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TALES AND LEGENDS

 

 

Introduction

You are going to read some legends about some towns and beautiful places of The Baix Empordà. These were chosen because we think they are representative of the beliefs of the people who lived in our region in the Medieval Ages.

Here you can find some information and descriptions about what were the places like, the people and the life in La Bisbal and its surroundings. We have noticed how these legends have influenced on our lives and how the Catalan language has evolved.

The monastery's well

In the old times the churches and the monasteries gave protection to outlaws. For instance, a man who carried a sack on his back arrived at La Bisbal's monastery. It was a dark and cold night and there wasn't anybody around. That man arrived at a little square where today the monastery still stands, and after looking on the right and on the left (because he knew he was being pursued) he saw the church's door. But that door was closed. Then he started shouting desperately and he saw a bell's rope. He pulled at it.

- Nang nang! -it was heard in the middle of the night.

A few seconds later.

- Nang nang! -it was heard again.

And a bit later.

- Nang nang! -it was heard a third time.

-" I'm coming "-said a voice inside the house while opening the spyhole. The man who knocked at the door spoke in a low and nervous way.

-" Don't speak so fast and so low!" -the housekeeper said.

-" I've come to ask for protection to Saint Francis and Saint Sebastian "-he whispered.

-"Why?"

- "The law want to arrest me".

Then the housekeeper opened the door and that fugitive went to the church.

The first night he slept under a pew. The next day the abbot questioned him. That man was a miner and he had escaped from a far off country where water was always scarce.

Time passed by. The miner lived in the cloister. There he had whatever he needed: bed, food, monks and laymen to speak with. The only thing needed in that place was a well, which always contained water. Because the monastery was built on a rock and they never had water.

- "There is no man who could dig so many metres" -said the abbot.

But he felt grateful and wanted to try it. And he started digging. It took him weeks and weeks

. - "Anything new?" -asked the laymen.

-" Almost" -he answered.

And he continued on digging day and night.

One day he found the rock centre. It was very hard and he couldn't go on.

- "Give it up" -said the abbot.

But he dug again and could continue.

-"There is a lake beneath" -said the miner happily.

And it's thanks to this man that there is always water in the monastery's well even though hasn't rained for months.

The treasure of the dragon

Long time ago when the Gavarres reached the sea there were dragons everywhere. One of these animals lived in Quermany (Pals) in a basement. To reach that basement one should first arrive at an old castle's ruins and pull out an old and rusty ring. Inside there was a dragon, a couple of giants and a horrible snake that held a key with its mouth. Those who could take that key could open a door where a big treasure was kept.

The giants and the snake frightened everybody but they weren't bad. But the dragon was very dangerous. The single possibility of going past it without risking one's life was throwing a coin into its mouth when it attacked. If they didn't miss, the dragon would get tamed but if they missed... better not think about it!

Once a brave young man tried to take away the treasure. He could throw the coin into the mouth of the dragon. The giants were not a problem and he didn't look at them. He took the key and when he saw the big and horrible snake's mouth he lost courage and the key fell off. It was horrible because he couldn't take the treasure and was even more difficult to get rid off the spell.

Some years went by. One day an old woman who had gone to the forest to collect firewood tripped over the ring and fell off. The stone opened and a dark and wet staircase appeared. Then she went downstairs. There she found the dragon which was looking at her. The dragon was surprised because it expected a brave young man and not an old woman and it opened the mouth. She used it to throw a coin into its mouth and the dragon disappeared. She passed in front of the giants without looking at them, and arrived where the snake was. She took the key and opened the door. The treasure consisted of two sacks: one contained wheat, the other, beans

Perhaps someone can think that the treasure was not worthy. They are wrong. We think they are unimportant because we eat them many times. But the woman broke an old spell: when the wheat and the beans were in her house the castle was no longer haunted and she was rewarded with such a huge wealth, never ever seen.

The soveamish son

The Lord of Foixà had had twenty children and all of them had died. Now he had only one left. He didn't want him to die, so he visited a wizard.

The wizard told him that the only solution to save him was to eat kingfisher's brain. The hunters paid by the Lord of Foixà shot kingfishers for years. They looked for them everywhere. And every time they went farther. And every time it was more expensive. And all his fortune vanished.

Then the Lord, his wife and his son started to beg. One day his son got lost in the forest and arrived at a coal-dealer's cabin.

