In that fair city of Nottingham, England, you can't turn a corner without bumping into a place that is named after a certain fellow named Robin Hood. In Zakopane, it is the name of Sabala that keeps cropping up. There's the Sabala hotel, the Sabala restaurant, the Sabala shop - who was this Sabala character you might well wonder?
Jan Krzeptowski Sabala (1809-1894) was perhaps the most legendary highlander of the nineteenth century. And although he didn't have a band of merry men who roamed the forests committing swashbuckling robberies on the tyrannical rich, he does seem to belong more to the world of myth than to reality. And in fact, although no criminal himself, he probably was descended from outlaws (as all the highlanders are reputed to be). Indeed, the zbojniccy or 'thieves' of the highlands, dominate Polish folklore in much the same way as Robin Hood and his outlaws of Sherwood forest do in England.
Sabala was in fact more of a spritely minstrel than a dare-devil outlaw. Somewhere between a Pied Piper and a court jester, he lived in a world of his own creating, a carefree drifter who wandered the highlands, enchanting visitors with his songs and legends.
A typical anecdote concerns an incident that happened when he was a young boy. There were not many churches in the Highlands in those days, and in some areas they were a novelty altogether. When Sabala went on his first - and as it turned out only visit - everything seemed very agreeable. When the organ began to play, what could be more natural than a little dance? So Sabala called out to the other boys and within minutes the church had erupted, with all the young gorale bounding around the nave. The goodly priest was flabbergasted, and tried to explain that this was not the done thing. But much as he might try to persuade Sabala to reform his ways (and when he had done so, to return to church), the young boy would not, as he could see no wrong in dancing.
Like so many of the Highlanders, Sabala was not technically literate, but he had a musical soul. He made himself a flute and a special kind of narrow violin, and he could never go for a walk without singing. When the priest complained that he was disturbing the peace by singing in town, he took to singing into his hat whilst in Zakopane itself.
Although renowned throughout the Highlands, Sabala's rise to national fame began much later during the 1870's, when the doctor Tytus Chalubinski discovered Zakopane. The town was a very remote place in those days, and when visitors made trips into the mountains, it was essential to have a guide. Sabala was always Chalubinski's guide of choice, and the highlander quickly enchanted visitors with his amusing tales and songs.
Sabala was treated as a legend wherever he went (and he would often go off on rambling adventures into the Slovakian mountains). However, being something of a bohemian highlander, he wasn't very good at holding on to his money. Whilst often showered with presents, poverty was never far away. On one occasion his poor wife had to sell their last cow, owing to Sabala's carefree ways. The highlander's way of dealing with the problem was playing the violin to his cow all night so that she would not be sad on the day that she was leaving.
Dozens of Sabala's curious tales have been recorded, as well as his melodies. One of his violins can be found at the Villa Koliba, alongside many other charming mementoes, (he was a friend of the artist Witkiewicz, who designed the building). A rather fine statue of the Highlander can be discovered at the crossroads of Chalubinski and Zamoyski streets. There one finds the benign Doctor, Titus Chalubinski, and sitting down in front of him is the smiling Sabala, violin in hand, looking out into the mountains of which he was so fond.
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