Wawel+Dragon

=Wawel Dragon=

The Wawel Dragon, also known as Smok Wawelski, is a famous dragon in Polish Tales. He resides in a cave at the bottom of Wawel Hill, right next to the Vistula River. It is located in Krakow, which used to be the capitol of Poland. The oldest knowing/telling of this story dates back to the 12th century. In this tale, the dragon would destroy a path across the countryside, killing people, destroying homes, and eating all of the livestock. One day, the king made a proposition that the man who defeated the dragon could, and would, marry his daughter, Princess Wanda. Man after man tried to kill the dragon, but each and every one of them was killed. One day, Skuba, the cobbler's apprentice, went for a try. That night, he stuffed a lambs coat with sulpher and set it outside of the dragons cave. In the morning, the dragon went outside and gulped the 'lamb' up. Once the sulpher hit him, he became so thirsty he drank all of the water from the river. He drank so much water, he exploded. Princess Wanda and Skuba were married and lived happily ever after. There is a metal sculpture of the Wawel Dragon in front of the Dragon's Den near Wawel Castle. It has seven heads, but most people think it has one head and six legs. The street leading to the castle is Ulica Smocza, which means 'Dragon Street'. To children's, and adult's, amusement, it breathes fire every few minutes because of a natural gas nozzle in the dragon's mouth!