happy. I have never found anywhere a woman I would want for a wife until I saw you. Bára, I am not a man of long speeches. I have cared for you from the moment I first saw you. I’ve learned to know you well, too, even though we did not talk to each other, and that I have said nothing before this is because I did not dare presume to ask your consent. Now you know all. Tell me if you think you can care for me and if you want to be my wife. In Vestec you cannot remain after this. So if you care for me, take what things you wish with you and come at once with your father to me up there to our home in the forest where people will love you.”
Bára stood like a statue, not moving a muscle, nor could she utter a single word. The huntsman did not know how to interpret this but, wishing to learn the truth, even if it should prove bitter for him, he again asked Bára if she would become his wife. Then the girl burst into tears and cried out: “Dear God! Is it really true that you love me?” The huntsman assured her with his lips and the warm clasp of his hand, and only then did she avow her long-cherished love for him.
Having come to a happy understanding, they emerged and knelt before Jacob. The huntsman said: “You know me, father, and you know that for a long time now I have been amply able to support a wife. But none pleased until I saw your daughter. I fell in love with her that very first time. She and I have just come to an agreement, and we want your blessing.
