The Trumpeter of Krakow
The
Trumpeter of Krakow, a young
adult historical novel by Eric
P. Kelly, won the Newbery
Medal for excellence in American children's literature in 1929.
Centered
on the historical fire that burned much of Kraków in 1462, The Trumpeter of Krakow tells the fictional
story of a family of Joseph Charnetski,[1] a Polish noble family from Kresy (modern day Ukraine), who fled to Kraków, Poland, in 1461
after their home is burned to the ground by the Cossack-Tartars of Bogdan Grozny, commonly known as "Peter of the
Button Face" because of the button-shaped pockmark on his cheek.
Plot summary
To Kraków
After
seeing a spy lurking around his house in Ukraine, Andrew Charnetski hastily
removes his family to a safe location. While away, Peter of the Button Face,
acting under the orders of Ivan III of Russia,
burns the Charnetskis' village to the ground in search of the "Great Tarnov Crystal", a mysterious Tarnov crystal that has caused many
wars over the millennia and had, a few centuries previously, been entrusted by
the city of Tarnów
to the Charnetski family for safeguarding until its discovery by others, at
which time it was to be given to the current king of Poland.
Realizing
that someone must have been after the crystal, and finding himself homeless,
Andrew takes his family to Kraków, where his cousin Andrew Tenczynski lives, in
order to give the crystal to King Kazimír Jagiełło.
However, upon his arrival he finds that Tenczynski has been murdered and that
his estate is under the control of Elizabeth of Austria, the queen of Poland. Destitute, Charnetski camps his
family in the middle of the city for the day.
Charnetski's
fifteen-year-old son Joseph explores the city, passing the Church of Our Lady
St. Mary, from which a trumpeter plays an unfinished song called "the
Heynal" [in Polish: Hejnał mariacki]
four times every hour, once to each direction (north, east, south, and west).
Joseph ends up saving an alchemist
named Nicholas Kreutz and his niece, Elżbietka, from a wolfdog (even though the book said a dog). Kreutz offers Joseph and
his family an apartment just below his on the unsavory Street of the Pigeons, a
street near Kraków University
where scientists and magicians often live.
Meanwhile,
Andrew Charnetski and his wife (who is never named) have been found by Peter of
the Button Face, who has pursued them from Ukraine. Surrounded by bandits and a
jeering crowd, Andrew, his wife, and Joseph (who joins them) are only saved by
the appearance of Jan Kanty,
a respected scholar and priest. Kanty offers Andrew the position of night
trumpeter in the Church of Our Lady St. Mary. Delighted at the prospect of a
job and home on such short notice, Andrew accepts both offers.
The
following night Andrew takes Joseph with him to the tower of the Church of Our
Lady St. Mary, leaving his wife behind with Elżbietka. In the tower Andrew
explains to his son the story of the trumpeter of Kraków — a trumpeter who, in
1241, was pierced by a Tartar arrow before he could finish the Heynał.
Accordingly, the song has always been abruptly cut short.
The alchemist
Nicholas
Kreutz, meanwhile, teaches a German student named Johann Tring chemistry in the loft above his apartment every evening. Tring, however,
is obsessed with the idea of obtaining the philosopher's stone,
and finally convinces Kreutz to go through sessions of hypnosis, which Tring believes will open Kreutz's "Greater
Mind", revealing the secret of the creation of a chrysopoeia. All Tring can glean from Kreutz's trances, however, is
that the chrysopoeia is at hand (which Tring takes to mean that they have
nearly discovered how to make it).
When
unhypnotized, Kreutz reasons that there cannot be one stone that automatically
changes brass into gold, but that there must be a process by which such a
change could occur. He believes that all things are subject to change, and
wishes to change the bad things in the world to good things through the use of
alchemy. An example he gives is the landlady's deformed son, Stas, whom Kreutz
believes could be saved through alchemical transmutation.
In
the meantime, Peter of the Button Face hears Stas, the landlady's son,
discussing the Charnetskis and pays him a fortune to learn of their
whereabouts. He leads a burglary on the Charnetski's apartment while Andrew is
up in the church tower, and discovers the Tarnov Crystal hidden in Andrew's
mattress. He and his men are surprised, however, by the appearance of Nicholas
Kreutz, clad in clothes covered in phosphorus and burning resin, and take him for a demon. The bandits flee and are caught
by the night watchmen, but Peter stays to reclaim the Crystal. When Kreutz asks
the mercenary why he has come, Peter realizes the alchemist is not a demon and
stops being afraid. He directs Kreutz's attention to the Crystal, then trips
the alchemist and grabs the gem, heading for the door. Kreutz throws some
explosive powder at Peter, who drops the Crystal in agony and escapes over the
rooftops of Kraków.
