2. In Upper Silesia – the region of Poland
were we live - there are large deposits
of coal underground. In the past, this
was the main industry of the region.
3. Town and cities were built around coal
mines, and for the people living in those
towns, mining was the only available
work. It has always been very hard and
dangerous work, too.
4. Perhaps that is why the miners told
stories of Skarbnik (Treasurer), the
spirit of mines, taking care of people
working there, showing miners where to
find coal and the best and most precious
metals, warning them about danger.
5. Treasurer required hard work, honesty and
respect from the miners. He usually
appeared in a form of an old man with a
grey beard, carrying a lantern and a
pickaxe.
7. Long time ago, many miners worked in
Silesian coal mines. It was an extremely
difficult work. The miners were splitting
coal with picks for days, and then they
loaded it into the wagons and finally pushed
them up
8. Once, a Treasurer strolled in the
underground of the mine, watching the daily
hard work of miners decided to help them
scattering in a place where they dug silver
clods.
9. The miners were very pleased with the
find. They collected all the pieces and
after returning home, they boasted of
finding their wives who, as usual,
expected them at home with a hot dinner.
This situation was repeated for several
days.Initially, the miners continued to
work hard while extracting coal, but
after some time they found that hard work
is unprofitable and better, and certainly
much easier, to collect scattered clumps
of silver.
10. They stopped mining coal, focused only on
silver and after returning home they
brought everything they had to spend on
parties, gambling and alcohol.
11. Libations took place every day and often
ended with arguments and fights. The
situation angered the Treasurer, who
decided to punish the lazy miners.
12. In the place where they worked, he never
left a piece of silver, and the coal that
was mined became hard as the hardest. And it
took much more to extract it than before.
13. Treasurer was often found in Silesian
coal mines, but apparently also appeared
in the Wieliczka Salt Mine, in which we
had the opportunity to be during a
meeting in Poland.