The boy asked him something to eat and the coal-dealer gave him some bread and walnuts. It was the first time he tasted them, and he said:

-" If I had known that bread and walnuts were so tasty, now I would still be the Lord of Foixà".

 

The witches´ stone

Long ago, a rash teenager, who lived in Montnegre, knew that every sant John's eve the witches met on a rock behind mount Montigalà. Nobody remembers how he happened to find the way and know the words, which he had to pronounce in order to change his luck.

He was an ambitious and brave boy that waited impatiently for that night to come. When dusk fell he went where the rock was. As it wasn't a long way, he arrived before midnight. He couldn't see anybody around and couldn't hear any sound, either. When he believed it was midnight, he stood up and he pronounced the words. After a second, the rock got open as if it were a thief cove

In there he could see lots of diamonds and precious stones. Every thing he saw was worth a fortune. He thought that the person who had this treasure would be the richest man in the world.

But the thing is that he didn't have the treasure because when he saw it, he turned into a statue. The next day when he woke up, he found himself very far away from that place: at the main square in la Bisbal, to be more exact. We don't know why and how he arrived there. He didn't know either. He ran to his house crestfallen and shaking like a leaf. He always remembered that and he didn't go to the rock anymore. If this treasure exists, it may still be there.

 

The devil's cave

Maybe it wasn't to frighten the devil, but some time ago in the village of Llofriu a procession was held every 25th April, the farmworkers hit the ground with sticks and sang a hymn.

In the old days they did the same thing but they used moes and mattocks instead. They said that this way the devil would run away.

But we know the devil has always frightened the people. In Llofriu on the third day of May, during the procession, which took place to bless the sacred cross, the women of the village carried 20 little stones in their hands. At every beat of the rosary, they said the name of Jesus and at every glory they threw a stone. Then, when they threw the last stone, they knew that they had called the name of Jesus a thousand times, which was enough to keep the devil away. But sometimes the devil leaves a clear mark. For example, on the way to Bevià there was the devil's knee mark on a rock. The people who know the place call it " el junei del dimoni" (the devil's knee). And everything that has ever been said about the devil is, maybe, because the devil has always escaped from everywhere.

 

Cruïlles Tower

In the time when towers were built, in Cruïlles some men were building one. They were builders who worked using stones and few tools though all the work was handly-made they were under the orders of the Lord, who told them he wanted all the tower made of stone. However, they ran out of stones when only a little part had been erected.

The builders and bricklayers were very worried and in the end they decided to go to the river to look for pebbles. They thought the Lord wouldn't like that, but...

Later on, the master found out that they were deceiving him, he said to the soldiers: "I said real stones not pebbles. Kill them". Soon they were killed.

According to the legend the builders are still to be found in the tower because after having been killed the Master ordered to bury them under the pebbles. After that other builders finished the tower. Obviously, using real stones. It is for that reason that there are 3 circles. The first and third ones are made using real stones. And between them, a little circle in different colour, made using pebbles.

 

The Wrong Use tower

Among all the towers that can be found in Calonge there was one which was called "The Wrong Use Tower". It was called that way because in the old times the Lord went there to "consummate the master's right", and nobody wanted to guard it. Only one person wanted to do it, he was a very lazy man who thought he would be able to sleep because it was a peaceful period.

One day while this guard was sleeping, the other man who was in charge of Valentina Tower was away (he was a brave, active and hard working man but also really bored because nothing ever happened there).

The Moors reached the coast and arrived at Calonge without problems because Valentina Tower's guard had arrived late and so the sign reached The Wrong Use Tower's guard while this one was sleeping

Everything was burnt down in Calonge and among the old people it's still believed that the tower is called after the way it was used on that occasion..

 

The carter who saw the Virgin

Long time ago there was a carter in the Gavarres mountain range. One rainy day as he was crossing the Daró river on a very heavy eart, the cart got bogged down and the horses weren't able to continue.

After cursing the saints, God and the Virgin Mary, he saw a woman who was looking at him.

-"Why don't you ask God for help?" She suggested.

At first he didn't pay attention to her, but then he said: "Ok, God do help us!" And the cart moved on.

The woman said "Go away and when you find a little shrine, thank God".

Soon he found a little shrine and in a corner he saw a laughing and lightful image of the Virgin Mary who was the same image as the woman who had helped him.

 

Conclusion

These ones have been chosen among lots of ones. As you can see every one is an example of one of these facts

  • Devils
  • Witches
  • Monasteries
  • Constructions
  • God
  • Dragons
  • Lords and servants

 

 

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