Tales from Lungau

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Tales from Lungau

Shoemaker's Lane

I live at Shoemaker's Lane. It is in "Zederhaus", a village in Austria.

But where does the name Shoemaker's Lane come from? There is a tale about that.

Once, there lived a shoemaker in this lane. He was very good. Poeple from all villages around came to him, and bought his shoes.

One day, the shoemaker said to his son:" I am old and I will die soon. You are going to have my workshop, boy." Shortly after that the shoemaker became ill.

He said to his wife:" Honey, I'm going to die.You must do my work now. Look into my cupboard near the bed. What you find there is for you and our son."

A few days later, the shoemaker died.

But his son and his wife didn't want to work. They spent the shoemaker’s money. So the shoemaker couldn't find his rest in his grave. Every night he went along the lane from the cemetery to his old workshop. The poeple said:"Oh, what a poor shoemaker.He cannot find his rest. Let's call this lane Shoemaker's Lane."

From that time on, the way from the church to his workshop is called:"SCHUSTERGASSE". It’s Shoemaker’s Lane in English.

Written by: Stefanie Moser

The End of Schörgen Toni

It was in the middle of the 18^th century. A man called "Schörgen Toni" lived in the castle "Schloss Moosham" and tormented the poor prisoners there. He was very cruel. The other people around the castle thought that he was the devil disguised as a man.

It was a stormy autumn night. Black clouds were over the land and the wind blew very hard. When it was midnight an uncanny vehicle came to the castle.

At that time "Schörgen Toni" came home from his night walk. He went into his room. Suddenly somebody knocked at the door. "Schörgen Toni" was afraid. The door opened. A black man came in. It was the devil.

"Schörgen Toni" knew who the man was. He was there because his time was out. The devil wanted to take him with him.

The devil took "Schörgen Toni" and dragged him into his vehicle. They drove to a mountain lake called "Rotgüldensee". The ghost of the cruel "Schörgen Toni" lived on in the dark lake. When hikers came to the lake his ghost came out of the water as a fireball and frightened the people.

Many years after that a hunter came to the "Rotgüldensee". Behind a stone he saw a big snake. He was not afraid and so he shot the snake. From that moment on, the ghost of "Schörgen Toni" never was seen around lake.

Written by: Elisabeth Roßmann

The Zaunerlake

In Zederhaus there is a lake. It is called the Zaunerlake. I want to tell the tale how the lake got its name.

The farmer Zauner could play cards very, very well. Nobody in the village wanted to play with him. One day a wanderer came to the village. He played cards with the farmer. After an hour the Zauner had lost all his money. The Zauner said:" Let's play again. I bet one half of my Alm +)." They played another game and farmer lost again.

In the spring, when he went up on the mountain, the Zauner saw a new shack on his Alm. It was wanderer's shack. The Zauner did not like this and he wanted to drive away the wanderer. He scared his best cows, so that they fell from a rock and were all dead. The wanderer gave up and shouted: " You can have your Alm again. But it won't make you happy!" And then he had another present for the unfair farmer: He shook his hands in a strange way and it started to rain. After a week the shacks of the Alm were under the water. When the rain stopped, there was a lake all over the Zauner’s Alm. It is called the "Zaunerlake" today.

+) An "Alm" is a mountain meadow with a shack where the animals are during the summer

Written by: Gerhard Kremser

The Funeral Procession

One night the Mähnerbauer (a farmer) , Kaspar Karner from St, Martin and his friend, Jakob Moser went to visit a maid in Oberweißburg, a little village, 5 kilometres away from St. Martin. They were in love with the young woman.

On the way to Oberweißburg the men passed a funeral procession.They were very scared. Four men carried a coffin . Behind the coffin went people with burning candles.

When the friends saw the procession they ran back to St.Martin, but the nightly funeral procession followed them .In St.Martin it vanished in the cemetery. But on this day nobody had died or was buried. After that night one of the men become very ill.

Written by: Corinna Gappmaier

The Archbishop’s Butcher and the Zederhausbread

The archbishop’s butcher Perner was a very rich and famous man. He lived in the city of Salzburg, 100 kilometres away from the Lungau. One day he came to Zederhaus, a village in a small valley near St. Michael. A farmer gave him bread and butter to eat. The rich man said:" This food is very bad! I’ll take it to the bishop and show him what bad bread you have got."

On his way home, the weather was very bad. The archbishop’s butcher could not go on. He was tired and hungry. Now he ate the bad bread from the farmer. The bread saved his life.

Thankfully Mr. Perner gave the church of Zederhaus a very valuable silver cross.

