Legend from Poland

 

How the coal was found.

The other day, when there weren't any coal mines in Silesia Region, nobody thought there was a lot of treasure under the ground.

People used wood to warm their houses. There were two brothers, Antek and Franek. Antek was tall and thin and he had got freckles on his face. Franek had a round face and he was smiling all the time. Brothers loved each other very much and they helped their parents every day.

One day they went to forest to collect some wood. It was windy and very cold outside. They were wearing warm clothes but they didn't have any gloves. So their hands were freezing. They wanted to come back home quickly. But suddenly Antek heard his brother's scream:

(F) Franek - Help!

(A) Antek - Franek, where are you?

(F) - Here! In the hole!

(A) - Are you O.K.?

And he held Franek's hand and took him out of the hole.

(A) - Oh dear! Look at you!

Franek's face and hands were dirty, they were black and it wasn't dust.

(F) - There are a lot of black stones in that hole.

Antek jumped into the hole and he came out with two black stones. They were magic. Black, they caused that hands were black and there was a stam of a piece of plant on them. They brought them home. But when they came back home their mother got very angry.

(M) Mother - Look at you! You are both so dirty! You look like evils!

Their mother didn't want to look at the stones. She put them into a fireplace. In a few minutes the fire was very strange. The black stones weren't black anymore. They were red and golden. And in the house was much warmer. And the water in the pot was boiling.

(M) Mother - It's magic!

She looked at the red and golden stones which she put into the fireplace. The brothers opened their mouth widely. It was amazing. They didn't see anything like that before. They stood for a while but then they ran to the forest and they brought some more magic stones. That is why the coal is called black gold. And that is the legent about how the coal was found. :-)