My mother told the story: "At 24 years of age, my grand-father was a burly young man. Once he went from Rodund to Vens at midnight. He was coming home from Hengert and had had a few too many glasses of sweet brandy. When he got to the Mustergiel Bridge he thought he could hear music coming from Gaebi’s Stable. The first thing he thought of was the Night Folk and the story of the five spoored Grambeiss. This was a dog that could leave 5 tracks with his paws. ‘Don’t be silly,’ he said to himself. ‘A big fellow like yourself shouldn’t let himself be fooled.’ And with that he started walking towards Gaebi’s Stable. The closer he got to it though, the farther away the music was. All of a sudden he thought he saw three women dancing in front of him. He wanted to turn back but he couldn’t. It was as if invisible arms were pushing him forwards. He started running as fast as he could. He ran along the raging torrent up to the Castle wall and through thick undergrowth to the Valkasteil Castle. Suddenly, everything was quiet. He sat down and fell asleep. When he woke up and looked around he saw a white Zeitgeiss – which is a female goat that has been mated for the first time. He took that to be a good omen. He stood up, cut himself a switch and drove the goat down into the valley. On the other side of the stream, he saw the goat herder as he was driving his herd in to a place known as the “Bettlerkuche” which means Beggar’s Kitchen. My grandfather kept out of sight and snuck back home, taking the long way round and keeping as quiet as a mouse."1
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1 Barbisch 1987: 336f
Audiofile
P11-3_The Night Folk.mp3
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