Do Polish people know that in the Islamic world, Poland was, and is still in some countries, named as Lehistan?

The Legend of the Slavic Brothers

“The Three Heroes” by Viktor Vasnetsov (1848-1926)

They certainly do know this. Usually they would spell it Lechistan, though. It hearkens back to an old legend of three Slavic brothers Lech, Czech and Rus. They were having a drink of local beer in Poznań when they realised that they each wanted to father a nation. In order not to get in each other’s way they decided Czech would go south and Rus would go east. Lech on the other hand would stay in Poznań and look after the local brewery, which bears his name to this day.

Protoplast

He regularly would become plastered on his own product, and thus became known as the “protoplasta Polaków”. Among his achievements is setting up a capital city in Gniezno, a form of the old Polish word for a nest, and from this nest the Polish nation was fledged.

Czech and Rus fathered the nations named after them, while Lech fathered the Polish nation. He became the patron saint of Polish beer, and of big moustaches, and of smashing up invaders such as Islam or Communism.

Various Lechs and Leszeks

As well as a full-sized Lech you also get diminutive ones, namely Leszek, although linguistically speaking, Leszek is a lexicalised diminutive of Lech. You can add it to your lexicon, or Lech’s icon if you happen to be honouring the Patron saint, whose saint’s day is on the 28th February with another go on 12 August if you missed the earlier one.”

Continue reading “Do Polish people know that in the Islamic world, Poland was, and is still in some countries, named as Lehistan?”

What should you not buy on your vacation?

What should you not buy on your vacation?

Original YT playout date: 28 August 2010
Duration: 3:30

This is a showcase of what Czech customs seized from holidaymakers returning from travels in exotic places with parts of engangered species breaching the CITES convention.

In order not to cause species to be depleted on this planet it is essential to stop the demand in these things. At least until they can be farmed in a sustainable way. Even certificates given by the person selling it may turn out to be bogus, and the cruelty involved in getting some of these products needs to be considered by souvenir hunters before they buy something gruesome which will hasten the demise of natural ecosystems.”
<!–more–>

Statistics and Credits
Views at the time added to HTV: 367
Likes at the time added to HTV: 5
Dislikes at time added to HTV: 0
Comments at time added: 4
Music used: None
Languages used: English
Animals/plants featured: None

Karlin in the Rain (PV#29)

 

Original YT playout date: 5 June 2010
Duration: 14:58

The twenty-ninth Prague Vlog shows a few scenes, culminating in the Karlin area, as it starts to rain.

There is one erratum here, and that is that the name for aardvark is not Kvida – that’s the name they gave to one of the aardvarks at the zoo. I only found this out after doing this film. Hrabac kapsky is the standard term for an aardvark. So it is not like hroch and klokan with regards to being a name taken from nowhere for a non-native animal. There are still a number of hroch and klokan types still undiscovered, though, I’m sure.
Continue reading “Karlin in the Rain (PV#29)”

My Prague Vlog #17 – Brno, Bratislava and more…

Original YT playout date: 23 January 2010
Duration: 50:48

We experience the opulence of Grand Hotel Brno, see Brno station, visit Bratislava again, and also see me greet the guests to our Christmas party in Czech and see the live musicians we had.
Continue reading “My Prague Vlog #17 – Brno, Bratislava and more…”