Transcript The Legend of the Wawel’s Dragon

The Legend
of the Wawel’s Dragon
Polish Culture
On the top of the Wawel hill
in Krakow there is a
grandiose castle - a residence
of Polish kings since the
Middle Ages. The Wawel
Royal Castle is probably the
most prominent tourist
attraction not only in Krakow,
but in Poland. The legend of
the Wawel Dragon makes
Krakow even more attractive.
Dragon’s cave
At the foot of the hill there is a
cave which was once a medieval
inn. Nowadays it is a tourist
attraction from the beginning of
May until the end of October, but it
is closed during the winter time due
to danger of slipping on icy stairs
inside. Near the entrance to the
cave we can admire a stone dragon
statue "exhaling" fire every two
minutes! The statue was designed
by a famous regional sculptor
Bronislaw Chromy in 1972.
According to the legend, this cave
was inhabited once by a dragon.
Dratewka’s Idea – Sheep
The news of the dragon`s nasty habits spread
all over the country. Many knights came in an
attempt to slay the beast, however, none was
successful since it burnt valiant fighters before
they could draw out their swords. King Krak,
who ruled in the city at the time, became
desperate, especially since he had one beautiful
and lovely daughter who could be the dragon's
next victim. He promised to reward the dragon
slayer with his daughter`s hand and half of the
kingdom. Many tried, nobody prevailed, until the
one day when a poor shoemaker Dratewka
appeared before the king and volunteered to kill
the horrible creature. knew that he did not
have any chances in a one-on-one battle.
Instead he came up with an idea to poison the
beast. He decided to prepare a special dish for
the dragon - a sheep stuffed with tar and sulfur.
At dawn Dratewka placed prepared sheep at the
cave's entrance.
Wawel dragon is the most famous
dragon in Poland
The dragon greedily devoured the
sheep for his breakfast. Soon he felt like
his stomach was on fire. The fiery
feeling was so intense that the dragon
stood on the bank of the river and
started to drink water. Nothing seemed
to help, the dragon kept on drinking
more and more. His belly grew bigger
and bigger since he kept drinking until
he blew up in a powerful explosion.
Residents of Krakow rejoiced seeing the
happy end of their troubles. The brave
and smart shoemaker married the
beautiful princess and after King Krak's
death became a ruler of Krakow.
The Legend of the Wawel’s Dragon
was described and enriched
with pictures by Malwina Mroczka and Bartek Kozak
Gimnazjum Tyczyn