Jan Marcin Szancer (1902 Kraków-1973 Warsaw), Illustration to "The Tale of the Steel Hedgehog"

watercolor, gouache, paper, 25 × 50 cm

"The hedgehog listened for a while,
He recalled something, experienced something.
He looked into the October night
And clenched his steel fist.
In a circle the street was empty.
The darkness grew, the wind did not stop,
Autumn rain was splashing in the windows.
What happened, happened,
Apparently it had to happen,
So the hedgehog moved forward boldly,
He rushed into the deserted distance,
He sneaked under the walls
And in the dark alleys disappeared.
And when it was eleven o'clock,
The hedgehog left the city walls."

Jan Brzechwa "A Tale of the Steel Hedgehog", Warsaw 1961, Biuro Wydawnicze "Ruch", Edition I, (nlb).excerpt