of Fate

The audiobook Vřeteno osudu (The Spindle of Fate), written by Otomar Dvořák, read by Aleš Procházka, directed by Miloš Vrána. Who isn't familiar with the mysterious, spooky ballads from the legendary collection Kytice (A Bouquet of Czech Folktales)? But what do we know about the life of its author, Karel Jaromír Erben? Few people suspect that behind the mask of a serious, quiet man was a passionate romantic who recorded terrifying dreams in his diaries, lived in the shadow of death, conversed with the ghost of his dead twin brother, had difficult relationships with women, and harboured the dreadful secret of Záhoř's Bed. Experienced novelist Otomar Dvořák lifts the curtain on the difficult life of the creator, who had to wage a dramatic battle against the cruelty of fate to save the world of old Slavic myths, rituals, superstitions, songs, and fairy tales for future generations. In this fictionalised story, we walk with Erben through the turbulent events of the mid-nineteenth century and meet prominent figures of the time (Mácha, Palacký, Havlíček Borovský, Tyl, Němcová, Frič, Šafařík, and others). At the same time, we journey through a ballad-like landscape, over which a pale moon shines, treasures are revealed in the rocks, a water goblin sets his treacherous nets, and a dead lover knocks on the window behind which his beloved is praying… The spindle of fate turns, and the black fate Morjana whispers to Erben from the darkness: "You are forfeit to death! What will you pay to redeem your life?"