by: Elena Bagwell
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"Preparing for the Witches Sabbat"
1510
by: Hans Baldung Grien
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My next adventure brought me to town of Salvatierra. It is a tiny town in the Southern region of the Basque territory. There wasn't a lot the town offered, but I was only there for one reason and that was a haunted inn. The inn had been there a long time, but had lost most of its business when the story of one of its owners was revealed. As I entered the shaky stone entrance I was unaware that I would be getting much more than a room to sleep in for the night.
As I was turning in for bed I decided I would stop in at the bar for a night-cap. I ordered a drink and was quickly approached by an elderly man. He didn't hesitate to begin telling me the story and I can't think of any other reason he had than to scare me off so that I would leave Salvatierra...
"Child," he began.
"If you only knew the stories that these walls hide, you would have never shown your ignorant face in this desolate corner that God has forgotten..." the old man continued.
And so the story of The Witch and the New-Born Infant began...
A long time ago I lived as a laborer and I worked very had to make ends meet for my family. I sold wine off a mule's back and sometimes I would be gone for weeks at a time. This became torture for me when I found out my wife was pregnant and due at any moment. I stayed regularly at an inn located on the way to the market. The inn was owned by old woman and her daughter. The two never seemed to be the most kind-hearted of people and I became suspicious of them from day one.
On the evening of market day I tried to get a room there, but they were all taken so the old woman placed me in a storage room close to the kitchen. As I was tossing and turning I heard the old woman's creaky voice. She asked her daughter to check and see if I was asleep, so quickly I faked a snore. As soon as they believed it was safe, the old woman revealed her plan. She told her daughter about my pregnant wife, and about the plans she had to charm my new-born child. As I peeked through the key hole I witnessed the old woman rub a special ointment all over her body, while she chanted:
"Under all the clouds and over all the hedges, half an hour on the road, another half-hour there, and another to return."
As I heard her disappear I snuck out of my room and mimicked her actions, but I didn't say the chant right and nothing happened. Nevertheless, I arrived at my house, cut up by all the thorns from the hedges, and hid behind my wife's bedroom door with an enormous stick. Suddenly, a white cat appeared and I swung at it, coming very close to killing it. Immediately, I returned to the inn and went quickly to bed.
The next day I approached the daughter and asked her where her mother was, to which she replied she was sick. I didn't believe the girl and went to the old woman herself, and indeed found her very ill.
I returned home in a state of happiness, thinking that I had overcome the witch. My happiness quickly faded when many misfortunes fell upon my family. All our livestock died and we had hardly any means for survival. I knew I hadn't escaped the spell of the witch.
One day I met another old woman who noticed my sadness. I told her my story and she agreed that I had been charmed. However, she knew how to break the charm and gave me directions on how to do so.
I did as I was told and sure enough the white cat appeared and I killed it, but my misfortune did not disappear and I remained depressed.
Not much time had passed when I came across a gentleman who also recognized my sadness. I told him about my misfortunes and he agreed to give me as much money as I wanted if in a year I could guess the answer to his question. If within a year I could tell him what the Devil makes his chalice with then there would be no consequences, but if I answered wrong my soul would be his. At that moment I knew he was the Devil.
For a year I lived happily with my family, but when time came to meet with the Devil I became very sad because I didn't know the answer. One night I took a walk to try to clear my head. I came to a crossroad, which everyone knows is the meeting place of witches. Not knowing what to do I hid in the bushes and made not a sound. The witches congregated before my very eyes and I overheard them telling my story. By the grace of God I was lucky enough to hear one of them reveal the answer to my question.
The day arrived when I was supposed to meet with the Devil at the same crossroads. As I was waiting for him I saw him approach with many other devils, who all thought would be taking me to hell.
"What does the Devil make his chalice with?" he did not hesitate to ask me.
I responded in a quavering voice: "With the parings of the fingernails, which Christians cut on Sundays."
Immediately, the devils all returned to hell and I was left to live and die happily with my family.
Author's Note:
The main reason I chose to proceed with this story was because I wanted to include a scary story since we are so close to Halloween. I thought it would be fun. I also want to add variety to my Storybook, and this story was very different from the first story I included. I changed the perspective from a 3rd person narrative to a 1st person account told by the man. I left out some of the unneccessary details, which shortened the story a little. I fit this story into my frametale by having my main character, Estella, travel to a new location.
Bibliography:
Story Title: The Witch and the New-Born Infant
Story Websource: http://www.sacred-texts.com/neu/basque/bl/bl29.htm
Book Title: Basque Legends
Author: Wentworth Webster
Year: 1879
Proceed to Story 3: Acheria the Fox
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