Bolko, Leszko and Cieszko – Polish legends by @papi.mati

That's the 10th 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 three brothers: Bolko, Leszko and Cieszko

At a time when the Silesia region was covered by a dense and impenetrable forest, three brave brothers lived in one of the few villages: Bolko, Leszko, and Cieszko. Each of them was a brave and hardened warrior, but they loved hunting more than fighting. Often the three of them were going hunting together, providing the entire town with the necessary meat. They never were doing it alone, because being in three was giving them a better chance to hunt.

Once, persuaded by the people of their village, they decided to see which of them was the best at hunting. Each of the brothers believed that he had the highest merits in providing food for the settlement so, the competition for the title of the best was necessary. To do this, each of the brothers had to bring a deer, a pheasant, and a wild boar. Whoever returns first will be the winner.

The brothers prepared to hunt on their own, pampered the horses, took various types of weapons, bags of water, and a horn that they had to blow once for each animal hunted and three times if they were lost. They set out together in the same direction - for the first time in their lives they were going hunting alone, without the help of the other brothers.

At the edge of the forest, Leszko, who was the best hunter, captured the tracks of the boar and separated from his brothers. Bolko and Cieszko moved in the opposite direction, supporting each other and competing at the same time. Cieszko, who had better hearing, heard a pheasant nearby. He quickly readied the bow and before Bolko knew it, his brother had already hunted the first animal. Satisfied with the capture, he used the horn to let the people know that he had achieved his first success.

The roar of the horn scared the deer out of the forest, since Cieszko was going to catch the pheasant, he could not chase the prey, which Bolko took advantage of to follow the deer. Since then they separated and Cieszko wandered alone. He went into the woods in search of another animal that would give him the victory.

When night came, Cieszko stopped, started a fire, and prepared a pheasant that he hunted in the morning. The next day, somewhere in the distance, he heard the horn of one of the brothers. Full of joy, he ran towards his brother, on the way he met a herd of pheasants. As he was a good archer, he took the time to kill four more birds. But he didn't know where to go further, so he headed in the direction where the voice of the horn was coming from.

After a few hours, he came to a small area with a small fountain in the middle. When night came, he lit the fire, ate dinner, and fell asleep. When the sun rose, he heard the other brother's horn. This time the voice was as strong as if it were next to him. He leaped to his feet and saw his two brothers coming. Leszko was dragging a wild boar and Bolko a beautiful deer. The brothers rejoiced and greeted each other.

They realized that together they made the best hunting team and each of them is equally important. Sitting by the fire and telling each other the stories they had lived through during those days, they decided to build a settlement in the place where they met and, as a token of their joy at this meeting, they would call it Cieszyn ("Cieszyn" in Polish is "Joyful"). In the place where there was a fountain from which they drew water, they built well, which remain in Cieszyn to this day and remind its inhabitants of extraordinary brothers.

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Thank you for reading,
@papi.mati

Cieszyn location