Tempted
by the realization that the Crystal is the chrysopoeia he and Tring have been
ardently seeking, Kreutz steals the Tarnov Crystal before anyone figures what
has happened. When he tries to use the Crystal, however, Kreutz realized that
it only makes him think of his own desires. He realized, then, that it can only
reflect back the gazer's own subconscious knowledge, and therefore will not
reveal the secret of chrysopoeia unless he himself has all the pieces stored
somewhere in his head.
The broken note
Andrew
teaches Joseph the Heynał, realizing that he may be attacked by seekers of the
Crystal and that someone must be left to trumpet the song on the hour. While in
the tower one evening, Andrew and Joseph are attacked and held captive by Peter
and his band. Peter demands to be led to the location of the Crystal (which
neither Andrew nor Joseph knows), but first orders Joseph to trumpet the Heynał
since it is two o'clock and its absence will be noticed. Thinking quickly,
Joseph plays the Hejnał the entire way through, not stopping at the broken
note. Elżbietka, lying awake in her apartment waiting to hear the Heynał,
realizes the finished tune is a sign and rushes to Jan Kanty's cell. Kanty
calls the night watchmen to his aid and heads for the church tower, where they
surprise the bandits and free Andrew. Peter, meanwhile, notices the troop of
watchmen and flees the city.
The Great Tarnov Crystal
Much
later, Kreutz finally gives in to temptation and reveals the Crystal to Johann
Tring. Tring is giddy with excitement and instructs Kreutz to gaze at the
crystal. The alchemist, however, is tired from his numerous trances and goes
into one as he stares at the gemstone. In it his thoughts arrange themselves
into a strange order, and he reads in the stone what Tring believes to be the
formula for the chrysopoeia, but what is in actuality the formula for a niter-based explosive. When Tring mixes the ingredients together,
the loft explodes into flames and Tring flees for cover. Kreutz grabs the stone
and, still crazed, heads off into the streets of Kraków. After that, he is
dragged to the tower by Jan Kanty and the Great Tarnov Crystal is given back to
Pan Andrew.
The
fire starts to spread through the Street of the Pigeons, and during the tumult
the king's royal guards catch Peter of the Button Face skulking around the
scene and haul him off to the prison. Joseph, his mother, and Elżbietka escape
from their home to the church tower, and Joseph replaces his father as the
trumpeter while Andrew goes to work stopping the flames, which have spread
throughout the city. The fire is extinguished by the morning and Jan Kanty finds
Nicholas Kreutz wandering aimlessly about in the rubble with the Tarnov Crystal
in his hands.
Jan
Kanty, Nicholas Kreutz, and Andrew and Joseph Charnetski all seek an audience
with King Kazimír. Once granted, they present to him the Tarnov Crystal and
tell them its story and theirs. The king then summons Peter of the Button Face,
who bargains for his life by promising to tell the king why there have been
disturbances in Ukraine. He tells the king that Ivan III, the king of Russia,
wished to have Makhmud Khan
invade Ukraine and capture it for Russia. Makhmud agreed under the condition
that Ivan would procure for him the Great Tarnov Crystal. It was thus that Ivan
hired the mercenary Bogdan Grozny, called Peter, to steal the Crystal.
After
hearing Peter's story, Kazimír banishes the mercenary from Poland for life. As
they begin to depart, the king gazes into the Crystal and becomes transfixed.
Kreutz, still entranced, grabs the Crystal and runs out the door down to the
banks of the Vistula,
into which he throws the Tarnov Crystal. Jan Kanty and the king decide not to
retrieve the crystal, deeming it safely protected in the grounds of the castle.
Andrew Charnetski's house in Ukraine is rebuilt and he is rewarded by the king.
Kreutz and Elżbietka come to Ukraine as well, the alchemist having regained his
sanity, and six years later Joseph marries Elżbietka.
References
1.
The
Trumpeter of Krakow by Eric P. Kelly. Study Guide, Joseph
Charnetski; Plot
Summary; and Themes
and Characters, from BookRags and Gale's For
Students Series, 2006, Thomson
Gale
No comments:
Post a Comment