"Jak to ze lnem było"? Remarks on Maria Konopnicka’s Tale

The article is devoted to Maria Konopnicka’s short prose Jak to ze lnem było. The tale from the volume Książka dla Tadzia i Zosi (1892) constitutes an attempt to read the work in the context of the writer’s work written with young readers in mind, with a clear pedagogical aspect. In addition, it establishes interpretative proposals resulting from the genre convention of the tale. It focuses on the title thread, i.e. the motif of flax, its cultivation and value in the material culture, economy and folk tradition of the 19th century. It presents the different use of the motif of flax in the legacy of Konopnicka and H. Ch. Andersen. It shows the elements in the author’s autobiography that are connected with the presence of flax in Polish and Lithuanian folklore.