Princess Kinga's ring

1. 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

2. The Hungarian princess Kinga1
was still quite a little girl, when noble, Polish
gentlemen, lead by the Castellan of Cracow, visited the castle of Esztergom, to
ask on behalf of Polish prince Boleslaw2
for her hand. King Bela IV3
welcomed
his guests graciously. He respected the Poles for their bravery and was glad to
gain some allies in the uncertain times. Who was such powerful sovereign
afraid of? Well Tatars - cruel Mongol warriors who have been attacking
unexpectedly 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.

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

4. Newcomers from Krakow knew exactly where the
aroma of these specialties comes from.
It was the salt thanks to which, each dish gains its
taste. Salt - a priceless treasure that here in
Hungary has been mined from the earth for ages.
- Oh, Poland would do well with such a treasure –
they sighed.

5. • 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.

6. After spending a few years in Sandomierz,
Kinga could finally marry Boleslaw. She
grew up to become not only beautiful, but
also a smart girl. She has known the prince
since she was a little girl. Kinga loved her
husband very much and supported him in
everything.

7. • 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.

8. • 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

9. • - 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.

10. • 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.

11. • 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

12. • - 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.

13. • 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.

14. • 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.

15. • - 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.

16. • - 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).

17. • 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.

18. • 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.

19. 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