This is the story of the Akelarre festival of Petralanda.
Akelarre of Petralanda
Two brothers, with different opinions, were discussing. One said that the most important thing is to fulfill the duties of the church while the second thought that the most important thing was the trips. As they did not agree, the one who had planned the trip took the road and the other went to the church.
In the evening, the traveler, who intended to settle in a distant region, climbed an oak tree to spend the night there as best as possible and sheltered from nocturnal beasts. He snuggled up and, exhausted by the day he had spent, soon fell into a deep sleep. Suddenly, he woke up with a start because of a commotion and discovered a group of completely naked women, dancing in a circle at the foot of the tree, around a pyre.
When they were tired of dancing and jumping, they joined around the fire and one said to the others:
The daughter king is very ill and no one is able to detect the cause. However, its cure is very simple. It would be enough for her to eat a piece of host that she dropped during the last time she took communion and which is in the mouth of a toad.
– And where is this toad? asked the youngest, full of curiosity.
– Below a stone on the floor of the church, at the foot of the holy water.
The witches continued their entertainment for a while longer and then, as dawn approached, they left. At this moment, our occasional spy discreetly came down from his tree and took the path to the church that the women had indicated. He found the pillar of holy water, the stone on the ground and the toad with a piece of host in its mouth. He carefully took it off her, wrapped it in a clean handkerchief and ran towards the king's palace.
When he arrived at the palace saying that he was coming to cure the king's daughter, everyone looked at him with great skepticism, especially since many surgeons, physicists and charlatans from distant horizons had made the same proposals. .
It cost nothing, they let him in all the same and, finding himself facing the sick woman, he placed the host on her tongue saying:
– Eat this blessed bread and you will see that you will immediately regain your health!
It was so. The princess swallowed this piece of host and at the same moment regained her health as if by magic to the immense joy of the occupants of the palace and more particularly that of her father, the king. The latter, so happy with this event, promised the young man a mountain of money. Our traveler returned to his village and now he was rich, his brother wanted to know the cause of this sudden and resounding fortune.
Learning of the festival of the akelarre (literally: field of the goat. meeting place of witches) which had been held in Petralanda, he said to himself:
– I too must go there without wasting time, let’s see if I have the same luck!
Without hesitation, he took the path to Petralanda and climbed the same oak tree as his brother had done before. When night fell, the witches did not take long to arrive but, unlike the first time, they did not dance, were not happy, did not undress but gathered together very preoccupied.
The one who seemed to lead the group said without preamble:
– The king's daughter was healed, and if she was, that means someone knew our secret.
– But how is this possible? asked one of the youngest.
– Very easy: because we have a spy in our akelarre!.
– Ohhhh! said the others in chorus, full of astonishment.
– We must find out and make him suffer what he deserves! accused the first.
The witches hastened to look behind every tuft of grass, every stone or tree in the corner. It didn't take long for them to find our man, trembling with fear, on the top of the oak tree. They all climbed up to the branch on which he was huddled, and threw him to the ground unceremoniously. Once on the ground, they attacked him, hitting him on the back of the neck, scratching him, hitting him with their fists and feet until the first light of day. Their departure put an end to his torture. Hours later, a mule driver found the poor man at the foot of the tree in Petralanda, half disabled, half disfigured, barely able to utter a few words.
