Adventure in the Schöllenen GorgeThe world of legends
A fine fellow from Andermatt had received a considerable sum of money from a man in Altdorf. In order to finally collect the money, the creditor took to the road at the instigation of his wife, and at the crack of dawn he was already on his debtor's doorstep. “Don’t you know that I’ve gone bankrupt?” asked the man from Altdorf. “Good Lord, damnation! If you’ve gone bankrupt, I’ll soon put you back on your feet!” roared the Ursern man. Yet even with all his cursing and swearing, he couldn’t squeeze a penny out of him and had to walk back to the Oberland empty-handed.
Approaching the village of Göschenen towards evening, he encountered an old woman without a head. He didn’t like that at all. Nevertheless, he stopped at an inn and fortified himself for the rigorous march through the wild Schöllenen Gorge with a few pints of strong, Italian red wine.
“And now what happens?” Near the Devil's Bridge, at the Fehdenegg, there was “a mighty thing in the road” – so mighty that the hiker couldn't get past it. At first, he prayed and crossed himself, and then, when that didn’t help, he uttered all kinds of curses.
Now the monster rolled aside and let the brave hiker pass, who then arrived home happy, albeit frightened. “But the next morning, his head was buzzing like a beehive, and for several days he didn’t feel at all well.”
Speaker: Myriam Planzer
Sound recording: Florian Arnold