Written by: Barbara Kößler

The Beardmill
A long time ago in Zederhaus there was a miller. All the farmers had to bring their grain to the mill . For his work the miller got a little bit of the flour from every farmer. So the miller became very rich. But he also became very greedy. The farmers were very angry because they noticed that the miller cheated them.They wanted to punish the miller for his deeds.
In the village lived an ugly old man, all the people were afraid of him. The farmers went to him and asked the old man for advice. The old man promised to help the farmers.
The next day he went to the miller.The miller shouted at him:"Go away from my house!"
But the old man did not go away and he cursed the greedy miller.
After that a very long beard grew in the miller’s face. The beard did not stop growing and became longer and longer. The miller could not work in his mill any more because his beard was too long. So he became very poor. And he could not cheat the farmers any more.

written by: Hannes Gruber




Christmas Night
A farmer in Zederhaus said to his farm labourer: "Hey, Rupert, go out to the stable and listen to the animals, when they are speaking!"
People believed, that animals can speak in the Christmas night. Rupert went into the stable.
He heard, that one bullock said to the other:" Hey, stand up and listen to me!" "What is so importand?", asked the other bullock. "Something terrible will happen. In two days we must bring the farmer to the cemetery, because he will die."
Next day at lunch the farm labourer told it the farmer. The poor man was so scared, that he choked with a piece of meat and died. So the conversation of the animals came true.

Written by: Andrea Bogensperger


The Darkpit
A long time ago there lived a farmer in Zederhaus. He had a very big Alm +) on the Großeck mountain. His animals on the pasture were the best animals in Zederhaus.
The farmer always went to the farm labourers and looked after them. He did not want that they were lazy. One of the farm labourers got very angry about that. One day when he was very angry he said:" The farmer and his animals must be in contact with the devil!"
Suddenly a big flame flashed up on top of the Großeck.The farm labourer ran into the hut because he was afraid of the flame. The farmer was not afraid and stayed outside.
In front of the farmer stood a very big devil. The devil shouted:"Farmer, I get you and your animals now!" But the farmer was a religious man, he did not worry about the devil. He shouted: "I am not afraid of you! Go back to your hell! And stay there!"
The devil got very angry. He vanished into the ground and left a very big and stinking cloud behind. The cloud covered the sun for two days and from this time on this place is called "the darkpit."

+) An "Alm" is a mountain meadow with a shack where the animals are during the summer
Written by: Hannes Gruber


The Devil in Love
The devil went to the pretty Liesl disguised as a farmerboy. Suddenly Liesl’s boyfriend came to her window and saw the strange boy. He asked: " Who is that boy?" Liesl had a shock and her friend went away.
Now the devil came to her every night. She was scared about it and went to the priest. She told him about the strange boy and the priest said: "Ask him what you can do when a cow gets possessed by the devil." When the stranger came again she asked him the question. He said that she should put 3 special herbs into the cow´s hair. Liesl put the herbs into her own hair and when the stranger came the next time and saw that, he ran away and did not come back any more.


Written by: Marion Neumann


The Kidnapped Child
In the old times there was a very nasty child. It was the daughter of a farmer family. One day her mother said to the farm labourer:" Dress up as a Perchtl*) and wait in front of the window. I want to scare my nasty daughter."
10 minutes later an old woman stood in front of the window and the farmer’s wife gave her the child. But the old woman in front of the window was not the disguised labouror. It was the real Perchtl. She flew away with the poor child .
After a while the disguised farm labouror came. The mother had a shock when she saw him and ran out of the house. She wanted to find her poor child again but she couldn’t find her any more. She only found a piece of the child‘s dress.

*) a Perchtl is an old ugly woman, some people say she is a witch

written by: Marion Neumann


The Robber´s Cave

A long time ago there was a robber. This robber lived in St. Margarethen. He worked very hard during he day, but in he night he did his nuisance. The robber stole chicken and sheep from farmhouses and after midnight he roasted and ate them in a secret place.
One day the Besenbinder *) Sepp went to the Kerschaggl-meadow. He saw a little tree. The tree was new in this place, and he wanted to tear it out and make a broomstick. He could tear it out very easily. Sepp noticed that there were some loose stones under the ground and took them off. Suddenly he saw a corridor under the ground. He went in and after some time Sepp could see the rest of a roasted sheep. He had found the robber’s cave. But the robber did not come back to his cave any more.

