Gerssa przeróbki niektóre (z problemów autorstwa i oryginalności literatury mazurskiej)

The article focuses on the imitations of Polish literary texts. The authors were Masurian writers from East Prussia in the nineteenth century. The local press discussed the question of boundaries between creative processing of someone else’s work and plagiarism. The Masurians praphrased texts that were close to them in regard to customs and religion. The tale Lichy Zysk (Poor Profit) by Martin Gerss was written in this way. The text is a transformation of a short story by Józef Chociszewski Kto wygrał zakład? (Who won the bet?). Both works perpetuate the stereotype of a ‘’Jew” as an individual who is sloppy and extremely greedy for profit. Gerss’ text compared to the original is more concise. The Masurian tale contains elements of the local reality.