Hello I'm Rafaela and I really liked very much this activity and to hear the people at the Nursing home telling their stories which almost always is a representation of their fears: fear of wolves, fear of snakes, fear of solitude etc...

For me it was fantastic to play games with them and to see them smile wuen we danced and sing for them. My heart was so full of hapiness.

Story 1 told by José's grandfather

It was on a sunny Christmas day, in the morning I took the sheep to graze, and then a wolf appeared. The sheep came together and when I realized that the wolf had grabbed a sheep by the thigh, I grabbed a stick and I hit him on his right paw on the back and the wolf dropped the sheep and ran away. Then I came home, I put emollient on the sheep’s wound and the wound healed. Some days later the wolf came back and attacked the heard of a friend of mine and grabbed a sheep. The wolf ate it right in front of him. Although the shepherd was beating the wolf very hard, the wolf would not stop and leave the sheep to run away. That's why we fear the wolf which is so fierce!

You can listen to the recording:

Story 2 told by Mr José  da Silva Sousa (Elderly Home Centre of Ferreira de Aves) 

I used to go to the forest in the spring to pick Montpellier cistus (see picture 1) and Cytinus ( a parasite plant known as Cytinus hypocistis (See picture 2). We would  peel  and  squeeze the cytinus and then ate them.

       Picture1: Montpellier cistus                          Picture 2: Cytinus hypocistis                         

In winter, even when it rained, we would go to the forest to collect and bring scrubland to make the cow’s bed and to manure the fields. We also used to cultivate corn, potatoes, rye, cabbage and carrots in the forest.

I started working in the forest when I left school with twelve years old. Once, I got a big fright in the forest. A dog was barked a lot while  running after three wolves. Then the biggest wolf started staring at me, and I started yelling and calling the dog and the wolf ran away. It was the biggest shock of my life.

You can hear Mr José telling us the story. We had to help him a bit as he speaks very low. He was very nice and we thank him for this story.

Story 3 told by Mr Manuel Labaredas (Elderly Home Centre of Ferreira de Aves)

When I was a kid, I used to look after the herds of my mother’s  sheep  and goats that in the woods of Corujeira. One day, while I was taking the herd a field surrounded by a 1metre high fence a wolf appeared and jumped the fence. The sheep tried to run away but the wolf ran after them and caught one lamb and grabbed it by the neck. Then, it jumped the wall with the lamb in his big jaw and I never saw it again. I had nightmares for a long time and every time I had to go to the forest, I was afraid to see the wolf.

You can listen to Mr Manuel telling us the story.

Story 4  told by Mr Herculano from Várzea de calde

This is a story were were told as a child.
Look, a long time ago... 1700’s and such, more or less, I don't remember the exact time, but here in our village, Várzea de Calde, people got older and the years came and then they started to have a lot of difficulties walking and everything, right?! And then, they were becoming a burden and the children took the old father or mother, but especially the men, so they took them to the forest in the mountains. They took them to the mountains, gave them a blanket and left them there in the mountain range they used to call Portela do Homem in Várzea de Calde, up there, and they abandoned them there to their fate. They were left alone to die Meanwhile, time passed, the years passed and another year came, another old man reached the same age and his children were not able to put up with it, so they took him to the same place, another human being who was already too old, a burden for the family left alone in the forest to die of cold and hunger. Being old was a synonym of trouble and too much work. One day a man who was very weak and old was taken by his son to forest. He gave his father a blanket so he could keep himself warm during the night with these words “So, you stay here, here is the blanket" and his father replied "look, my son, you should take half of the blanket with you, it will serve you in the future.” Since that day, this story of taking these people to the mountains was over.

Listen to the story:

Story 5 and 6

I was 16  at then and I had gone to the forest to collect firewood for my grandmother. On the way, a group of wild boars suddenly  appeared. I had never seen wild boars before. Some of them, baby boars,  approached and others ran away. I wanted to bring one home but I could not grab any.

Another day, I was working in a forest and I sat on a rock. Suddenly I hear a hissing sound and when I look back I see a snake. I got up and the snake hid. I got really scared.

Illustration by Franscisco Moreira, 8thE, AE de Sátão

Partners are invited to read the stories and leave a comment on the Twinboard below.