Sebix

Sebix, or Seba. Slang similar to Dutch equivalent Sjonnie (Johnny). Let me show you how they are, as there are similarities but also differences between them.

Origin 

Sebastian, that name is the origin of the slang word "Sebix". They also have "Alfons" here, but let me write about them at a later stage not to confuse you.

Comparison

Let me compare Sebix with the Dutch Johnnies using the following characteristics: 

Outfit, posture, haircut, facial hair, accessories, tattoos, pets, music, means of transport, food, drinks, smoking, hangouts, wife or girlfriend and character.

Sebix and the Mrs

Outfit

🇵🇱Sebix: tracksuits or jogging suits. The favorite brand is Adidas from head to toe. Alhough Puma is getting popular as well when it comes to shoes. T-shirt is mostly white and they also like to wear white sports socks and caps.

🇳🇱Sjonnie: Ditto, but they less stick to Adidas. Nike Air Max trainers. The tracksuit is either very expensive (brand name Australian) or the cheapest possible nylon style variants preferably with fluorescent colors. Alternatively a bomber jacket. They also like white sports socks and caps just like Sebix.

 Sjonnies

Posture

🇵🇱Sebix: either huge guys pumped up with steroids or skinny

🇳🇱Sjonnie: ditto. Or very skinny in combination with a massive beer belly

Haircut

🇵🇱Sebix: Very short, shaved or mohawk

🇳🇱Sjonnie: Short from above and long from the back. They use tons of hairgel.

Facial hair

🇵🇱Sebix: mostly shaved, nothing special

🇳🇱Sjonnie: moustache

Accessories

🇵🇱Sebix: Nerka (kidney bag) or lisztonoszka (letter bag, mailman bag). Gold chain with a cross and signet ring.

🇳🇱Sjonnie: Gold chain and signet ring.

Tattoos

🇵🇱Sebix: Big tribals

🇳🇱Sjonnie: names of father, mother, brothers, sisters, girlfriend(s), wive(s) and child(ren)

Pets

🇵🇱Sebix: either Pitbull kind of dogs or rat sized dogs like a Chihuahua or Yorkshire terrier. This in combination with a huge strong guy always makes me chuckle, I just cannot resist. 

🇳🇱Sjonnie: Pittbulls, Bullterriers, Mastino Napoletano and other kinds of strong dogs.

Music

🇵🇱Sebix: "Pompeczki do auta" (loud house music challenging car speakers). 

🇳🇱Sjonnie: Hardcore house, more bass and faster than "pompeczki".

🇵🇱 Polski pompa 🔊

Means of transport

🇵🇱Sebix: Tuned older cars pimped over the top, worth more than the entire vehicle. Public transport.

🇳🇱Sjonnie: Vespa Gilera Citta mopeds, scooters or old cars pimped so ugly that your eyes hurt when looking at it. They do not wear a helmet when driving their moped or scooter. 

The Sebamobile, Batman eat your heart out

🇳🇱 Sjonnie on his Vespa Citta Gilera

Food

🇵🇱Sebix: kebabs

🇳🇱Sjonnie: Fries with double mayonnaise and deep fried snacks, also with mayo.

Drinks

🇵🇱Sebix: beer

🇳🇱Sjonnie: cheap beer

Smoking

🇵🇱Sebix: a lot. Filter cigarettes, normal or slims. They also have many vapers amongst them (electronic smoking)

🇳🇱Sjonnie: a lot. Filter cigarettes, "shag"(tobacco to hand roll cigarettes) and joints. When they smoke outside they always leave a puddle of spit on the ground. 

Hangouts

🇵🇱Sebix: on the streets in their trademark hangout position.

