About the Wojtek who was sneezing all the time – Polish legends by @papi.mati

That's the 15th post from that series which in total will include 16 publications. If you want to read the previous legend published by me, check those links:

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It's the legend, so obviously it's not the story I created, but it may vary a bit from the versions that other people know. I wrote it on my own, with my words, in a way it was said to me when I was a child and how I remembered it.

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The legend about Wojtek who was sneezing all the time

A peasant, Wojtek, who was a good and hard-working peasant, used to live in one of the Podkarpacie villages. He always reliably performed his functions, both those that awaited him in the field and the forest. However, strange rumors about him circulated in the area. He was said to be a little weird, a little clumsy, and a little stupid.

His wife, Jaśka, was experiencing it every day. She loved her peasant and lived in harmony with him, but it was not easy... The peasant himself could do nothing on his own, needed to be instructed with the simplest things. Jaska handled everything patiently and was telling him what, when, and how to do it. Wojtek didn't even know how to hold an ax in his hands. The poor man could not cope with anything on his own.

Jaska explained everything to him and taught him everything. The peasant, as he already knew what and how to do it, worked willingly and reliably. The neighbors looked at Jaśka with mild pity and did not believe that Wojtek can be a good husband and that their life can be good. Jaska was always protecting his good name. She was saying he is decent, that he never drinks alcohol and that they never fight. She was aware that this is what other husbands in the village do. Hearing such words, the neighbors immediately kept silent, because they knew that she was telling the truth.

Jaska accepted all of the peasant's imperfections except one. He couldn't bear Wojtek's constant sneezing. The peasant, no matter what he did, was sneezing. Woman wanted this habit to go away. She tried to do everything: She was making him herbal teas, buying medicines, even spells from the wizards. However, it had no effect. Despite this, the woman did not give up and she kept thinking about how to cure the husband of sneezing.

She thought for a long time until she figured out the new way. Once she told him to go to the mill for flour. Knowing that Wojtek was afraid of death, she told him that he could not sneeze at all, because then death would come for him. The peasant was very frightened and began to lament. He knew that the woman would be angry and disappointed when he returned without flour. Worrying his wife would be so painful for him that he would probably die. According to Jaska's words, he would also die when he sneezed, so he didn't want to sneeze even once. However, as soon as he entered the mill, he began to sneeze over and over again.

Wojtek was very scared and he started screaming that he was going to die. Knowing that he didn't die yet, he lay down under the fir tree and he just continued screaming and crying.

When Wojtek was lying down and thinking he was dying, the pig was eating freshly ground flour from his sack. Wojtek assumed that a pig was the death personification that would soon take him to another world. After some time, he lost his strength. The crying exhausted him so much that he fell asleep.

The peasant did not return home for a long time, so his wife began looking for him. She found him and woke him up immediately. Wojtek, seeing that he was alive, was very happy. The woman told him that he had met the death, but it forgave him for the last time the sneezing. The farmer was thrilled that he got the second chance. Since then he did not sneeze again and started working without the help of the woman

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Thank you for reading,
@papi.mati

Podkarpacie region location