Vladimír Michna

Franta, a shoemaker's apprentice, would like to marry Marjánka. But they are both poor, and the master shoemaker, a widow with a business, does not pay Franta for his work. On the contrary, she has her own designs on him. When she offers him her hand and her business, Franta refuses. But the master shoemaker throws him out of the house. Everyone laughs at her at the ball, so the shoemaker goes to the pond where the water sprite lives to ask for help...

A water sprite settled in a mountain stream. He stops the water and catches fish. So the frightened villagers try to persuade him to move to the Jizera River, where there is plenty of water. But in vain! The water sprite won't even listen—the Jizera River is far away, he would have to walk there on dry land, and that would destroy the little green man. The water in the stream has dried up, and he cannot walk on dry land. But if they built a higher dam to raise the water level in the stream, he would swim away today and even pay them... The negotiators – a shoemaker, a tailor, and a hammerer – consult and decide to do what the water sprite wants...