In the city of Krakow, full of arts
and vibrant atmosphere filled with young students, at the St. Mary’s Basilica,
workmen were restoring an altar made ages before by a famous German sculptor
Veit Stoss, when they found a yellow clog behind the altar.
Many years ago, or even longer, in a
small village near Krakow, there was a boy named Vitek. As long as he could get
a piece of wood, he could carve from dawn until night instead of watching
grazing cows. The spanking didn’t help. The threats of taking every piece of
wood didn’t help. But one day he was so absorbed with carving that a grazing
cow escaped him and destroyed the priest’s crops. Vitek got so scared that he
himself escaped to the woods and wandered for days. The woods were so big and
so thick that he couldn’t find the way out. So he walked and walked and then
out of the woods he saw a city in the distance.
The boy entered the city and saw the
most fascinating thing he’s ever seen in his life. The town center was full of
colorful glittering things being sold at tables. A man wearing the weirdest
clothes was throwing balls in the air. Another guy wore a jacket with one red
sleeve and one yellow. His pants’ one leg was in straps and the other in
squares. His face was covered in white paint with a big round red nose. On top
of that he was acting weird trying to make people laugh. The day was reaching
the end, when Vitek accidently stumbled at one of those guys. He jumped as he
got scared. The guy laughed, “You’re not afraid of a clown, are you? Where are
you heading?” The boy stammered for a moment “I got lost in the woods. I have to
get back home, which is near Krakow.” “You’re in luck. Our next stop is in Krakow.
So you can come with us tomorrow morning.”
When they reached Krakow the next
day, the city was very alive with people enjoying Sunday, a day free off of
work. Vitek said his goodbyes and parted with the circus. He didn’t know which
way to turn, so he just wandered through the narrow cobbled streets admiring
the details of the facades of the buildings. His eyes were amazed with
specifics of the columns standing gloriously by the windows and holding small
and big decorative roofs. His eyes were up in the sky, not noticing a stone
under his foot, which almost sent him to the ground.
A father from a convent was
struggling to close a heavy and massive door of one of the most splendid
churches, when he noticed Vitek almost falling to the ground. He wondered about
the lonely boy dressed in tattered clothes and shabby shoes, “Where are your
parents, young boy?” “I got lost in the woods and I need to get back home.
Please, help me” begged boy. “What are the names of your parents and the
village you come from?” “My father’s name is Tolek and mother’s Barbara and the
village is Poreba” answered boy. “Oh, that’s not an easy task. All those names
are very common including the village” thought father to himself “But we have
to take care of the boy before we find his parents.”
He took the boy to father Jan
Dlugosz, who was a well-known chronicler and diplomat. Jan took part in many
diplomatic missions negotiating peace between countries. Once, the situation
with the boy was explained to him, Jan tactfully announced, “I could always use
some help in recording events. So we could teach the boy how to read and write.”
Vitek turned out to be a quick
learner and a good help. Weeks went by and one day after a stormy and windy
night a small tree fell down in the convent’s orchard. One of the fathers
lamented about losing a tree that was bringing fruits. Vitek, without any wood
available to him, has not carved for a long time and longed for this deeply. He
saw an opportunity right away and offered, “Can I chop the tree and make some
use of the wood?” “Oh, yes” the father answered with already a better mood, “We
can use it in the winter to light the fire.” But that’s not what Vitek had in
mind.
The boy was so busy during the day
with all the chores and reading and writing lessons that he had only nights
left to do some carving. His favorite statues were of people and animals were
he painstakingly was trying to show the anatomy of each muscle. His attention
to details was making the figures almost look alive.
One night Vitek was so absorbed with
carving that he didn’t hear father Jan coming into his room. “I saw the light.
It’s after midnight. What are you doing so late?” Troubled Vitek knew he
couldn’t lie, so he showed the carvings he’d been hiding. Jan’s face brightened
at the beautiful artwork, but at the same time he was trying to keep his face straight.
He didn’t want the boy to think that it was ok to be doing this in secret, most
of all during the night, when he was supposed to be getting his rest.
Father Jan knew just the right person
to take Vitek to. Next morning, he took the boy to the church, where a master
sculptor named Veit Stoss was carving an altarpiece. He was a master in showing
human emotions in his woodwork. He carefully reviewed the boy’s sculptures and
was amazed how far advanced the young boy’s skills were. It took many years of
practice for many sculptors to achieve what he’s already achieved at such young
age.
Veit Stoss looked at the boy and
pointed at the altar. The altar was composed of three sections: one big in the
middle with two smaller on the sides. This way you could cover the altar with
the side parts as you were closing doors. Most of the holy figures were already
done, but some still had to be carved. The boy’s eyes were wide opened as he
has never seen such artwork and was magnified by the expressions of the figures.
One of the silhouettes was falling to the knees and was held by another person.
The expression on the face of the falling silhouette made Vitek believe that
she was begging for help.
The master saw boy’s fascination and
asked “Vitek, would you like to help me with finishing this altar?” The boy’s
eyes opened even wider in surprise, he stammered “Of, of course, master.” Vitek
could hardly contain his happiness.
Not long after that, King Kasimir Yagiello,
who was residing in Krakow, which was the capital of Poland at the time,
visited the church to see the progress. He was very impressed with almost
finished altar and gave high praise to Veit Stoss. The master being a humble
person could not take all the credit, as he turned around he saw the boy and
introduced him to the King.
The King looked at the skinny boy
dressed in what still looked like rags and asked him, “Young boy what would you
like to receive for your hard work?” Vitek once saw a merchant from foreign
land, who was wearing yellow clogs. Since then the boy was dreaming to have the
same clogs. He knew exactly what he wished for and said “A pair of yellow
clogs.” The king chuckled and repeated “A pair of yellow clogs” and added “You
shall receive them.”
Right before the last touches of finishing
the altarpiece, Vitek came across his old friend in the streets of Krakow.
Vitek with his friend’s help found the way back to his village and his parents.
There was so much joy and so many tears and all this right in time for the big
ceremony.
The altar was ready and the day came
to reveal it in a big ceremony. For that occasion Vitek put his yellow clogs
on. But right before the King’s arrival, the master Stoss noticed that one of
the figures was missing scrolls in the hand. Vitek climbed the altar to put in
the missing piece. Unfortunately, while climbing, one of his yellow clogs
slipped and fell behind the altar. It slipped somewhere between the tiny gaps.
He was not able to retrieve it and was very sad about losing the yellow clog,
but happy that he saved the situation.
The yellow clog was never found until
the ages later during the restoration time. The workmen were so fascinated by the
clog that it engaged them in search of the story.
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