The well diggers work endlessly but there is no water. It looks like this well is cursed<\/strong>. For nearly a thousand years it has been a tradition in the Valley of the Sauer that Gottfried, the first\u00a0Lord of the castle of Fleckenstein, ordered a well to be dug as soon as he took up occupation of the\u00a0rock so as to be able to hold it against all comers.<\/p>\n After weeks of work and despite digging a hundred feet down, the well\u00addiggers found no water.<\/p>\n The Emperor’s officer was in despair when one evening a man came to him and said to him \u00bbfor\u00a0ten gold ecus and your good will, my lord, I will find water \u00bb. His air of confidence impressed the\u00a0Baron.<\/p>\n Although he found the man rather strange, Gottfried accepted the offer. The stranger set to work.<\/p>\n He went down into the dry well and soon the sound of his pickaxe echoed up hard at work. In the\u00a0evening he climbed out of the well where Gottfried was waiting anxiously.<\/p>\n \u00ab So ? \u00bb he asked impatiently.<\/p>\n \u00ab Wait a bit my lord… \u00abreplied the man as calm as the baron was anxious.<\/p>\n The next day the man climbed into the basket that hung from a rope over the well and was once\u00a0more lowered into it. The men who handled the rope measured two hundred coils of rope. Never\u00a0before had such a deep well been so dry.<\/p>\n Another day passed during which the sound of the stranger’s pickaxe, working in the well, did not\u00a0cease. Even so in the evening he announced that his work was still not finished.<\/p>\n Again the next\u00a0morning he had himself lowered into to the deep hole hollowed out to the bottom of the great rock\u00a0of Fleckenstein. The sound of his pick rang out all day without the smallest interuption.<\/p>\n All were\u00a0amazed to see that he never needed to rest, either to eat or drink. How deep would he dig ? In the\u00a0morning 300 coils of rope had been unwound.<\/p>\n Then as the sun was setting the noise of the pickaxe suddenly stopped. A deep voice asked that the\u00a0basket be raised.<\/p>\n Gottfried’s men did as he asked and hoisted the stranger back to the surface.<\/p>\n \u00ab Is it finsished then?\u00bb asked Gottfried.<\/p>\n \u00ab Come with me and you will understand \u00bb was all the stranger replied, as calm as ever.<\/p>\n The ancestor of the Barons of Fleckenstein climbed into the basket alongside the strange well\u00a0digger and ordered his men to lower away.<\/p>\n The wheel squealed under the weight as the two men\u00a0disappeared into the depths of the hole.. Two hundred coils of rope had unwound when Gottfried\u00a0felt a strange heat rising up from the bottom of the well.<\/p>\n<\/div> \u00ab What ‘s that ? \u00bb he cried.<\/p>\n \u00ab Nothing or at least not much, my lord… Nothing or rather everything : the end of your problem\u00a0and the water you are seeking if you come to an agreement with me. \u00bb replied the stranger in a\u00a0voice full of mystery.<\/p>\n Suddenly, in the darkness, the baron could see two terrible eyes staring at him.<\/p>\n The basket was still descending and the heat from the bottom of the hole was rising.<\/p>\n \u00ab I want your soul, Gottfried, and you shall have all the water in the depths of the earth ! \u00bb cried\u00a0the stranger in a voice from beyond the grave.<\/p>\n The Lord of the Fleckenstein shivered. The man next to him in the basket was no longer a man :\u00a0horns had sprouted from his forehead, his eyes were coals of fire and his smile was even more\u00a0satanic than Satan.<\/p>\n Satan…<\/p>\n Gotfried understood at last. He crossed himself three times, which caused the Devil to frown\u00a0horribly, for it was indeed he who had lured the ancestor of the Fleckensteins into the bowels of\u00a0the earth.<\/p>\n The Baron then recited the Lord’s Prayer and once finished with a great shove he pushed his\u00a0terrible companion out of the basket. His fall seemed to last a thousand years, accompanied by a\u00a0terrible laugh that Gottfried would never forget.<\/p>\n Gathering his strength, the Baron called to his men, with more strength than Roland blowing on his\u00a0horn at Rocevaux, for them to haul him up as quickly as they could. And no doubt he would have\u00a0climbed the rope if his men, terrified by the frightful sounds, had not heaved with all their might to\u00a0haul their master up.<\/p>\n When Gottfried reached the surface the sun was setting behind the mountains. He made the sign of\u00a0the cross once more and then ordered all his men to fall on their knees with him and pray to God.<\/p>\n They did not understand but did as he told them and a pious prayer rose up to heaven.<\/p>\n At that moment a sound like thunder was heard from the bottom of the well and water rose up level\u00a0with the top of the well.<\/p>\n So was dug the well of the castle of Fleckenstein, which is said to be more than a hundred metres\u00a0deep and which was finished by its first Lord resisting the Evil One and invoking the name\u00a0of God.<\/p>\n They say that even so the Devil huddled in the depths of the rock still laughs and anyone who\u00a0leans too far over the edge of the well may hear that laughter again and suddenly be grabbed by\u00a0devils… and so it has been for a thousand years.<\/p>\n<\/div>
\nAt his wits end Baron Fleckenstein is persuaded to trust a strange character who promises amazing\u00a0results.
\nTo make sure, he goes to the bottom of the well, so low that he sees the flames of hell<\/strong>\u00a0glowing. At the same time his new well\u00addigger turns into a laughing devil<\/strong>.
\nThe Baron does not panic but calls on God to help him and his servants haul him back to the\u00a0surface. The devil disappears in a cloud of smoke. The chaplain purifies the well and annoints it\u00a0with holy water<\/strong>.
\nAll ends happily : the will is full of clear fresh water.<\/p>\n<\/div>The Legend of the well according to Fran\u00e7ois Gourcez*<\/h2>\n<\/div>
Historical chronology<\/h3>\n<\/div>