🇳🇱Sjonnie: behind a gambling machine or sitting on a beer crate at the front door of their house or elsewhere on the streets

🇵🇱 Sebix in Fibonacci style spiral

🇳🇱

Wife or girlfriend

🇵🇱Sebix: Karyna

🇳🇱Sjonnie: Anita 

Sebix & Karyna 🇵🇱

Sjonnie & Anita 🇳🇱

Character

🇵🇱Sebix: feels comfortable in the victim position, complaining and swearing a lot. Karyna is more dominant. Patriotic, hate cops.

🇳🇱Sjonnie: Swearing a lot, wearing his heart on his tongue, alpha male, Anita is less dominant. Hate cops.

Conclusion is that there are many similarities between this Polish and Dutch sub-culture, but also clear differences. I hope you liked reading it!

Take your hat off

Four seater sections in public transport, you gotta love 'em. I'm not extremely tall, 1.85m, but always have to put my legs in the most unnatural positions to not touch the person sitting in front of me. Then there are these awkward situations making eye contact with the other person. Especially with the special editions of mankind I just cannot resist...

Like a few days ago. There was this guy of around 50 nervously eating sunflower seeds. Cracking a shell with his teeth every few seconds. He was chucking them away like a hamster, constantly looking me straight in the eyes with these ice cold eyes.

After a few minutes he quickly put his hat off for a second and put it back on his head. It was like some kind of tic I thought, like you see with some illnesses. The routine continued: crack 4 times, take the shell and chew the seed. For about 4 to 5 times and then the hat thing. Lifting it up maybe just 1 centimeter and put it back on his head. Crack, crack, crack, crack, chew chew chew chew, hat off hat on, this guy was a nervous wreck!

When we got off the bus it was the first thing I asked to my wife, "did you see that???". She explained me the hat thing was because of the Maria chapels they have here. She told me every time we passed one he took off his hat for a second.

It made me think of very religious people in the Netherlands, with a rosary in their hands nervously moving it between their fingers. 

There are tons of these small Maria chapels on the streets, way more than in the Netherlands. I would get nervous as well not to forget one...

Street art

Blog number 50, time flies.
Recently I wrote about murals in Warsaw (click), explaining the difference with street art and showing you some photos I took.

Today I will write about street art, Warsaw is full of it if you look good. Again I made some photos so you can see what I am writing about here.

First of all there's a lot of funny things like on Agrykola, close to the famous Łazienki Park. There a few concrete road blocks were placed to prevent cars from entering. A free spirit turned them into Pacman characters :)

A little further there's a traffic sign turned into the below, inspired by Edvard Münch's famous painting "The scream", encouraging you to scream.

The following ones I found in the Śródmiescie disrrict between my school and central station.

Stencil art

Trumpski

Stencil art. Warsaw by night

Stencil art. Warsaw, what you've done to me

Zyj kolorowo: Live colorfully

In the Wola district I found the following gems.

"I am some art"

"I am some art"

And my favorite, also from the Wola district:

What you see are bulletholes from ww2, patched up with symbolic band aids. This is the wall of "Fabryka Norblina" (Norblin Factory) which played an important role during the war. It was a metal factory and one of the products produced there was high quality rifle ammunition  Heavy fighting took place here, as you can understand the Germans' desire of seizing this strategical place.

Besides murals and street art there is another form of popular art here: spray, graffiti. Soon I will blog about it, stay tuned!

Bikes 🚲

During my first visits in Warsaw I did not see many people riding a bike. Of course, you are from the Netherlands I hear you think...but the only cyclists I saw were daredevils. On roads like aleje Jerozolimskie were cars would pass you with a 100 km/h. The most of these daredevils looked like couriers, with expensive gear. They were pretty pacey and acrobatic.

Also I did not see many slow motorized bikes like scooters or mopeds. Just cars, vans and small trucks. And of course buses and trams.

Then something amazing happened. A company named Veturilo started to rent bikes. They have racks for of bikes across the whole city, you can rent online with your smartphone and drop it off at any Veturilo bike rack across town. 

It was an instant hit and I saw more and more people riding a bike. These bike racks popped up like mushrooms because of this popularity. It is not expensive to rent so many people did. 

