THE CRACOW DRAGON, A FOLK TALE

The Cracow Dragon, a folk tale

A long time ago there lived a king, named Krak. He liked laughing, dancing and singing, but that very day he was angry. Every night a dragon comes out of its cave and kills sheep and goats. Everyone is scared of him. They decide that he must die. The king offers his daughter to the man who could kill the dragon and promises him to give him a life of a king. A lot of different brave men arrive to kill the dragon but they can’t kill it. It is too strong. One brave man is killed by the its wings. Another one can’t fight the dragon’s breath fire. These men also get frightened by the dragon and don’t want to fight it anymore.

Skuba, a shoemaker, visits the king to tell him his plan how to kill the dragon. The king agrees. They bring him some sulphur, a needle and a thread and the skin of one sheep. He puts the sulphur into the sheep’s skin, a sews the skin. The next day he leaves this skin outside the dragon’s cave. When the dragon wakes up, it eats the sheep. The dragon’s tummy starts hurting, it’s like on fire. The dragon thinks: ‘I’m dying. Where is the river?’

It goes to the river and starts drinking water. It keeps drinking until its tummy bursts. Finally, the dragon is dead. The king keeps his promise and Skuba, the shoemaker, can marry his daughter.

Glossary:
hill – hrib
king – kralj
dance – ples
sing – peti
dragon – zmaj
cave – jama
frightened – prestrašen
goat – koza
die – umreti
brave – pogumen
kill – ubiti
marry – poročiti se
strong – močan
around – okoli
spear – kopje
clever – pameten
tail – rep
knock – potrkati
shoemaker – čevljar
bring – prinesti
sulphur – žveplo
needle – šivanka
thread – nit
sheepskin – ovčja koža
strange – čudno
river – reka

Eva, 7. razred