Tag Archives: poland

Polish Horse Joke

Background Information: Informant was an American of Polish descent, traveling abroad in Poland a few years ago with a school trip. At a bar, informant was making polite conversation (in mostly English) with some Polish natives. The Poles told informant their ‘Horse Joke’. The following is the joke as told by informant after traveling back to America.

The Horse Joke: So there’s this really famous race horse, right? But, after winning a bunch of races, he was tired. After… ya know, a few months, this race horse knew nothing but like excitement and retired and.. got bored and, he went to the farmer of this Retirement farm that he was on and he was like “Hey, Mr. Farmer, I’m bored. Give me something to do.” And the farmer says “You know what? I heard about this guy, in town, that can teach any animal to play any instrument in just, one week. So how ’bout I pay for that, and you can not be bored anymore?” And the horse says “alright that sounds like an idea.” One Week. One week later, the horse knows how to play the guitar, which is cool. he’s jamming out.. having a good time, when… a bunny, hops in. This bunny, like “wow I heard the strumming I wanted to check out what was going on I didn’t know there would be a horse in here. Can I, how did you learn to do that?” And the horse went, “Well there’s this guy in town who can teach any animal to play any instrument in a week.” So the bunny went into town, and learned how to play the drums, and then the two were jamming out. Got a cute little band going… a bunny on the drums, a horse on the guitar… playing away. Until one day a bear came through. And, growled and snarled, and then, he spotted them and he was like, “Wow I was gonna eat you guys, but now, I see you playing instruments and, I wanna know how to do that.” They were like, “Well, There’s a guy in town? he can teach any animal to play any instrument in a week.” And the Bear said, “Alright I’ll go check that out.” And he stumbled away and a week later he came back with a trumpet. And then they were all playing their ‘Animal… Band’. People came from all over just to check them out. Bear on the trumpet, bunny on the drums, horse on the guitar. Its quite a sight. It was nice. Till one day, uhh, a music manager came through and said “Hey, I wanna make you guys famous.” And they were all like “Yeah! Let’s Do It!” So they all went on tour to get their name out.. people coming from all over just to see one of their concerts… it was one of the coolest things to see all these animals playing instruments. And they were pretty good, too. Until… and it was all great until the day where they had to go on a plane to go overseas to continue their tour globally. The horse, being an old race horse, he didn’t feel too well. He was like, “Hey guys I don’t feel too good. I don’t think I should go on a plane, I think we should stop. Even though it’s our opportunity.” But the bear and the bunny they were going like, “no no no, this is our chance, this is our big moment, we gotta go now!” The horse, really adamant, like “I really don’t feel good you guys, I can’t.” And they’re like “But we’ll go on without you, But you’ll regret it.” And the horse, thinkin it’s whatever “Ehhhh, whatever.” So the bear and the bunny get on the plane and the horse goes back to the farm to get a checkup. Well right before he gets his checkup, the farmer comes in, saying “I’ve got terrible news, pal. That plane you were supposed to get on? The one with your friends? It crashed, and there were no survivors.” So the horse got into a deep depression that it was all his fault, that he should have saved them, should have told them not to.. get on the plane, been more firm with it- he really just blamed himself. to the point where he even started drinkin’; drinkin’ and drinkin; day in and day out. Until one day, the horse got all of the farmer’s stored up money that he earned from all his early work- playing at guitar. And he said “I’m gonna go down to the bar, and I’m just drink till I’m dead.” So the horse takes all his money, sadly clops down to the bar, opens the door, walks in, bartender looks up and says, “Why the Long Face?”

Context: The joke is a play on an older joke, which is simply “A horse walks into a bar and the bartender asks ‘Why the Long Face?'”. By adding the convoluted background, the joke is less about the punchline and more about making the audience sit through as much lore as possible before the punchline.