Until winter came, then there is no rental service, racks are empty. But I know for sure that when they open again it will grow even more. I just had a look out of curiousity and indeed, another location was added a few days ago. 

It is far more than a tourist service you would expect, in fact it's mostly locals renting bikes. Currently there are 355 stations with 5147 bikes in Warsaw, impressive figures.

The city also noticed as a lot of effort was taken to improve infrastructure for bycyles, it was just too dangerous. I saw road workers every day creating bike paths similar like I knew them in the Netherlands. There will be a lot more required as some roads bave so many zebra crossings that it is just asking for trouble, it will cause accidents if no proper changes and further investments are being made.

The Veturilo hype also encouraged people to buy a bike theirselves. Of course this is more economical in the long run. The investment in infrastructure did cause an increase in bike purchases, you can clearly notice. As a Dutch guy it is very nice to witness this process from scratch.

I am very curious what will happen after winter, because I expect it to explode. Poles love to ride a bike, there will be a bike revolution, mark my words!

Hospital adventures

Before settling in Warsaw, I was here regularly and on one day I had such a pain that I needed medical care.

O cholera
First we went to a private clinic as I needed help fast. When examining me the doctor said the famous words: "O cholera". Then I realized I was in shit...for the non-Polish readers, "o cholera" did not mean I had cholera, it's just a Polish expression like "oh lord" or "oh my goodness." ;-)

After talking to a surgeon she sent me to a public hospital in city center, as I needed specific small surgery which they offered there.

Language barrier

After surgery I had to stay longer. They would not let me go until I finished a few antibiotics treatments.

None of the sisters spoke English, so that was going to be fun I thought. I got the surgery pretty fast and was recovering in my room. A sister entered asking me something. I did not have a clue what she asked. She left again.

Before I knew it there were 7 or 8 sisters in my room asking the same question using different words and giving all kinds of hand signals. "Nie rozumiem" I answered (which means I do not understand in Polish). Then one started to talk really slow and loud, like I was deaf. Laughing hurted but this was hilarious.

Then one came next to my bed, put a hand on her belly acting a face full of agony saying auaaaa. With a questioning face she asked again, "boli"? So they tried to ask me if I had pain! I was glad I could understand now and answered that I was fine. "Nie boli, dziękuję" (no pain, thank you). Like I said before, learning Polish is hard work.

Daily visitors

Besides my lovely wife, who visited me every single day, there were more daily visits apart from medical personnel.

Every day a priest knocked my door, he only spoke Polish. Very friendly man. I guess he visited Rome before because he just said one word to me every day: "Ciao!". And we would wave to each other.

Also, 3 to 4 times per day an elderly lady would knock my door. She was lonely, did not have any family or friends coming. We did not speak each other's language but we talked. No she talked and I listened and nodded.

Especially for me they used Legia colors

Balas

A few days later, after switching another bag of antibiotics to the dripper,  a sister asked me something again. I did not have a clue what she meant. Other sisters joined and played the pantomime game again.

After a while I recognized something, the word "siu siu", which means pee. So they either asked me how much I peed that day or if they should help me getting to the toilet. I just answered: "pół litra", which means half a litre. They started to look helpless, and responded "nie siu siu!", and then some other words. Then the penny dropped, they wanted to know if I had taken a shit! But I forgot the Polish word for stool and had enough of it. So I spoke the famous words:

"Nie balas teraz dzięki".

Balas is a word that I learned but it is really not a word to use in a serious conversation, really inappropriate. I was answering something like: "no monster turd now thank you." They laughed in a such a way that they knew enough now and left.

The last days were easier as a new sister was scheduled in, she just finished school and spoke English. 

What an experience...and I did not even mention the food! I am not a person omplaining about food very quickly, but my goodness this was something...

Contestant for the saddest breakfast ever

A lovely cold "Carbonara"

I am glad my wife was there every day,
she smuggled good food inside for me.

