{"id":1682,"date":"2011-04-19T23:38:26","date_gmt":"2011-04-19T23:38:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/polish\/?p=1682"},"modified":"2011-04-19T23:38:26","modified_gmt":"2011-04-19T23:38:26","slug":"the-trumpeter-of-krakow","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/polish\/the-trumpeter-of-krakow\/","title":{"rendered":"The trumpeter of Krak\u00f3w"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>In Krakow, which was the ancient capital of Poland, there is a Church in the\u00a0Market Square. It is a tall, graceful building built of brick, in the Gothic style, with\u00a0a richly adorned interior. It has two towers, one of which is a little higher than\u00a0the other and more ornate. From the taller tower a fanfare, called hejna\u0142<\/strong>, is\u00a0played by a trumpeter on every hour. It is repeated four times, in four different\u00a0directions, but always ends abruptly, on a broken note. Here is the legend behind\u00a0this tradition:<\/p>\n

One day in the 13th century, an old watchman, keeping watch over the city saw\u00a0in the distance a cloud of dust which grew bigger with every passing moment. He\u00a0realized, in horror, that it was a large army of Tatars galloping towards the city\u00a0walls. These invaders from the East had more than once advanced to Krak\u00f3w and\u00a0even farther, and they had pillaged and burned, looted and murdered and carried\u00a0off the people to be slaves.\u00a0The trumpeter was horror stricken. How could he warn the city, how could he\u00a0convey to the people the approach of danger and give them time to prepare their\u00a0defense? There was only one thing he could do. To go down into the town and\u00a0spread the alarm would be foolish, for it would waste precious minutes. He must\u00a0play the Hejna\u0142, over and over. That would surely arouse the citizens, they would\u00a0certainly be aware of approaching danger. So he played, again and again.<\/p>\n

At first the people of Krak\u00f3w were puzzled. Why was the trumpeter playing over\u00a0and over? and with such loud urgency? But they quickly realized that it was a\u00a0warning and that from his lofty tower ha had seen danger approach. The soldiers\u00a0sprang to arms and took up their stations on the walls of the city. The burgesses\u00a0ran to secure their houses and place their wives and children behind locked\u00a0doors. The apprentices seized their arrows and their cross-bows, the artisans\u00a0seizes what tools they could lay their hands on, and they all marched to the\u00a0defense of their city.<\/p>\n

The archers took up their positions along the battlements as the tartars galloped\u00a0towards the city. But by now the Polish arrows were flying. They rained down on\u00a0the tartar invaders, wave after wave. Eventually the Tartars were forced to\u00a0retreat, and Krak\u00f3w was saved from the Mongols!\u00a0Suddenly, the sound of the Hejna\u0142 ceased abruptly. The notes had reached the\u00a0ears of the Tatars as they approached, and their keen eyes had espied the figure\u00a0of the trumpeter. As soon as they came within bow-shot, their leader, the surest\u00a0marksman of them all, loosed his bow, and the deadly projectile logged in the\u00a0trumpeter’s throat.<\/p>\n

When the joy over the victory died down they realized that the trumpeter who\u00a0had warned them was nowhere to be seen. So one of his friends went to look for\u00a0him. However, when he reached the tower he found that disaster had struck. A\u00a0single Tartar arrow had pierced the old watchman’ s throat and he had died. The\u00a0trumpet was still clasped in his hands ready to blast out a final note.<\/p>\n

The Krakowians would never forget the act of the old trumpeter watchman, and it\u00a0was decreed that a bugle call should be played each day in memory of the hero.<\/p>\n

And so for hundreds of years the ‘hejna\u0142’ has rung out over Krak\u00f3w’s rooftops for\u00a0the noble watchman who saved the city.<\/p>\n

Till next time…!Do nast\u0119pnego razu…!<\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In Krakow, which was the ancient capital of Poland, there is a Church in the\u00a0Market Square. It is a tall, graceful building built of brick, in the Gothic style, with\u00a0a richly adorned interior. It has two towers, one of which is a little higher than\u00a0the other and more ornate. From the taller tower a fanfare…<\/p>\n

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