
“The European Commission’s support for the production of this publication does not constitute an endorsement of the contents, which reflect the views only of the authors, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.“


The legend was recreated and illustrated by students from the 1st to the 3rd grade of the Primary School Rače within the Erasmus + project "Our Cultures - Our Treasures".
Narrated by Jakob Svenšek.

Nekoč, pred davnimi davnimi časi, ko so mesto Maribor še klicali Marchburg, je živel čevljarček. Takrat je mesto obdajalo visoko obzidje. Ščitilo ga je pred nevarnimi sovražniki in tudi pred turškimi vpadi.
Once upon a time, many, many years ago, when the town of Maribor was still called Marchburg, a little shoemaker lived behind its walls. At that time, the town was namely surrounded by high walls, which protected the city city from dangerous enemies and also from the Turkish invasions.
Čevljarček je bil zelo reven. Bil je zelo dober delavec. Delal je v kleti male čevljarnice. Ker ni imel prijateljev, je bil zelo osamljen. Nihče ga ni maral.
The little shoemaker was a very good worker, but still very poor. He worked in a basement of a small shoemaker's shop. He didn’t have many friends and was very lonely. Nobody liked him.
Nekega dne so mestni stražarji opazili, da prihajajo Turki. Mesto ni bilo pripravljeno na vpad. Otroci so jokali, ker so bili prestrašeni.
One day the city guards noticed that the Turks were coming. The town was not prepared for the invasion. The children were crying because they were scared.
Možje so se pripravili na napad. Zaprli so težka mestna vrata, da Turki ne bi mogli vpasti v mesto.
The people of Maribor did not let the Turks into the town. They closed the heavy city gates so that the Turks could not conquer the town.
Turki so plezali na obzidje, domačini pa so ga branili.
The Turks were climbing the walls and the locals were defending their town.
Toda v jarku okoli obzidja ni bilo vode. Zato so Turki začeli spodkopavati obzidje.
But there was a huge problem – there was no water in the defensive ditch around the wall and the Turks began to undermine the walls.
Mestni možje so ugotovili, da obzidje ne bo več dolgo zdržalo. Nihče ni upal iti do Treh ribnikov, kjer je bila zapornica za vodo.
The town men could see that the town walls would not last long. Among them no one was brave enough to got to the Three Ponds, where the water lock was.
Čevljarček se je javil, da bo rešil mesto. Preoblekel se je v Turka in stekel do težke zapornice.
The little shoemaker wanted to save the town. He dressed up as a Turk and ran to the Three Ponds.
Dvignil je zapornico in voda je stekla v jarek ob obzidju.
The little shoemaker opened the heavy gates. The water flowed into the ditch.
Turke je odplaknila v reko Dravo. Turki, ki so preživeli, so zbežali in mesto je bilo rešeno.
The watter flew away the Turks into the Drava river. The surviving Turks run away and the town was saved.
Čevljarček je postal junak in vsi so ga imeli radi. Hodili so po čevlje v njegovo čevljarnico, zato je kmalu obogatel.
The little shoemaker became the hero of the town of Maribor. From then on everybody was buying shoes at his workshop. He became a wealthy and respected citizen.