I hope you enjoyed to read this, an unforgettable experience.

Milk bars

Although its name might be somewhat misleading, you shouldn’t expect to be able to order alcoholic drinks in a Polish “milk bar” ("bar mleczny"). In fact, a “milk bar” (at least in Poland) is actually a low priced cafeteria selling traditional dairy-based Polish food.

The Polish milk bar finds its origins in the early postwar era as a centralized solution by the Communist authorities to feed the masses of workers. The Communist Party’s concept was simple: to provide cheap, dairy-based meals to the masses, even including visits to the local milk bar in a worker’s salary. Yet poverty was so acute at the time that many milk bars chained the cutlery to the table to deter rampant thievery.

Check the below fragment of Polish cult movie Miś to get an idea.

This is how it goes:

1. Decide what you want 

2. Wait in line

3. Order your food

4. You will get a receipt, keep it.

5. When you get to the window, give your receipt to the worker. 

6. Soups and drinks will be served immediately but there may be some wait time for some of the dishes. Take your first items to your table and start eating (if you want) while you wait for the rest of your food.

7. The worker will announce (shout) whenever something is ready…pay attention. Bring your receipt and give it to him/her. Once you have been served all your food, you will not get your receipt back.

8. Enjoy your food and return your dishes when you’re done eating. 

Fantastic that this concept still exists, old school! A good meal for a low price, Polish cult!

Name days

Besides birthdays, the Polish celebrate name days ("imieniny"). There has been a time that name days were more popular than birthdays, with bigger celebrations.
Nowadays the birthdays have gained popularity as well, but still many folks celebrate bigger on their respective name day.

There is no such thing in the Netherlands. I knew about it because I worked with many Eastern Europeans in the past. 

Imieniny

"Imieniny" involves the gathering and socialising of friends and family at the celebrant's home, as well as giving gifts and flowers at home and elsewhere, like at the workplace. Calendars here often contain the names celebrated on a given day. If a name is celebrated on more than one day, it is customary to choose the first day after the birthday.

So for example my name. Wincenty being the Polish equivalent:

I celebrate my birthday on the 7th of March. The next possible nameday already is one day after on the 8th.
In fact I know more people who have their birthday and nameday on two consecutive days. So if you would not like it you could pick another date listed. It can be a bit tricky these custom chosen name day dates, you might be too late or early congratulating someone.

Polish legend Ferdek Kiepski also has troubles remembering name days

History
The Name Day has its history in the Polish tradition of naming children after Saints. The importance of the Saints and their Feast Days (the date that the Saint was cannonized) resulted in many parents looking to the local priest or to the Roman Calendar to name their children. They typically chose the name of a Saint that had a Feast Day close to the birth or baptismal date of their child.

Originally the day was for honoring one’s patron saint. But in modern times it is generally a time for parties and gift giving. But it still retains its importance. You should never forget a Name Day. And never forget a gift. A gift, however small, is appropriate.

You will return home with a full stomach, that's for sure!

Travelling with low cost airlines ✈️

Sometimes I was flying with LOT Polish Airlines, with mostly business people on board, but most times I used Ryanair and especially WizzAir. Passengers are just different on these low cost airline flights.

Recently I wrote about queueing, highlighting the waiting for on- and offboarding airplanes. Pissing off pursers unbuckling and standing up right after landing.

Besides this there were more things I was not used to. The Polish are just different travellers than the Dutch.

Clapping
I travelled with German charters before so I was not surprised when a huge round of applause was given when the pilot put his big bird on the ground safely. So they also do in Poland, but I have to say that it is getting less and less. During my first flights to Poland years ago it was still pretty standard, nowadays it's mostly just a few doing it for fun. In Holland we always say: "If the mailman delivers post to you then you also aren't clapping your hands."

Piwo
Alcohol is a part of Polish culture, the maths do not lie. Dutch people, mostly young guys going on holiday or city trip, would order a couple of beers ("piwo") onboard. In general this onboard service of food and drinks is not being used by many Dutch people on short distance flights.

