There were in Apellaniz, at one time, many sick people with pimples all over their bodies and whom neither the drinks nor the potions of the most famous doctors and healers could cure. Here is the story of the rocks of Sarba.
Rocks of Sarba
To free them from this evil, public prayers were held at San Bartolomé. Almost everyone attended the church, except for a few old women who had a reputation for loving acts of witchcraft. Before this collective prayer, the population feared that they were the culprits of this disease.
When everyone was at the church, these old women climbed to the rocks of Sarba which are above Apellaniz, as if threatening to fall on the village. These scruffy women got into a huge crevasse and eventually a pile of rocks ended up falling towards the church.
Astonished, the villagers began to flee from the sacred precincts without regard to good manners. But, miraculously and in front of the surprise of the parishioners, the statue of San Bartolomé raised a hand and exclaimed with an imperial voice:
– No sus movais! (Do not move)
The villagers waited a moment, between terror and wonder, while the stones stopped in their mad race. Thus, it seems, the terrible adventure ended because even today, the rocks of Sarba have not moved.
