Adapted and read by Anna Piwowarska

Directed and produced by Amy Drozdowska

Once upon a time, in sixteenth century Warsaw, there lived a young cobbler’s apprentice. Lutek, was his name. He was a good lad - hardworking, cheerful but poor as a  church mouse. His master, the cobbler,  was a stingy man who gave the boy barely enough to survive on – a mug of water, a couple of potatoes daily and that was it. Lutek walked around in an old, holey overcoat and constantly felt hungry. But what could he do? Everyone told him to stick it out. “That’s how all young people start out” they said “ things will get better, you’ll see.” After his apprenticeship, he would earn more money and later he could start his own practice, they said. However, one year passed by, then another and still the young cobbler’s apprentice was as poor as a church mouse and still hungry.

 “Maybe, I’ll go and join the army,” thought Lutek one day, while sitting on a bench eating his regular lunch of two boiled potatoes with salt, “People say it’s tough but it can’t be harder than my life now. And at least I’ll get a proper uniform instead of this holey overcoat. And maybe they’ll give me some meat to eat every so often…”

But in the end he didn’t join the army. He just carried on working for his horrible master from dawn till dusk, and sometimes for longer. And all the while, he dreamt of a better life where he could wear fine clothes made of silk and velvet, with gold buttons and shiny buckled shoes. Or sometimes he just dreamt of eating a nice meat cutlet…

One day a strange visitor came to the cobbler’s shop. He was a traveller in a long, black cape and a large hat that made it hard to see his face. He sat down by the fire, lit a pipe and started to tell stories.

Lutek was enthralled. He listened to tales of the basilisk whose glance carried death, to the mermaid with the wonderful voice and finally to the tale of the golden duck who had guarded the treasures of the Ostrogski castle. The mysterious visitor said that the person who entered the castle’s dungeon from Tamka Street on Midsummer’s eve, would meet the golden duck who would tell him where the treasure lay.

After that night, Lutek passed the entrance of the castle at Tamka Street many times. The castle had never been finished as the prince who had ordered it to be built, had died mysteriously before it could be finished. All that remained were the outer defensive walls and the dungeons and cellars beneath them. They stood half finished for many years.  No one ever went near them for the foundations were said to be haunted. Every time Lutek saw the unfinished castle, he wondered whether there was any truth in the story. Where there any hidden treasures buried in the deep, dark vaults of the castle? Or were there just spiders’ webs and a damp smell? Was it possible that a golden duck who could talk actually existed? Every time that he asked himself these questions, his stomach rumbled. By the time Midsummer’s night arrived, Lutek was so obsessed with finding out the truth that he opened the door to the dungeons and walked in without even a moment’s thought.

Inside, it was cold and damp and the only thing he could hear was the sound of his own breathing.  He lit a candle, which he had stolen from his master and looked around. As he had thought, the only thing he could see was spider’s webs and a toad peering out from behind a mouldy stone.

 “What an idiot!,” he thought to himself, “ I’ve been fooled by an old drunkard’s rambling! What am I doing here, here in this cold and dark place looking for a golden duck and a mound of treasure? I’m too old to believe stories that are meant for children at bedtime…”

In truth, he was also little scared. Strange, long shadows danced in the light of his candle and the darkness in front of him spread into what seemed like infinity. He also didn’t really like the thought of creep-crawly spiders falling down his collar and slimy goggle-eyed toads jumping out at him.

Just as he was about to turn back, towards the entrance to the cave, he heard a quiet splash ahead of him. It sounded remarkably like a bird that was shaking its feathers of water. Was it just a figment of his imagination? He stepped forward to get a closer look and then he saw it! It was a duck, made of pure gold. Not just a golden colour but actual, real glittering gold. He couldn’t believe it! In between her feather was a sprinkling of diamonds and around her neck hung a necklace of pearls.  At first he thought maybe it was a golden sculpture but then he saw her swimming in a dark pool of rippling water.. The duck splashed around happily, quacking every so often.

Suddenly, the duck stopped and looked at him with her twinkling, beady eyes. She seemed to be waiting for him to do something. The young apprentice didn’t know what to do. He wanted to ask the duck where the treasure was but he’d never spoken to a bird of any kind. However he’d come this far so really he had nothing to lose. He opened his mouth and spoke to the duck:

“Golden Duck…” he began. He wavered for a moment. Was this the right way to address it? He didn’t want to offend it. After all, this was no ordinary duck – it was golden. Maybe it should be addressed with some sort of special title or at least with “most glorious or most noble Golden Duck”. Anyway, it was too late now – he’d started so he decided to continue. “Will you tell me how to find the treasures hidden here in the vault of the castle?”

With baited breath, he waited for an answer. The duck continued to look at him with her black, beady eyes. Maybe he’d been to direct? Maybe he should have given the duck a reason why she should tell him the secret of the treasure. He should tell her that he was poor and hungry and that his master took advantage of him. After all, there must have been many eager man that had come asking her for the treasure. Why should she give it to him? Then, he thought that maybe she hadn’t understood him and maybe she wasn’t a talking duck at all but would instead give him some special sign – a quack – or something, or fly up and land in the place where the treasure was held. Just as he was starting to feel very foolish, the duck opened its beak and started to speak in the most clear, beautiful human voice:

“Alright, I will tell you where lies the treasure. However, I warn you. You must do exactly as I say otherwise you will get absolutely nothing. In one day you must spend the one hundred ducats that you will find in a money bag that lies right next to you.”