I have traveled in mornings, afternoons and evenings, but cannot remember a flight where none of the Poles around me ordered a few beers. Regardless of the time. Especially the men travelling alone would order a couple of half litre cans in the morning. I love the smell of warm beer in the morning.

The Dutch
The Dutch also have their rituals onboard of low cost airline flights. There always is that guy, we call him "the funniest of the family". Always. Imagine how it would be on a charter flight.

First they do their "joking" with the nearest stewardess. If she is not reacting totally amused then she is "grumpy" and that guy would be an absolute childish dickhead during the safety instructions. Only his dickhead friends would laugh.

Then the people who have a conversation with the person they are travelling with, but at such a high volume that at least 5 rows have to listen to it. Gotta love 'em, people who like to hear themself talk...

Poles are more reserved and introvert people. The Dutch would not hesitate to start a conversation with a stranger, it happens quite a lot actually. Between people travelling alone it can be nice.

Frequent flyers
On these flights you start to recognize faces when flying that much, all having different reasons flying that route regularly.

Pilot Grzegorz, his landings are superb.

One of our friends is also Dutch and living in Warsaw. One year he made around a 100 flights between Brussels and Warsaw. He is a very easy going guy and at a certain stage it was normal that the first row almost always was filled with the same people.

After a hard week at work the guys were there just relaxing with blocks of Dutch cheese, pieces of sausage etc being shared amongst each other. Spending the Friday evening together :-)

Just super.

Shivers

While searching for Dom Lalek (click if you missed it), I initially saw a lot of things except that mysterious doll house.

At Hoża street I passed a convent, a place where nuns live, or come together if they live elsewhere. I see them in the bus sometimes. A funny moment was when I saw one "Siostra" (Sister) playing with a brand new iPhone which was released to the market just days before. And another wearing Nike Air Max 90's. I never saw nuns that modern before. 

However, it was not just that building catching my eye, it was a small window in a big brick wall. The only window in fact, the rest was just wall. Above it was a sign in Polish and the closer I got the more I started to realize what it was. Once I saw an incubator with a small pastel colored blanket through the window, I knew enough. It gave me the shivers.

This was a baby hatch, I never saw one before. I knew them, as I once saw a tv ad of a charity raising money for nuns in South Africa to support the orphans left behind in their baby hatches.

It was such a strange feeling standing there for a moment. I went home but I kept thinking of it, really wanted to know more.

But what exactly is a baby hatch?

It is a place where where people (typically mothers) can bring babies, usually newborn, and abandon them anonymously in a safe place to be found and cared for. Care which they cannot give.

Do they also have these in the Netherlands? How many of these windows are there nationwide in Poland? Do nuns operate these? How does this actually work? How many children are being left there? 

These were some questions I had so I did some research.

Situation in Poland
In Poland, there are quite a lot of these windows. They are called "Okno życia", which means window of life. The current concept was introduced in 2006. Nationwide, there are 62 of these places in Poland. 60 of them have been used between 2006 and 2016. Many of them are part of convents, similar to the place at Hoża street which I described earlier. This particular one is part of Caritas, a Catholic charity foundation, I think most of them are.

The process 
The window can be opened from the outside, with a heated and ventilated place for a newborn baby on the inside. After opening, a silent alarm will go off. The newborn is placed in the incubator until the arrival of an ambulance, which takes it to hospital. After examination of its health it is being brought to the family emergency room. At the same time, the procedures of assigning identity and adopting are being started.

