The Wawel Dragon - Polish

My name is Skuba, and a long time ago, I was just a simple shoemaker's apprentice living in the beautiful city of Kraków. Our town was nestled beside the gentle Vistula River, right at the foot of Wawel Hill, where a grand castle stood guard. This is the story of the famous Wawel Dragon and how my clever thinking saved everyone. A terrible, scaly dragon with smoky breath lived in a dark cave under the hill, and we were all so scared. He was a grumpy beast who roared so loudly it shook the windows in our little shops. Even the bravest knights with their shiny armor and long, sharp swords tried to defeat the monster, but they always came back with their shields dented and their helmets drooping. No one knew what to do, and the whole town felt sad and worried all the time.

The dragon, which everyone called Smok Wawelski, had a monstrous appetite, and his favorite snack was sheep. Every single day, the farmers would lead their fluffy flocks to the meadow, and every single day, the dragon would snatch one for his dinner. The poor king was so desperate that he promised a huge reward, and even his daughter's hand in marriage, to anyone who could stop the dragon. All the strongest knights tried, marching up the hill with their swords gleaming. But their weapons just bounced off the dragon’s tough, green scales like pebbles. I knew I wasn't strong like a knight, and I didn't have any armor. But I was good at sewing shoes, and I was even better at thinking. I watched the dragon from a safe distance and noticed how greedy it was; it would eat anything that looked like a sheep without even sniffing it first. That gave me a wonderful, tricky idea. I realized I didn't need a sword. I just needed a needle, some thread, and a very clever plan. I found a big sheepskin and stuffed it full, not with soft hay, but with a stinky, yellow powder called sulfur. I sewed it up so neatly that it looked just like a plump, delicious sheep.

Before the sun came up one morning, I tiptoed to Wawel Hill. My heart was beating like a drum, thump-thump-thump. I placed my pretend sheep right outside the dragon's dark, spooky cave and then ran to hide behind a big rock. I didn't have to wait long. The great beast stomped out, sniffing the air. Its big, yellow eyes spotted the 'sheep,' and with a happy roar, it gobbled it up in one single, enormous gulp. At first, nothing happened. But then, the sulfur inside the sheepskin began to work. The dragon felt a fiery, fizzing, burning feeling deep in its belly. It was the worst tummy ache ever. "ROAR." it bellowed, feeling so, so thirsty. It scrambled down the hill and rushed to the Vistula River. It plunged its giant head into the water and started to drink. It drank, and drank, and drank some more. It was gulping down so much water that the river actually started to get lower. But the burning in its tummy wouldn't go away. The dragon's belly just kept swelling up bigger and bigger, like a giant water balloon, until suddenly… POP. The Wawel Dragon was gone forever.

When the townspeople saw that the dragon was gone, they cheered so loudly that birds flew into the air. They lifted me onto their shoulders and called me a hero. I was no longer just Skuba, the shoemaker's apprentice; I was Skuba, the dragon slayer. My story has been told by parents to their children in Poland for hundreds of years. It reminds everyone that you don’t have to be the biggest or strongest person to solve a big problem. Sometimes, a clever idea is more powerful than the sharpest sword. Today, if you visit Wawel Hill in Kraków, you can see a big metal statue of the dragon. If you wait a few minutes, it even breathes real fire. The story of the Wawel Dragon lives on, inspiring us to be clever and brave.