Princess Kinga’s ring

based on: The legends of Bochnia by Ewa Stadtmüller

translated by Katarzyna Spisak and the students4 of PSP nr 1 in Bochnia

ilustrated by students

The Hungarian princess Kinga1 was still quite a little girl, when noble, Polishgentlemen, lead by the Castellan of Cracow, visited the castle of Esztergom, toask on behalf of Polish prince Boleslaw2 for her hand. King Bela IV3 welcomedhis guests graciously. He respected the Poles for their bravery and was glad togain some allies in the uncertain times. Who was such powerful sovereign afraid of? Well Tatars - cruel Mongol warriors who have been attackingunexpectedly calm Hungarian villages and towns.- Alliance with the neighbours ... It is just what I need - thought king.- There is only one little problem ... – he cleared his throat with

embarrassment.- Future bride to be is attracted more to dolls, than to walking down the aisle.- It does not matter - the guests laughed. - Our prince Boleslaw fights with his

wooden sword so far. All we need is your word, sir, and we will calmly await until they both grow up.

King agreed gladly and to seal his approval,he invited the matchmakers to a great feast.Hungarian red wine filled goblets, fruitbaskets and bowls of fragrant delicious meatand fish appeared on the tables.

Newcomers from Krakow knew exactly where the aroma of these specialties comes from.

It was the salt thanks to which, each dish gains itstaste. Salt - a priceless treasure that here inHungary has been mined from the earth for ages.- Oh, Poland would do well with such a treasure –they sighed.

• Soon the little princess arrived at the Vistula River. She had to learn the Polish language and customs. Princess Grzymislawa, Boleslaw’s mother, surrounded her with loving care and provided her with education, worth royal daughters.

After spending a few years in Sandomierz,Kinga could finally marry Boleslaw. Shegrew up to become not only beautiful, butalso a smart girl. She has known the princesince she was a little girl. Kinga loved herhusband very much and supported him ineverything.

• When the Tatar invasions destroyed the country, princess generously reached into her rich dowry. From the bottom of her heart she would help everyone, but the enormity of poverty has overwhelmed her.- In Hungary, there is no shortage of salt, at least to anyone, and here only the rich can afford it - she thought sadly.When King Bela IV invited her and her husband to Hungary, she was overjoyed.- You will see how beautiful it is there! – she told Boleslaw.

• Prince was also looking forward to this trip. Unfortunately, the important duties kept him at home and Kinga had to go alone. She set out from Krakow, as soon as the snow melted and routes dried up slightly. She was travelling in the company of servants and courtiers, as befits a person from the royal family, but enjoyed the journey as if she was a little girl, who can no longer wait to meet with parents. When Kinga finally got there, she and her mother suffused with tears of joy. I do not believe – Kinga’s father muttered, staring in an amazement at his youngest daughter. Not so long ago she was a small house-elf, who climbed into his lap, and now here she is: a young, beautiful woman, the Princess of Krakow and Sandomierz. Only her smile remained the same, clear as a ray of sunshine

• - You have to rest for a few days – the king has ordered - and then we will set off. You have to see what had changed during your absence ...They soon walked down the trail of pretty Hungarian castles, monasteries and churches. Kinga was in the seventh heaven. She was happy to inhale the smell of native fields, meadows and orchards. Kinga accepted gratefully the hospitality of the poor and the rich.She liked everything, but her delight aroused in the salt mines of Maramures.

• - It is wonderful ... – she sighed, weighing in her hand transparent crystals of salt, taken from the deep shaft. – We do not have it in Poland. People pump brine from the earth by the sweat of their brows. From this brine the salt evaporates, but still it is not the same like this one. - If I could, I would donate you, this salt mountain- king Bela sighed. - Really? - Kinga cried, clinging to her father. They walked up the steep path on strong, accustomed to climbing ponies. The miners have just excavated from the largest shaft the chest full of glittering in the sun crumbs of salt. - Carefully, gracious lady! – miners warned her, when they saw that Kinga approaches the edge of the precipice. They thought she wants to see how deep down it is.

• To their surprise the princess, took off the precious ring from her finger with the coat of arms of the Arpad family and threw it into a dark abyss. After a while, she uttered the words with her voice shaking with emotion:-I, Kinga, the daughter of the king Bela IV, take you the salt mountain, into the eternal possession and I deliver your treasure into Polish soil.At the same moment the sun ignited the red tops of the trees, wrapped up with a gentle glow the salt mountain, royal retinue and frankly astonished crowd of miners.