Situation in other countries
In the Netherlands there are 8 currently, in 2014 the first was opened. 2 of those 8 are in hospitals, operated by several foundations not connected to church. The process is slightly different compared to Poland, as these foundations also offer anonymous services for advice and mental support. To date around 10 babies were left behind at those places.
Neighboring country Belgium shows figures being higher, despite the fact that there is just 1 baby hatch. Germany also shows higher numbers  (relatively, projected against population), but there are many of these places, around a 100 of them are in use now. In some other European countries it is not allowed by law, or do not see the necessity of them. (Sources: fiom.nl beschermdewieg.nl)

For me this was an eye-opener, I really did not know. Nevertheless, I am sure that I will always get the shivers when passing that place.

Queueing

Queue~ a line of people, usually standing or in cars, waiting for something. Source: Cambridge dictionary.

The British are queueing masters like we all know. It's an integral part of their culture and etiquette. The below photo sums it up really. People formed a snake style line to wait for tbeir turn to enter a sold out Ed Sheeran concert. 

The art of queueing

Have another look at it. There are no barriers and no security guards. In fact this photo was made by one of them who just could chill out on a balcony. 

In the Netherlands this would be absolutely impossible at a gig like this. Hell would break loose surely.

Poles and queueing
Locals might disagree, but I see a queueing culture. Most people are already in a line more than an hour before planes depart. 

There are no arguments while queueing, in fact most of the time there is this creepy silence. The only thing is that some of these babcias have a bag full of tricks to jump queues (babcia: grandma with superpowers). But people just let her do her thing, no messing around with babcias.

A little later, still one hour before departure

Another example. That same airplane lands when reaching its destination. I made well over a hundred flights between Poland and the Netherlands or Germany, plus a few charter flights from Poland to our holiday destination. The below is not incidental I'm afraid. Let me make the statement that it surely is not rudeness, carelessness or arrogance of the passengers involved. I could notice by their reactions.

I've seen so many people unbuckling their seatbelts right after landing. They just stood up from their seats while still going faster than a Formula1 car on the tarmac. Their hands would go towards the overhead locker and then the fun started. The purser would grab the intercom phone and screamed to those people to sit down immediately. They were really fuming. PLEASE! SIT! DOWN! NOW! 

Normally the passengers would just give them a look like: me? And then would get back in their seats immediately. A few times this did not happen and the purser again said the same in Polish. Even louder. 

The people do this to be at the front of the queue when people depart from the airplane I guess. Or they were just overly excited reaching destination. The funniest thing at Chopin Airport is that low cost airlines use shuttle busesfrom the plane to the terminal. Typical how people rush to gather their stuff from the overhead lockers and wait on the center path until the door opens. That bus will obviously not leave before the last passenger enters it. That was me on most occasions. 

Priceless.

Krokiety

A while ago I wrote about Dutch fastfood, if you might have missed it click here.
'Kroketten' are the most interesting example I think. My wife always said that the inside looks like someone already ate it before, until she tried them! She absolutely LOVES Dutch kroketten.

What are they again? A ragout like mix covered with a crust, being deep fried for a few minutes. You could make them by yourself but almost nobody does in the Netherlands. People either buy the frozen variants in a supermarket and chuck them into their deep fryer at home, or go to one of the many cafetarias / snackbars in town to buy the deep fried end product.

Krokiety

Poland also has its own version of 'kroketten', named 'krokiety', a healthier variant I would say. These buddies will be fried normally, not deep fried like in the Netherlands. You can buy them in shops and simply warm them up, but I am not a big fan of these.

Mrs MyWarsawDream's mum makes them from scratch and they are ab-so-lute-ly delicious (minced meat, onions and mushrooms inside).

Barszcz i krokiety
A very tasty combination is to eat krokiety with barszcz czerwony, a soup made from red beets. 

Krokiety i barszcz czerwony

Thank you for reading, take care boys and girls. Keep an eye on the blog page, more Polish food to follow!


Rectification. 
The Mrs does not like Dutch kroketten.

Legend of the Golden Duck

Tamka street, not far from my school. There's a sculpture of a golden duck, a Warsaw legend: "Legenda o Złotej Kaczce"

It's really a lovely area. Behind the fountain there is an amazing mural next to the Chopin institute.