*) broom-maker

written by: Vanessa Krznar


The Schwarzenberg

The Schwarzenberg ( black mountain ) is a mountain in the middle of the Lungau. People say that witches lived in the mountain in the old times. At midnight the witches came out of their caves. They wore long and white robes. Then they danced on the wonderful fullmoonmeadow.
Only children could hear the music of the witches. All night long the witches danced, whispered, laughed and spoke very quietly. Near the meadow where the witches danced was the castle of Moosham. It looked like the castle on the hill next to the meadow looked down with its dark windows on the witches' golden hair. But what could the castle do against the witches? Nothing! The place of he witches was called "Rader Tanzhügel". ( dancing hill )
On that hill the snow did not stay very long in winter. People said that was because the witches danced the snow away.

Written by: Michael Winkler


The Sign

A long time ago in a full moon night a farmerboy woke up.
Suddenly the door opened and his schoolfriend was standing in his room.
His schoolfriend? No, it couldn‘ t be!
He had to be at home at night. The boy fell asleep again
In the morning he asked his family, but they said that nobody had been in his room that night.
When they sat at breakfast table, a message came from the neigbourhood. It said that the boy’s friend had died in the night. Now the farmerboy knew, that his friend had sent him one last sign that night.

written by: Andrea Bogensperger



The Weatherwitch

A long time ago people of St. Margarethen believed that the old woman Mrs. Kerschhaggl was a witch .
One day the priest heard about that and wanted to make a better person of her . The woman did not like the idea and went away.
In the next summer she was a Sennerin *) on an Alm +) in the mountains high above St. Margarethen. One day a heavy thunderstorm with hail came over a part of the village. It was the part of the village where the priest had his house. All the plants and flowers in the priest‘s garden were broken down. He went out into the garden and saw the disaster. On one flower he could see the hair of a woman. After that he knew that the Sennerin on the Alm was a weatherwitch.

*) A "Sennerin" is a woman . In the summer she live in a house in the mountain.
+) An "Alm" is a mountain meadow with a shack where the animals are during the summer

written by: Corinna Gappmayr



The Aineck

Near St. Michael and St. Margarethen there is a mountain called "Aineck" (onetop). But the old people say that there were two mountains in the old times, and that the mountains were called "Zweieck" (twotop). This is the tale how the Zweieck became the Aineck.
The farmers around the Zweieck had to go a very long way to get to the church.
One day the devil came to the farmers and said: "I have your priest, but you can come to my church now. It is much nearer". The farmers agreed because they did not want to go the long way. So the farmers went to the devil's church.
After a while they began to quarrel and to fight because they didn’t observe the Ten Commandments any more. So a woman went to another priest and asked him of help. The priest went to the devil with the woman. The devil stood on one top of the Zweieck. The priest sprinkled a glass af holy water at the devil. The devil flew into the air with one half of the Zweieck and did not come back again. Now the Zweieck had only one top and is called Aineck today.

Written by: Steffi Moser

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

The Life and Death of Schörgen Toni

A radio play written by the E-2bI-group / MHS St. Michael/Lg / May 2000

Introduction

A long time ago in the 18^th century lived a cruel man called Schörgen Toni in the castle of Moosham in Lungau. His real name was Anton. He worked for the Archbishop of Salzburg as a tax-collector.

All the people had to give him their grain. He was very rich, because he took everything from the poor people.

When a man did not want to give him his grain, he had to die.

But not fast. He had to die a cruel and slow death.

Schörgen Toni even tormented his own parents.

In the castle of Moosham there was a prison too. And in this prison there were also other poeple. People , who had red hair or freckles were witches or magicians for Schörgen Toni.

He closed them up in his prison. And he tormented these people too.

Some people said, that Schörgen Toni had a contract with the devil and that he had sold his soul. And they said that he would have a very horrible end.

SCENE 1 (In front of the castle)

Roles: StoTe- Storyteller, man, woman, farmer, child, SchTo – Schörgen Toni

StoTe: One evening, people from Zederhaus stood in front of the door of the castle Schloss Moosham".

They had to bring their grain to Schörgen Toni. They were all afraid of him, because he was so cruel.

Child: Mum, I am afraid of Schörgen Toni! He is such a cruel man!

Woman: I´m arfraid too, but we must come here and bring him our grain.

Man: You are afraid of Toni ? (Haahaha) You are a chicken!" I am not afraid of him.

Woman: You are not afraid? O.k., then you can go into the castle first. Please!

Man: (quiet and scared) N-n-n-n-o-o, you go in first, I wait here.

StoTe: In this moment Schörgen Toni came out of the castle. All the people looked at him and were quiet.

Farmer: We bring your grain master Toni.

