The Legend of Smok Wawelski (the Dragon from Wawel)
„Once upon a time there was an awful dragon that kept threatening the people of Kraków. He slew the innocent, devoured their domestic animals and plundered their belongings. Nobody could prevent his hideous deeds. The King of Kraków, desperately worried by the tragic situation in the city, promised the hand of his daughter to anyone who could defeat this terrible creature and free the inhabiatants of Kraków from his tyranny.
One day, a poor shoemaker hit upon a clever idea. He stuffed a sack with sulphur and planted it close to the dragon’s cave. The dragon, thinking this to be a nice titbit, gobbled it up in the twinkling of an eye. Very soon he started to feel enormously thirsty. He was forced to drink half of the Vistula River, and as a result, his stomach kept swelling and swelling and eventually it exploded, killing him! Thus the idea of a simple boy saved the lives of the whole of the city of Kraków. As promised the boy married the king’s daughter and the pair lived happily ever after.”
©2004 S.WAWELSKI
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