Juraj Jánošík was a young man. He grew up in a small village in Slovakia. His mother died giving birth to him, so his father looked after him.
When Juraj turned eighteen, he went to war.
‘Do not worry, Father,’ he said, ‘I will not be gone long.’
But he was at war for three years, and during that time there were three cold winters and three hot summers. Juraj’s father was old and alone, and he had nobody to look after him. When Juraj finally came home from war, his father was dead.
‘What can I do now?’ he said to himself. ‘I am all alone in the world.’
So he went travelling, and three days later he came to the mountains. ‘Do not go in there,’ said the local people. ‘There are bandits, and they will attack you.’
‘Why are there bandits?’ asked Juraj. ‘Do they not have enough food to live?’
After all, Slovakia was a country with many lakes, rivers and forests. There was plenty of land and plenty of food to go around, or so Juraj thought. But this area belonged to Earl Lojzo, a very bad man. He, and the rich families he was close to, took half of all the food the people made. They did not have enough food to eat, but Lojzo and his friends ate chicken and drank wine every day. So the bandits attacked travellers and took their money, and they gave it to the poor people all around.
When Juraj heard this he was very sad. He had grown up with his father, who was a good man. And in the war, he had fought with good men. But Lojzo and his men were bad. Juraj did not want to fight anymore, but he could not let bad men do bad things.
‘I will join the bandits,’ Juraj said, and he went into the mountains.
After many hours, Juraj found the group of bandits.
‘Well, if it isn’t Juraj Jánošík!’
Juraj was very surprised. He knew that voice. It was Stanislav. They fought together in the war.
‘What are you doing here, friend?’ asked Stanislav.
‘I want to join your group.’
Stanislav laughed. ‘Really?’
‘Yes, I am serious.’
The leader of the bandits went up to Juraj. ‘We don’t need any more people.’
‘I am strong. Stanislav will tell you.’
‘If you are strong, then show me.’
‘Fine then!’ said Juraj. ‘We will fight.’
So Juraj fought the leader of the bandits. The leader was big and strong, but Juraj was fast and clever. He beat the leader, and all the bandits were surprised.
‘Well done,’ said the leader. ‘You have earned this.’
He gave Juraj a small axe called a valaška.
‘If you want to join us,’ said the leader, ‘you must make a promise. You must promise to take only from the rich and give only to the poor.’
‘I promise to take only from the rich and give only to the poor,’ said Juraj. ‘I swear on my father’s grave.’
So Juraj joined the bandits. Soon, everyone knew Juraj, and he became very popular. The bandits were happy to have him, and they worked well together. They started stealing bigger things. They went outside the mountains. When travellers rode carriages, they attacked the carriages and stole everything inside. And in the forest and the mountains they made many hiding places.
Lojzo ignored the bandits, because they did not steal from him. But one day, the bandits stole from his daughter, and Lojzo was not happy about this.
‘Find those bandits and kill them!’ he told his men.
But Lojzo’s men wore heavy clothes and used heavy weapons. The bandits only had their small axes, and thin clothes and hats made from animal skin. They could run very fast, and Lojzo’s men could not catch them.
Juraj was especially fast, and he became very popular. In every village people knew his name, and everybody liked him. Even some of the rich men liked him, that is, until he stole from them.
Every now and then, the bandits went down into the villages. They bought alcohol, tobacco and bread, but they did not need other things. After all, they had plenty of food in the forest. And every time they went to the villages, they always gave money to the poor people.
Lojzo was very angry. ‘Why can’t you catch these bandits?’ He thought that maybe his men liked the bandits, especially Juraj, so he decided to offer a reward. ‘If you catch a bandit, I will give you 20 gold pieces. And if you catch Juraj Jánošík, dead or alive, I will give you 100 gold pieces.’
Suddenly, the men wanted very much to catch Juraj Jánošík.
