The returning dwarf

legend from the Bernese Oberland, that is highlands in the canton of Bern, Switzerland.

The story comes from two tiny villages, namely Ralligen beside the Lake Thun and Schillingsdorf, a place in the Grindelwald valley blocked by a mountain fall. We are not sure but similar story may come from other locations.

During a violent storms and rain, a wandering dwarf came to the village. He went from one hut to another and knocked on every door, rainwater dripping from his body. None of the villagers opened the door for him showing some kindness. What’s more, they began taunting at him.

On the outskirts of the village lived a pious couple – a poor men and his wife. Tired and run down, the little man finally knocked on their window, thrice, gently. The old shepherd immediately opened the door smiling. He gladly offered the guest what little he had in his house. The old woman served him bread, milk and cheese. The little man sipped a few drops of milk and ate crumbs of bread and cheese; said “I’m just not used eat such salty and strong-tasted food. But I thank you from the core of my heart for God’s sake. Now that I have rested, I want to continue my journey.”

“Hey, beware!” Cried the woman, “do not go out into the weather in the night. Make yourself comfortable in a little bed instead.” But the dwarf smiled shaking his head, “Up there on the ridge with a steep slope, I have a lot to do and I should not stay out any longer. Tomorrow you should remember me at the time of need.” He said goodbye and the old people lay down to rest.

But the next day woke them up with terrible sound of severe storm. Lightning struck the red sky and water poured out of the streams. Suddenly an enormous rock thrust from the divide of the ridge and rolled down towards the village, together with uprooted trees, stones and mud. People and cattle, everything that had been alive moments ago in the village, were buried under the mudslide. The surge had already reached the hut of the old couple. Trembling in utter fear, they stepped outside their door. They saw a large bolder of rock approaching in the middle of the stream. The dwarf hopped on top of it as if he was riding it. With a heavy tree-trunk, he changed the course of the rock. The water from the stream swelled in one side such a way that the hut stayed out of danger. The owners of the hut stood unharmed. They saw the little man growing bigger and higher till he became a giant, and evaporated in the air. The old couple prayed and thanked God on bent knees for the miraculous rescue.