Cyprian, a poor miner, lived in a small house in Banská Bystrica. To get to the mine where he worked every day, he had to go through a forest. The mine was situated in the valley called Špania dolina. Sometimes it took him nearly two hours to get there. He was always exhausted because of the hard bed, which did not allow him to sleep well. One early morning, he walked to work as usual having no idea what was going to happen later that day. As he approached the mine, he noticed a strange little man stuck under stones which had fallen from the hill. The little man cried silently and asked Cyprian for help after he spotted him. Despite being in a hurry, Cyprian pulled the little man from beneath the rubble. The little man thanked him and said, “I will reward you generously for your help. You will discover a copper vein in the mine, but you can dig it only today. If you mine there tomorrow, I will take everything from you!” Right after he finished his speech, the little man disappeared. Cyprian could not believe his eyes nor ears. When he arrived at the mine, he took a pickaxe and started digging. After a while, he found the promised copper vein. He tried to dig it all out, but the copper was not being depleted as he was digging. He was sweating excessively but the copper vein was endless. At the break of day, he decided that he would continue mining the following day as well. No one knows why he ignored the words of the little man. Perhaps he was so exhausted that he could not think straight. Maybe he had lost his mind completely. Or he had just forgotten about the warning of the little man. That night he fell asleep peacefully. When he woke up, he felt exceptionally excited about going to work. Neither the hard bed nor the long walk could spoil his anticipation. The only thing he could think about was the copper vein. He entered the mine and went straight to the place where he stopped digging the day before. Though, when he started digging again, the pile suddenly disappeared. “You did not listen to me,” said the little man. “You felt that you had too little, and now I will take everything from you.” That is indeed what happened. Cyprian was left with nothing. He was speechless. He had brought it upon himself. Later that day he dug a little bit more and found a piece of copper. After he sold it, he bought a new bed, so he could get better sleep after a hard day of work. Fallen stones on the way to work reminded him every day how well off he could have been if he had not lost his mind.
Story from the book What Is Whispered About the Copper City, Primary School Moskovská 2, Banská Bystrica. Author of the story: Patrik Balajty, Primary School Moskovská 2, Banská Bystrica.
