SchneidergretThe world of legends
Once upon a time, a rich Ursern gentleman rode over the Gotthard. He arrived in Milan and saw a garden near a beautiful castle. In the garden, he caught sight of Schneidergret (Gret Schneider) from the Ursern Valley, whom he knew well, just as she was stealing onions and leeks. The gentleman immediately rode homeward at such a hellish gallop that no one could have followed him. When he said at home that he had seen Schneidergret in Milan, no one wanted to believe him. “That woman” was known never to leave the village.
The matter was further investigated, and Gret was finally caught once again. She was planning to cook something good at the fair. She put butter in her pan and said that she was going to the garden to fetch some onions. As people watched her, she disappeared there and then! Yet by the time the butter had reached melting point, she was already back with the onions that she had picked up in Milan.
Her husband trusted her less and less, complaining until people decided that they wanted to catch her. Yet no one dared to seize Gret. Finally, a man from Göschenen appeared, saying that he wanted to give it a try. He put a dung cart in front of the church door, and just as Gret was leaving the church, he seized her, swung her around in the air three times and threw her into the cart. “Jesus, Jesus!” cried Gret. “That’ll be the end of the child’s milk!”
The villagers took Schneidergret to the gallows between Hospental and Andermatt, where they had prepared a great bonfire. They took hold of Gretli and threw her into the fire. A whole gang of children who were there jeered: “Yay, yay, now we’ve got Gretli in the bag!” But Gretli, with a diabolical look in her eyes, exclaimed, “Yes, children, this is sure to be a hot day!”
Speaker: Myriam Planzer
Sound recording: Florian Arnold
