Long ago, in the city of Kraków, there lived a nobleman called Twardowski who wanted to know everything. He read every book in the city, and then he read them all again, and still it was not enough. He wanted the kind of magic that is not written in books.
So one night, on Krzemionki hill above the river Vistula, he called up the devil and made a deal.
The devil would serve him and teach him all the magic in the world. In return, one day, the devil could carry Twardowski away. But Twardowski was clever, and he added one condition, written in ink and signed with a flourish: the devil could only come for him in Rome. And Twardowski had no plans whatsoever to go to Rome.
For years, it worked beautifully. With the devil’s help, Twardowski did astonishing things. He flew over Kraków on the back of a rooster. He had an enormous rock stood on its head near Pieskowa Skała, where you can still see it balancing today. And he owned a magic mirror that could show faraway places. Polish storytellers say that mirror still hangs in a church in the town of Węgrów.
All that time, he stayed well away from Rome.
The devil grew more and more impatient, and at last he played a trick of his own. One evening Twardowski stopped for supper at a little inn in the countryside. Only when the devil burst in through the door did he learn the name of the inn. It was called Rome.
“A deal is a deal,” said the devil, “and you are in Rome.”
He seized Twardowski and flew up the chimney, higher and higher into the night sky. As Kraków grew smaller and smaller below, Twardowski did the only thing he could think of. He began to sing a hymn his mother had taught him when he was small.
The devil could not stand that song. He was so startled that he let go.
But Twardowski did not fall. He floated up and up, past the clouds, until he landed softly on the Moon. And there, the story says, he lives to this day, with only a spider for company. Every now and then the spider lets itself down to Earth on a long silver thread, and climbs back up with news from home.
So on a clear night, look up at the Moon and wave. Someone up there may be glad of the company. And if you would like to try some mirror magic of your own, the Enchanted Mirror is open.
