This weekend, you may celebrate Halloween with friends, family, make fun of the beliefs of yesteryear. These beliefs are there for something, and very smart the one who believes to be able rationally to explain all the universe which surrounds us. In Alsatian, we say “Mol d’r Deifel net àn d’r Wànd”, do not draw the devil on the wall, indeed, he could show a hoof. Just like in this legend of Bàlwere, Balbronn, between Traenheim and Oberhaslach, land of many legends.
Autumn had arrived for several weeks and once again the villagers had taken up the tradition of the Kunkelstub – the vigil. It was between neighbors that we met to work and fill the time by telling each other some of the most extraordinary stories. And, of course, we spoke again of the Fiirmanners, the men of fire, of these beings who wander endlessly in the countryside, their bodies constantly burning in a frightful blaze. No doubt these were dead people carrying a crime too heavy for their conscience, and who could not fall asleep in the peace of the Lord. One evening, the young people of the village met in turn for a “Kunkelstube”. We played guessing games, with a pledge at stake for each false answer. Everyone of course had this legend in mind.
One of the young people was given a somewhat special pledge: he had to invite a man of fire to come and kiss him. Everyone thought he would deflate, that no, all the same, we do not play with that. Courageous like no other, the young man immediately leaned out of the window of the Stùb to cry out in the night: “Man of fire, kiss me!” “. Three times he repeated it, still louder. At the very moment, when, proud as a peacock, he closed the window, a heavy footstep was heard outside in the gravel of the courtyard. Chains seemed to be dragged around him, as if the Hans Trapp had taken the lead. The steps approached, inexorable, then! A thud against the door. In the room, an icy silence reigned, Balbronn’s youth dared not move. Especially not the one who had screamed. When finally, some brave people dared to open the door to see what could be going on on the landing, they saw, deeply burned in the wood of the door, the traces of two human hands, the fingers spread. The cremated wood had resisted, but the fiery man had indeed come! Beware of your bravado and wishes, sometimes they come true.