There is no evidence that Oskar Kolberg visited Bytom. However, when, in 1868 he stayed in Wola Rasztowska in Mazovia, he met a group of Silesians, probably from the vicinity of Bytom. An informant whose name was Koźlik told him a fairy tale, which can be summarized in the following way:

Once upon a time there was a king who liked black cows. He had one devoted shepherd who took care of the king’s herd. One day when the shepherd was on a pasture he saw a black cow going out of a hole in a ground. He tried to drive it to the herd, but it hid in the ground. The king decided to send twelve volunteers to get a haughty animal. They died as soon as they entered the hole. The king started to look for new volunteers. A butcher’s son, Hadam, offered his help.

Hadam entered the hole. He saw the dead men who went there before him and seven doors. In the seventh chamber he found a bed, table and chair.

“And he sat on that chair. He enjoyed smoking tobacco very much; however he did not have any with him. Thus he said aloud: ‘What will I do here without tobacco’. Having said that, he immediately found a box full of tobacco and paper. Moreover, a lit candle appeared. As soon as he started to smoke, he felt sleepy”.

He was about to lay down when a black lady appeared next to him; she welcomed him: “Welcome my dear Hadam. At midnight a group of people will come. They will dance, drink, eat and play music. But you my dear, you will lay down on your bed with a pipe. Do not talk with them. If you withstand that, you will be saved and I will be saved”. Hadam withstood this task, and he spend next two nights on fulfilling other tasks.

In the end, the same lady came, this time all in white. She was a princess and she came with her father. By fulfilling the tasks, Hadam saved their kingdom from destruction. The king decided to give Hadam his daughter’s hand. In this way, the butcher’s son became a king.

As soon as the information about the new king spread, the king who sent Hadam for the cow, declared a war against him. Hadam was worried that he would not be able to win. His wife gave him a white shirt of invisibility and a golden broadsword, which enabled Hadam to have as big an army as he wanted. Thanks to that Hadam won a battle. Later, the old king invited him to his kingdom for reconciliation.

The wife of the defeated king somehow got to know about the magical feature of the shirt and broadsword. She shared this knowledge with her husband, and decided to outwit Hadam: “My husband and king, I know a seamstress who will sew a shirt like this and a goldsmith who will prepare the golden broadsword, the same as his. We will then change them. Later you will declare the second war”.

The plan succeeded; the king declared another was against Hadam. Hadam was captured, cut up into pieces, and sent to his kingdom in a bag. His wife sewed him up and gave him his life back. She also persuaded him to take revenge. In addition, she gave him some cattle coat, which enabled him to change into whatever he wanted.

To arrive to his enemy’s kingdom quickly Hadam changed into a bird. When he got tired, he changed into a horse. On the road he met a Jew with whom he made an agreement, according to which a Jew would sell this horse to the king. When Hadam, in a form of a horse, arrived at the royal stable, the queen recognized him and ordered the animal to be killed. From his blood a beautiful apple tree grew; it had golden apples. The king was delighted with the tree, but his wife recognized Hadam for the second time. In consequence the king ordered the tree to be cut down. While it was cut some wooden chips fell down on a ground. From the chips a golden canary grew. The vigilant wife again warned the king, who, this time, gave Hadam his freedom. 

Hadam flew to a nearby lake, where he changed into a golden duck. In the evening the king came by the lake to have a bath. Hadam took his shirt and broadsword, and flew back to his kingdom.

Having his magical items back, Hadam declared war against his former king. This time, he did not have any mercy for the king and his wife. He gave orders to tie them by their legs to horses’ tails and let loose the horses into the woods. Since then Hadam, the butcher’s son, was a king of two kingdoms.