The apprentice looked down and indeed there was a large bag lying right next to him. How could he not have noticed the bag before? Was it lying there all the time or had the duck made it appear there by magic? He picked it up and peered into it. One hundred gold ducats twinkled in the darkness. He stood wide-eyed and open mouthed. He had found the treasure, or maybe just a little of it.

The duck continued speaking. “You must be the only person that spends this money. You cannot share it with anyone or spend it on anyone. Spend it selfishly – drink, gamble! Don’t give any to the needy or the poor. Don’t buy presents for your family or your friends.  Fritter it all away!  If you break any of these rules you will return to being a poor cobbler’s assistant who owns nothing and you will never find out where the rest of the treasure lies.”

Lutek said nothing. He couldn’t believe it! He was overjoyed but also a little puzzled. Spending money on himself was easy. He knew he could get rid of the hundred gold ducats in one hour, let alone one day. However, he wasn’t going to complain. He took the money out of the bag and put it in his empty purse.

Then he went home and lay wide awake all night, thinking about all the ways he could spend the money.

First thing the next day, he went shopping. He bought himself clothes that he had always dreamt of wearing – the kind that fine, young gentlemen wore about town. He bought a green satin coat with real gold buttons, a black velvet hat with a peacock feather sticking out of it and trousers cut according to the latest fashion. He also bought some patent leather buckled shoes (but not from the mean old cobbler that he worked for.) Then he ordered another five similar outfits and shoes in different colours and went out for lunch.

Before lunch, he stopped off at a bench where he knew his friends hung out. He stood before them smiling, but they didn’t even recognize him, he had changed so much. Only when they heard his voice did they realize that it was their old friend, Lutek, the cobbler’s assistant. They were stunned. They touched his coat and tried on his velvet hat. They listened, wide eyed, at his tale of the golden duck and laughed at her stupid rules.

“Spending money on yourself is the easiest thing in the world” said his friend, the chimney sweep. “Give some the money to me and I’ll happily do it for you!”

They laughed at the joke but truthfully, the young apprentice would have gladly given a little money to his friends. They wore tatty clothes and looked like they needed fattening up. He wanted to take them to the posh restaurant in the Old Square of Warsaw and order a roast pig on a spit and the best wine that money could buy. However, he remembered what the duck had said and bode farewell to his friends.

At the restaurant, Lutek ordered everything that he had dreamt of eating all his life – chicken soup, caviar, dumplings filled with cheese, roast pork with apple sauce, veal cutlets, spicy red cabbage, cream cakes, strawberry ice-cream, chocolate cake and more. By the time he had finished he was so full he couldn’t even get up. So he ordered a bottle of the most expensive wine, to quench his thirst but found that he could only drink a glass.  While he was sitting full and bloated, digesting his meal he opened his purse. To his surprise, it was still half full! It was past two and he still had lots of money to spend.

“I’ve got to start wasting it fast,” he said and he got himself up and made his way out on the streets of Warsaw. He found a  tavern, went in and started to gamble.  He put as much money as he could on cards and promptly lost it all. Soon, afterwards he was surrounded by people, including a very pretty waitress, who were all fascinated by the young man with so much money to spare. He wanted to buy them all drinks and food but he couldn’t. He played until he started winning, and knowing that he wanted to spend rather than earn any more, he left the tavern. He would have happily taken the pretty waitress for some tea and cake but he knew he wasn’t allowed to. He could only spend money on himself.

It was getting dark, as Lutek wandered the streets of Warsaw. He popped into a few more shops and bought himself some gold jewellery, some rare books to read and a painting or two. However, the longer he shopped for the more depressed he started feeling. What had seemed like fun in the morning, now seemed tiring. He didn’t feel excited by his new things and he was too full to go and eat again. He thought of maybe going to the theatre but he didn’t want to go alone. Oh, how he wished he could go and see his two friends by the bench and hang out with them! But he knew that he couldn’t treat them to anything and anyway, he felt out of place with them in his new fine clothes.

By nighttime, Lutek was still wandering the streets trying to figure out how to get rid of the rest of his money. Then suddenly, he saw an ancient man, his body wrapped entirely in rags, sitting against a wall. The man was a beggar – he reached out at Lutek with his sinewy, wrinkled arm.

“Young man, you seem to have everything in life. Take pity on me, a poor, old beggar. I haven’t eaten for two days and I’m not sure how long I will live for.”

Stirred by compassion and without a moment’s hesitation Lutek pulled out his purse and took out a handful of duckets and gave them to the beggar. He smiled as he looked at the grateful expression in the face of the poor, old man. For the first time that day, he felt happy.

“Thank you, my lad” said the beggar, not quite able to believe his good fortune. “May God reward you.”  

Suddenly, Lutek stopped in his tracks and realized what he had just done. By giving to the beggar he had broken the rule set by the golden duck! He looked down and saw that all his fine clothes and jewellery were gone. He was back to wearing his holey, old overcoat. He looked into his purse and saw that it was once again empty. Funnily, enough he didn’t feel sad. On the contrary, he felt strangely happy – light hearted as if he had rid himself of a huge burden. The old beggar sat looking at him.

“Now you see, my lad, that money doesn’t really bring happiness. It is kindness and a good heart that brings that. Don’t worry about being poor again. You will have a full and happy life”

And the beggar was right. The young apprentice went back to his master and worked extra hard so he quickly qualified as a cobbler himself. Soon after he opened his own little shop. He was good at what he did and the customers liked him. Eventually he married the young waitress that he had met in the tavern and they had two children. He never longed for the hidden treasures in the dungeons of the castle but sometimes he would tell his children the story of the golden duck at bed time. Although, he never mentioned that he was the hero of the story. He knew, that they would never believe him.