Thoughts: It’s interesting to see how this older joke is not only familiar to Americans, but also to Poles as well. Being of Polish heritage myself, it was nice to have a mutual understanding of humor with a people group I have never met, yet am supposed to be connected to. I was told this joke a couple years ago when Informant first came back from Poland, and I remember many differences. For example, the bunny was originally (originally to me) a chicken. I think due to the convoluted plot, the joke has a tendency to change.I have told this joke to several of my friends, and now, it has almost become a rite-of-passage within my friend group. When the joke is mentioned, anyone in the group will moan and tell me to stop, but anyone outside the groups will ask me, “What’s the Horse Joke?”. I will then torture them with 4 minutes of horse-joke ramblings until they inevitably hate me, and hate me even more when the punchline is a joke they’ve heard before. I highly recommend this joke.

For another version of this joke, see

Szathmary, Author Henrietta. “20 Best a Horse Walks into a Bar Jokes.” Horsey Hooves, 2 Nov. 2021, https://horseyhooves.com/a-horse-walks-into-a-bar-jokes/. 

Polish Dragon

Context: Poland has many mythical beasts in its folklore, however, very prominently featured are its dragons. Poland’s dragons are very big beasts, which are fearsome but not very smart. Mostly villainous in nature, the dragon must be defeated by a Polish hero, oftentimes through outwitting the dragon, rather than use of physical force. Wawel is a Polish castle, which is made of stone and stands on an outcrop on the left bank of a Polish river.

Informant: “The Wawel dragon in Poland. So my mom told us this story growing up and she told us the kid friendly version but its this legend about this dragon that was terrorizing this town and eating the livestock and knights tried and tried to kill it but no one could until this young boy, i think his name was Skuba or something, took a dead sheep and stuffed his stomach full of hot hot pepper and when the dragon ate it, it was so spicy that he breathed fire and went to drink from the river and then either died or flew away idk but Skuba saved the day and theres a statue in Krakow of him about that story.”

Background Knowledge: The informant’s mother lived in Poland for most of her life, and only moved to the United States a few years before Informant’s birth. Despite not knowing the language, and being mostly ingrained in American culture, the Informant tries to keep in touch with their Polish heritage. The informant remembers this story from their childhood, as a story their mother told them. It is, I believe, a very old Polish story. The informant does not speak more than basic conversational Polish, and did not hear the story in its original Polish language. However, the informant has visited Poland a few times, and has much Polish influence from their mother. Informant is proud of their Polish heritage, and spoke of this story with fondness.

Thoughts: I wonder if the story of the Wawel dragon came before or after the building of Wawel castle. It’s interesting to see how these Polish stories have come to emigrated to America along with its people. Despite being based on/being the inspiration for the wawel castle, the story of the wawel dragon leaves its castle, and travels to America without it. It’s interesting that the story can outgrow the location which it is originated from, even when the location is so inherent to it.

Polish Joke

Context: Informant is of Polish heritage, and although they are very proud of their Polish background, they do not necessarily engage in the culture of Poland within their daily life.

Informant: “We used to tell a lot of Polish jokes.  How do you get a one armed Pole out of a tree? You wave to him. I heard this from my grandparents. I have more Polish jokes. Did you hear about the Pole while in a frantic called the police? He said for the police to hurry.  He locked his keys in the car. The police said that it wasn’t an emergency. The Pole said that wasn’t the worst part. His family was locked in the car with them.”

Background Information: Back when the informant was a child, it was common for people to tell ‘Polish Jokes’. Although the Polish slander has decreased dramatically since then, the informant still remembers when these jokes were common. They’ve stated that when they were a child, they were uncomfortable telling people they were Polish. Now, however, they have learned to embrace their Polish heritage, and they tell these jokes with an air of pride. The jokes represent a hardship the Poles have faced, yet by telling the joke themselves, they reclaim the joke for themselves while simultaneously not forgetting the struggle they endured.

Thoughts: Although I have some Polish heritage, I was still uncomfortable listening to these jokes. On one hand, I was uncomfortable having a personal identity attacked, but on the other hand, it was uncomfortable seeing this Polish person slander their own name. I think this encapsulates a lot of the general history of the jokes. They were meant to belittle the Poles, but now the Polish people are fighting against this ridicule and in turn making everyone else uncomfortable instead. It’s an interesting dynamic. I think it is empowering to see these jokes be reclaimed, and the jokes themselves have become representations of power.