Also the connecting small park is great, "Skwer Bohdana Wodiczko" (Bohdan Wodiczko square). It really has some stunning views.

Legend of the golden duck

A looong long time ago, funny how these legends always start...OK let's cut the crap and do the first bit in steno style.

Young guy, Jakub ("Kuba" to his friends), Warsaw, poor, tavern, old man spins tale.

Apparently, under the Ostrogski castle there was a labyrinth, at the end of which there was a cave full of water. Of you found the right place you would see a duck swimming. But this was no ordinary duck. Nooooo, ladies and gentlemen it was a golden duck. It guarded the entrance to a treasure, but before you could help yourself you had to fulfill the duck’s wishes. Hearing this story Jakub thought for a moment and made the decision to try and find it, he had nothing to lose.

He soon found the the courtyard and realized that the dwelling was an abandoned place. He then came across an opening that led to an underground fortress. Suddenly the cave, gleaming with gold, appeared. Its interior was filled with crystal-clear water on which the golden duck was swimming. Its plumage was of the finest ore and a precious crown adorned its head.

"Come here, intrepid one", the duck proclaimed in a human voice. "You have found what you were looking for. All you see is yours to keep, but first a test you have to pass. These hundred ducats you shall take and in a day spend them all, but on yourself and no one else, not even those you hold most dear."

Jakub departed from the fortress with a pouch full of ducats. He made his way to the most renowned tailor where he treated himself to a new shirt, a magnificent pair of trousers, a coat and a hat with a feather. Then he headed to a shoemaker who fashioned him a beautiful pair of boots with spurs. Next he took himself to  the finest tavern in Warsaw, to eat and drink. Jakub was overwhelmed with having such a great fortune, but he did not say a word to anyone.

The young man continued to confuse everyone by acquiring more and more new things, including a horse and carriage and a golden ring. In the evening he went to the theatre. He spent a small fortune  in order to occupy the seat next to the king himself and watched the play in magnificent company.

"As soon as I get hold of the golden duck treasure I shall ask for the princess’ hand and then build a palace where we will live healthy and wealthy ever after." 

Overcome by his dreams, he fell asleep with a smile on his face. When he awoke, the play had long finished. He checked the pouch his to count his ducats, but all that remained was one golden coin. "I’ll buy a jug of the finest wine and some cake and without a penny to my name I shall return to the golden duck and claim my reward", Jakub thought.

Shortly after, he spotted a beggar, a poorly dressed war-worn soldier, dying of hunger. The beggar reached out to him and in exhausted voice pleaded: "Kind sir, help my poor soul and give me a crust of bread, it is a week since I had some food in my mouth." Without hesitation Jakub reached into his pouch, pulled out the only remaining coin and tucked it into the beggar’s hand.

Then suddenly, with a crash and a flash the golden duck appeared: 

"You did not keep your word, nor our deal, when you gave the poor beggar a meal. And today, though you are in great need, a poor life once again you shall lead. Now the goods that my gold for you bought in the blink of an eye will now come to nought."

Jakub could not believe his eyes. Where a carriage had stood, he saw a pile of ashes. His beautiful clothes were no more and his new hat had simply vanished. Jakub wept for his lost fortune. He then looked at the beggar. The old man smiled and said: 

"Your good heartedness has triumphed over greed and true treasure is not enchanted gold but a generous spirit and a pair of hands eager to work. That is the way to gain a fortune and the goodwill of others."

Jakub took heed of the beggar’s advice and found himself a job as a shoemaker. He was greatly talented and learned his trade so well that in no time he was making the finest shoes in all of Warsaw. He was known far and wide for his wares and even the king’s daughter placed an order for slippers with him.

To commemorate the young man’s encounter with the golden duck, the inhabitants of Warsaw built a fountain with a sculpture of the golden duck and positioned it in the courtyard.

Lesson learned
Jakub did the right thing.
Jakub was a good guy.
Be like Jakub.