One day, Juraj was in the village of Terchová. He was buying tobacco when he saw a woman. She was so beautiful that he dropped his tobacco. He was in love with her.
‘Hey there,’ he said, walking up to her. ‘What’s your name?’
‘I’m Alžbetka,’ she said. ‘I think I know you. You’re one of those bandits, aren’t you?’
‘I am,’ he said, smiling. ‘I’m Juraj Jánošík.’
She gasped. ‘Wow, Juraj Jánošík!’
Juraj saw a man at the end of the road. He was walking towards Juraj, and he did not look happy.
‘I have to go,’ he said. ‘But I must see you again. I will come back in a week.’
For seven days, Juraj thought only of Alžbetka. He dreamed of her. A week later, he came back to Terchová. He looked for Alžbetka, but he only found the angry man from before.
‘Do you know where Alžbetka lives?’ he asked.
‘Oh yes,’ said the man. ‘She lives just there.’
He smiled and showed Juraj where to go. Juraj thought the man looked very happy this time. Maybe too happy. But he was also happy, because of Alžbetka, so he did not think about it.
‘Thank you. What is your name?’
‘Me? Oh, I’m Gajza. And you’re Juraj Jánošík, aren’t you?’
‘Well, aren’t you clever. Yes, I am Juraj.’
‘You are a bad man.’
Juraj laughed. ‘And you are a stupid man. Goodbye.’
And then Juraj went to Alžbetka’s house.
‘Oh, Alžbetka, I’m here!’
Inside, he met Alžbetka’s parents. Straight away, he knelt on the floor and said, ‘I am Juraj Jánošík, and I love your daughter. I want to marry her.’
They looked scared, because he was a bandit. But they saw that they were in love, so they said yes.
But Gajza was standing by the window, and he heard everything. ‘So, he is going to marry Alžbetka!’ he said. He was very angry. He did not like the bandits, and he did not want Juraj to marry Alžbetka. So he went to the castle and told Lojzo what had happened.
A few days later, Juraj came back for the wedding. First, they ate a traditional Slovak lunch of bryndzové halušky. But while they ate, they heard men coming. Juraj went to the window, and saw that Lojzo’s men were coming to the house. And there were at least twenty of them! So Juraj ran to the front door, but there were men there, too.
‘Juraj Jánošík! We are the men of Earl Lojzo! Come out now, and we won’t kill you.’
‘Go upstairs,’ Juraj said to Alžbetka. He took his axe and went upstairs with her. He wanted to go on the roof to escape. But when he ran up the stairs, Gajza jumped out.
‘Why are you here?’ said Juraj.
‘You are the stupid man now!’ said Gajza. He pushed Juraj and he fell down the stairs.
‘Juraj!’ cried Alžbetka.
Juraj tried to get up. He wanted to kill Gajza. But Lojzo’s men broke down the door and ran inside. They took Juraj and tied him up. Outside, Lojzo was waiting.
‘Good work,’ he said, smiling. Then he took Juraj’s axe and broke it. ‘You are going to die, Juraj Jánošík. Tomorrow, you will be hanged.’
Most men were afraid of death, but Juraj was not afraid. He was only sad, because he wanted to be with Alžbetka. All the time, he thought of her.
The next day, they took Juraj to the town square. There were many people there. Some people wanted Juraj to live, but many people wanted him to die. Gajza had told the people that Juraj was a bad man, and that he had treated Alžbetka badly.
‘Juraj Jánošík,’ said Lojzo. ‘I am a kind man. I will give you a chance. If you ask for forgiveness, I will cut your head off. It will be quick and you won’t feel it. But if you do not ask for forgiveness, you will be hanged. And it will hurt a lot.’
Juraj looked at the people, and then he looked at Alžbetka. She was crying.
Juraj smiled. ‘I won’t ask for forgiveness. You are the one who should ask for forgiveness. I am clean.’
And so Juraj Jánošík was hanged, but his name was never forgotten.
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