The Wawel Heads
Adapted by Agnieszka Madrzyk
The Wawel castle is beautiful and has a lot of majestic chambers, but one of them deserves special attention. Some call it the Throne Room, and others the Room of Deputies, but no matter what it is called, this room is full of wonders; there are heads engraved in the ceiling. The heads are carved so precisely that they seem alive.
One market day, when merchants from distant lands arrived to the Wawel castle, people crowded around their stalls to view the beautiful and useful objects they had to offer. Suddenly, screams and commotion rose among the crowd, “Thief! Help! Catch!” cried the merchant who was well-known across the country for his marvelous handmade belts. The shoplifter took advantage of the artisan’s inattention and grabbed a beautifully ornate belt from his table.
So the crowd moved because honest people wanted to help in catching the thief, but he disappeared anyway. Then someone on the other end of the market shouted, “Here's the belt!” The stolen object was lying at the feet of the poor widow who did not know what was going on. After a moment, the trembling merchant along with guards led the woman to the castle where she was to stand before the king. You should know that then Polish king, Sigismund Augustus, severely punished the thieves.
“It wasn’t me, not me, I just stood…,” awkwardly explained the surprised woman. Because she was not able to express her thoughts, the king did not have evidence of her innocence, and he sentenced her to an exemplary whipping at the center of the market. The poor widow wept and said, “If no one wants to stand in my defense, let the wooden heads speak!” Then an extraordinary thing happened.
People who gathered in the Throne Room heard the voice coming from the ceiling, “King Augustus, judge fairly!” A female head in a white bonnet uttered these words. So the king repeated the hearing, during which the witness was found. His testimony acquitted the widow; he saw a young boy throw the stolen belt under her feet.
The king compensated the woman with the purse of money, and then he ordered to carve a band over the mouth of the head that dared to question his royal judgment. None of the heads dared to speak up ever again.
The End