The ten-year-old boy – still secretly dreaming of having more opportunities to play with his peers in addition to wielding power – stood before a tribunal of ruthless invaders. For he had nothing left but his personal dignity, which he had not fully renounced, and the opportunity to learn from his mistakes.
As Joanna Olczak-Ronikier wrote in her book Korczak. Próba Biografii [Warsaw 2011], the writer closely observed the political scene in Poland at the time. On the one hand, the nationalistically oriented, anti-Semitic right wing, supported by the Church. On the other, the left, demanding freedom of conscience and religion and the separation of church and state. ‘On both sides, there are insults, slanders, viciousness instead of attempts at compromise. He [Korczak] watched the experimental sessions of the parliament at the Orphans’ Home. Then he described the parliamentary antics of adults and children.’
King Matt the First is a fairy tale and at the same time a mirror in which the problems of those years are reflected. One could argue that the book was written on the society’s commission and materialized out of a sense of civic duty. Written in a simple style, it explained to children the mysteries of the functioning of the state and made them realise how difficult it was to build a just order.
The story is based on a familiar pattern. A boy, uprooted by fate from the paradise of childhood, is confronted with reality and subjected to severe tests which temper his courage and allow him to mature. Korczak equipped the little prince with his own experiences: a lonely childhood in a golden cage, orphanhood, the discovery of evil that rules the world, terrible memories of war. He offered him his own qualities: an inclination to dream, a desire to change the world for the better, stubbornness and perseverance in pursuit of his goal.
However, contrary to the rules accepted in myths and legends, the hero’s path led not to victory, but to defeat. The naïve little altruist became entangled in ever harsher oppressions, ruined the country, and thus became embroiled in wars and lost. For, as the Sad King revealed to the little ruler, the noble often lose.
Janusz Korczak, known also under his radio name Old Doctor, who taught optimism in life, dispensed with illusions in literature, knowing only too well the challenges posed by the inevitability of rule. When reading his book King Matt the First, however, it is worth asking ourselves: is the adult world ready for the rule of children? And will children ever be ready to share governance with the adult world?
A child’s aversion to any oppressive situation is unquestionably understandable. Among the various demands made by small Delegates, there was a rather puzzling one: ‘We don’t want people kissing us.’ A question from an adult observer of the proceedings: ‘Mr. Delegate, why don’t you want to be kissed?’, was met with a gruff reply. ‘If you had as many aunts as I do, you wouldn’t ask. Yesterday was my birthday, and they slobbered over me so much that I threw up my whole dessert. If grownups are so crazy about that mushy stuff, let them kiss each other and leave us alone, because we hate it.’
Today, when reading King Matt the First, it is not only the forgotten Polish word ‘legumina’ that requires a footnote. The adventures of the boy who prematurely became a king were presented by the author with the whole benefaction (or baggage) of the inter-war period, when no one had yet dreamt of any kind of political correctness. It is only today that we can see not only the naivety (intended), but also the inappropriateness of some of Korczak’s concepts or formulations, particularly evident in the conversation between two monarchs of contrasting skin tones.
Bum Drum, my friend, said Matt when they were talking on their last evening together, I urge you to stop being a cannibal.
Matt explained for so long that it was not nice to eat people, that the foreign kings would never forgive them for eating people, that he absolutely had to bring about such a reform so that they would not do this, then a lot of whites would come here, they would bring order and it would be more pleasant for Bum Drum’s People to live in their beautiful country.
Bum Drum listened sadly to Matt and replied that one king had already wanted to do that once, but they poisoned him for it, that it was a very difficult reform, but he would still think about it.