SchTo: That´s great!, come in and bring it into the cellar!

Child: Mum, I don´t want to go into the castle with Schörgen Toni !

Woman: We must go. Come, take my hand

child: (scared and quiet) -O. K

SchTo: Come along into my dark and uncanny castle. Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha

SCENE 2 (In the dungeon)

Roles: SchTo- Schörgen Toni, Pris1 and Pris2- Prisoner1 and Prisoner2, StoTe- Storyteller

StoTe: In this night Schörgen Toni went into the dungeon of the castle. He looked after his poor prisoners.

Pris1: Oh, please let me go! PLEASE!!!!

SchTo: (laughs) Are you silly? You are a witch.

Pris1: No, you are a liar! I’m not a witch! I’m a poor woman!

SchTo: No, my dear! You can’t speak that way with me!! I let you burn for these words.

Pris1: No!! Please don’t do that! Have mercy!

SchoTo: (laughs) Tomorrow you will be a dead woman! (goes away)

StoTe: Schörgen Toni went to the next prisoner. The man told him, that he was innocent.

Pris2: I’m inoccent! REALLY!! Believe me, master!

SchoTo: Yes, yes! All my prisoners here say that.

Pris2: Why don’t you believe me?

SchoTo: Because it is my duty to catch witches and magiciands.... and I love it when people are scared. Good night.

StoTe: He went out into the dark night.

SCENE 3 (The poor prisoners)
Roles: as in scene 2

StoTe: In the next morning he told his servants to make a fire and to bring the poor woman from the dungeon.

SchoTo: Now your time is over! (laughs: ha ha ha....)

Pris1: No, please let me free, I give you everything I have, Please.....

StoTe: He threw her into the fire. The woman cried and cried, but she had to die. Then he went to the other prisoner .

SchTo:Hello my dear! Are you ready for the most horrible time in your life?

Pris2: You are like a devil!

SchoTo: Yes, you are right my dear!

StoTe: They both went into the dungeon.

SchTo: So, now we are here! Haha! Say goodbye to your life!

Pris2: You are so unfair! I'm innocent!

SchTo: Haha!! Unfair?? Innocent?? Say that again!! Hahahaha!!

Pris2: Aaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.................................

SCENE 4 (Toni and the devil)

Roles: Devil, Schörgen Toni

StoTe: One dark and stormy night Schörgen Toni got scared, because he heard some terrifying noises around the
castle. He went out in front of the castle and looked around. Suddenly he saw a black coach with eight
black horses and a man with a black cloak. It was the devil.

Devil: Good evening, master Toni. Come with me, my friend, your time is over.

SchTo: Why is my time over?

Devil: Because you have tormented the people from "Lungau". Now we must drive to Red Penny Lake.

SchTo:No, I don`t want to come with you. Go away! Why do you do that?

Devil: I only do my duty, like you did. Hahahaha!

SchLTo: Please, please, please! Leave me alone. I give you all my money and my diamonds.

Devil: You did not have mercy with the people, now I don`t have mercy with you.

Your soul is mine. You belong to hell.

SchTo: Aaaaahhhh!! Heeeelp me!! Pleeeaase!!

StoTe: The devil dragged Schörgen Toni into the coach. Suddenly the coach flew up into the dark night and flew

away very fast. It drove right into lake and vanished in the dark water.

SCENE 5 (The fireball)

Roles: 2 hikers, a hunter

StoTe: One summer day, 5 years after that night, two hikers went around Red Penny Lake in
Muhr. They passed an uncanny place and felt a little worried.

Hik1: Oh, it's wonderful around here, but a little uncanny. See, over there, what’s that?

Hik2: Yes , I can see it! It's red and orange! But what is it?

Hik1: Come closer! I think it’s a fireball..

StoTe:. The fireball was Schörgen Toni's ghost, but the 2 hikers did not know that.

            The fireball came closer. The hikers were afraid of it.

Hik2:. Oh, where is the ball now? I cannot see it any more.

Hik1:.Yes it's vanished. Lets get away from here! Fast, before it comes back!

StoTe: The hikers ran away and did not come back to Red Penny Lake any more . A few days later a hunter came

           to Red Penny Lake. He passed the same place.He heard an uncanny noise and suddenly ther was a black

          snake right in front of him.

Snake: Ssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss

StoTe:The hunter took his gun and shot the snake (Bang!!!) The snake jumped up, made a terrible noise and died.

          After that day it was quiet around Red Penny Lake. The people never saw or heard the ghost of Schörgen

         Toni. He was ........ in hell.

The End

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