• Kinga, full of good thoughts, returned to Krakow. She did not miss a single church, or even roadside shrines along the way. She immersed in her prayers, as if she could confide sprouting hope in her heart only to God.Travel time passed quickly and soon the royal retinue arrived in the vicinity of Bochnia.The great worry beset townspeople since they ran out of the source of brine

• - And nothing can be done now? – Kinga has asked, looking with compassion at worried people. The city fathers shook their heads.- We are pouring our grievances but your gracious lady is probably tired and hungry – one of them has noticed consciously. – We invite you for a meal. While the retinue was passing through the town, the princess turned her gaze on a small, neat garden sinking in colourful, autumn flowers.- Let’s stop here - unexpectedly asked Kinga - I'd like to speak with the owner of the house. Courtiers were surprised, but obediently stopped the horses.

• After a moment from the cottage located in the middle of the garden a fair-haired, mustachioed shoemaker ran out.- What a guest, what a guest! – he was repeating with joy, wiping his hands on a thick, glue-stained apron. - Welcome to my front-yard. The royal daughter sat on a stool, given by the shoemaker, and stared thoughtfully at the feathery asters and golden sunflowers.- Why don’t you sell this garden? – she asked - Do not be afraid, I will not aggrieve you I will pay with pure silver.- I cannot sell my patrimony - said the shoemaker. - But if you like my garden so much, I will give it to you.

• Kinga smiled at these words, stood among the flower beds and hailed the small group of onlookers who were peering curiously from behind the fence.- Take a shovel - she said - and dig ... here – she pointed out the path that runs between the flower beds. The diggers were very surprised, but they listened dutifully to their extraordinary guest. In the blink of an eye the appropriate tools were found and in the middle of the garden the heap of earth, stone, clay and sand has appeared. Bochnia miners were well aware of this view. One God knows how many wells they dug in search of even a drop of brine. It seemed that also this time, nothing will come of it, but they were digging persistently. Suddenly one of the shovels tapped against something hard.- Solid rock gracious lady – diggers puffed. – We cannot dig deeper.

• - Give me a piece of this rock - asked Kinga. The strongest man spat in his hands, swung a pickaxe and struck powerfully. Imagine his surprise when in the chipped rock flashed something like ... a gem. A few more strokes and Kinga was given ... the gold ring with the coat of arms of the Arpad family. In the eyes of the Hungarian princess shimmered tears. They were not tears of sorrow but joy.

• - Try this "rock" – she whispered touched. People, one by the other, picked up scattered crumbs from the ground. – It is salty! – suddenly someone shouted . – It is salt! the truest salt! Good news quickly spread around the whole town. Everybody from the town has rushed to the shoemaker’s garden to see a miracle. Soon at that place the first Polish shaft was built. It was called SUTORIS (the Shoemaker’s shaft).

• Kinga gave her ring, which was found in the salt chunk, to the craftsman’s six daughters. To be fair, she ordered to create six smaller rings.- Wear them in remembrance of what happened here – she ordered – Each of you should hand it over to your eldest daughter and if she will not have a daughter, throw it back into the salt shaft.

• The salt mine of Bochnia has blessed people generously with salt for long years.Today, the salt mine is available to tourists who wander along specially prepared routes and sometimes look around in search of the golden ring thrown there by one of the shoemaker’s descendants. They hope the ring gemstone will shine from the dark corridors of the salt mine.

1. Saint Kinga of Poland (also known as Cunegunda, Polish: Święta Kinga, Hungarian: Szent Kinga) (1224 –1292) is a saint in the Catholic Church and patroness of Poland and Lithuania.

2. Bolesław V, "the Chaste One" (Polish: Bolesław Wstydliwy) (1226 – 1279) was Duke of Sandomierz in Lesser Poland from 1232 and High Duke of Poland from 1243 until his death. He was from the Piast dynasty, the first historical ruling dynasty of Poland.

3. Béla IV (1206 – 1270) was King of Hungary and Croatia between 1235 and 1270.

4. Stanisław Bober, Patrycja Bodek, Janusz Galimski, Mikołaj Jurkiewicz, Maria Klimek, Natalia Mordarska, Róża Lekka, Milena Piech, Julia Spisak, Karol Szołdrowski, Szymon Wyrobek, Barbara Węgrzyn, Anna Włodarczyk