Sto Lat

Main Text: 

Sto Lat 

Background on Informant: 

My informant is from the United States of America, however identifies with her Polish heritage. While she has embraced her culture in several ways, one of her favorites is the traditional Polish song “Sto Lat”. 

Context: 

She explains: 

“Growing up my mother always wanted me to embrace my Polish identity and one of the ways was through the Polish song “Sto Lat” 

It goes like this: 

“Sto lat, sto lat

Niech żyje, żyje nam.

Sto lat, sto lat,

Niech żyje, żyje nam,

Jeszcze raz, jeszcze raz,

Niech żyje, żyje nam,

Niech żyje nam!”

Which roughly translates to: 

“100 years, 100 years,

May they live!

100 years, 100 years,

May they live!

Once again, once again,

May they live!

May they live!”

Sto Lat means ‘one hundred years’ and my family usually sings it to me on my birthday every year as a way to wish me good health and a long life. 

I personally don’t speak Polish but I’ve loved hearing it every year and its become a tradition in my household so that we may prosper for next 100 years of our lives.” 

Analysis/Thoughts: 

Before this interview, I had not heard of the traditions of “Sto Lat,” but afterwards I was intrigued. I love the simplicity behind the message and how while the translation may not directly say it, it is meant to be a blessing of heath and luck. 

I love how connected the person I interviewed was to her cultural identity, and how even though she doesn’t understand the language, it has remained an integral part of who she is. I love the subtle hint of proverb in the song and admire how it’s continued to be practiced in the culture as a form of wishing someone a long life and as a birthday treat. 

Annotations: 

Here is a more modern version of the song: 

Warsaw Mermaid

Context:

The informant–MF–is a 39 year old male who was born and raised in Zagłębie, Poland but has lived in the US since 2016. He learned this legend having visited Warsaw numerous times and heard the legend from locals. The interview from which this legend was collected was conducted in English.

Piece:

MF: Ok. So let’s start with the very old legend about the Warsaw Mermaid so which is the symbol right now of the of Warsaw, which is the capitol in Poland. There’s a very nice statue of the mermaid and she’s keeping the knife. Actually, this is the sword. And then and then shield. And it’s kind of protect the city from the from the, you know, like bad things that you could put, you know, like in from from the very, very old time. Like, people are thinking that the Polish mermaid is the sister of Copenhagen mermaid, which is well known symbol of Copenhagen. And she was swimming towards Poland through the Baltic Sea and then finally go into the river, which is going through Warsaw, which is the capitol of Poland. And then the story is telling that that there was a fisherman, old fisherman was catching the fish. And this mermaid actually decided to release this fishes. So as she thought, she she didn’t. And, you know, like, open the net and fish escape. So the fisherman was very, very angry. He was trying to catch the mermaid.But she was she was very smart in trying to escape. But what’s finally- fishermen catch her. So beautiful and so spectacular that the fishermen decided to release her. And and finally, actually, he fallen in love with her. But later, in the very, very rich person like Merchant, like he decided to cut her. And, you know, like to get some money to, you know, like to get her from the water. And he was trying to do it. And finally, he did but, you know, since her voice was so beautiful, the fisherman actually decided to do, you know, like release the mermaid. And then actually she said, “Oh, I’m gonna protect this city because you are so, so nice for me.” And then she became, like, a huge symbol of the capitol of Poland. So that’s that’s more or less the story about the mermaid important. So those of you who are interested, you can go to the capital of Poland and, actually close to the distillery there, there is the nice statue of Polish Mermaid.

Analysis:

This tale forms a nationalistic connection connection between the city of Warsaw and the river upon which it sits, the river Vistula. The tale also creates a sense of partnership between Warsaw and Copenhagen, both of which have rivers running through them and a famous statue of a mermaid said to have been found in those same waters.