https://blog.wenzl.no/en/Recent content in Blog – Martin Wenzl on The Hermit and Other TalesHugoen-USMon, 15 Jun 2026 00:00:00 +0000https://blog.wenzl.no/en/posts/the-printer-and-the-hermit-chapter-2/Mon, 15 Jun 2026 00:00:00 +0000https://blog.wenzl.no/en/posts/the-printer-and-the-hermit-chapter-2/<p><img src="https://blog.wenzl.no/images/tiskarna-a-poustevnik-en.png" alt="The Printer and the Hermit"></p> <p>The printing press had not eaten properly for several days. She was greatly exhausted from her long journey through the forest and she feared she might meet a troll. She was not accustomed to deep forests or high mountains, and for the first time in her life she caught sight of a moose.</p> <p>She knew only the city. The city of Joachimsthal, from which she had set out, where silver coins had once been struck, and Kuttenberg, where silver was mined. Kuttenberg, which had ranked among the wealthiest cities in the world, and whose silver had given the coin called the thaler its very material. Her family was from there; it was there she had learned the craft of the mint. She had journeyed from that distant land all the way here, to Norway.</p>https://blog.wenzl.no/en/posts/the-king-or-queen-of-insects/Sun, 14 Jun 2026 00:00:00 +0000https://blog.wenzl.no/en/posts/the-king-or-queen-of-insects/<p><img src="https://blog.wenzl.no/images/kral-hmyzu.png" alt="The King or Queen of Insects"></p> <p>As a child I used to watch fairy tales about a little bee or an ant. The little bee flew out every morning and gathered honey. The ant could fix anything. They were such typical Czech fairy tales. Back then it was perfectly normal for butterflies to flutter in the garden and for trees to be full of bees. The air was full of flying insects.</p>https://blog.wenzl.no/en/posts/kari-and-the-mirror/Sat, 13 Jun 2026 00:00:00 +0000https://blog.wenzl.no/en/posts/kari-and-the-mirror/<p><img src="https://blog.wenzl.no/images/kari-a-zrcadlo.png" alt="Kari and the Mirror"></p> <p>In the fairy-tale world, a single trap lies in wait. A mirror that shows you everything you desire. Do you lack love? The mirror shows love. Do you lack a kind word? The mirror speaks. Do you want money? The mirror gives you the feeling of being wealthy. Whoever sits before the mirror is imprisoned and cannot walk away from it. The mirror consumes time. It is like a hard drug—a drug that destroys you. This mirror gives people a false sense of happiness.</p>https://blog.wenzl.no/en/posts/the-printer-and-the-hermit/Sat, 13 Jun 2026 00:00:00 +0000https://blog.wenzl.no/en/posts/the-printer-and-the-hermit/<p><img src="https://blog.wenzl.no/images/tiskarna-a-poustevnik-en.png" alt="The Printer and the Hermit"></p> <p>Once upon a time there was a printing press that set out into the wide world to seek her fortune. Instead of bread and pastries wrapped in a cloth, she packed good paper, ink, and all the other things she needed for printing money. &ldquo;Perhaps I shall meet some poor souls who need my help,&rdquo; she said to herself.</p> <p>Towards evening she knocked at the door of the first house she came to&mdash;for it was a cool summer&rsquo;s night&mdash;and called out: &ldquo;Good evening! Have you enough money?&rdquo;</p>