The Polish White Eagle

A thousand years ago, or maybe even more, there lived three brothers, Lech, Czech, and Rus. For many years they had been content in their villages, but the families grew larger and they needed more room to live.

The brothers decided to travel in different directions to search for new homes. Lech, Czech, and Rus traveled with their troops for many days. They rode their horses over mountains and rivers, through forests and wild country. There were no people to be found anywhere, not a town or tiny village. On the crest of a mountain top, they separated, each going in a different direction. Czech went to the left, Rus went to the right and Lech rode straight ahead, down the mountain and across vast plains.

One day Lech saw a spendid sight. He and his troops had come to a place where a meadow surrounded a small lake. They stopped at the edge of the meadow as a great eagle flew over their heads. It flew around in great swooping circles, then perched on its nest, high on a craggy rock. Lech stared in awe at the beautiful sight. As the eagle spread its wings and soared into the heavens again, a ray of sunshine from the red setting sun fell on the eagle's wings, so they appeared tipped with gold, the rest of the bird was pure white.

"Here is where we will stay!" declared Lech. "Here is our new home, and we will call this place GNIEZNO ... (the eagle's nest).

He and his people built many houses and it became the center of his territory. They called themselves Polonians, which means "People of the Field". They made a banner with a white eagle on a red field and flew it over the town of Gniezno, which became the first historical capital of Poland.

And, now you know how Poland began . . .

https://docs.google.com/document/d/e/2PACX-1vTrE1ak5OvX_amz6bfqYk1P5pkd27nyO8qwuZGFIxQm8ooasm26x73yRC3iNxKTnzuWraXDjv0etc_t/pub

The man wolf

When my grandmother was a child, the television didn’t exist and at night people stayed together around the fire to tell stories.

My grandmother remembers one in particular: the story of the man wolf.

The people of Vejano say that in past times, when there was the full moon in the sky, somebody heard strange screams and laments coming from the big fountain.

Somebody says that they were dogs or wolves arrived till Vejano pushed by the hunger but one time a woman, who went to the big fountain to wash the clothes, saw a half naked man who howled like a wolf.

Since that time it is said that there was a man who changed into a man wolf during the full moon nights and since he felt burning  he plunged in the big fountain  to refresh himself.

The snake Bovo

People say that in Vejano, near the Mountain Casella, there is a big hole and it is the den of the big snake Bovo.

This legend was born from the unfortune of an old farmer that, while riding his donkey to his farm, dropped a big ax on the ground. 

The ax dropped on a holy spot of the mountain, in this way it became a big snake that dug its den in the exact point where it had touched the ground. The poor farmer had to run away.

He told his unpleasant adventure to all the people in the village, and the story passed on from generation to generation, so that that place was abandoned, no one dared to pass there  and the grass grew tall.

Later the story was almost completely forgotten, when one day, a kid called Antonio, decided to go to the top of the mountain Casella to stop these stories and to prove that the snake Bovo in reality didn't exist. So he left and arrived where there was the big hole, he waited one moment when he saw all the grass moving, he was so afraid because he believed it was the snake Bovo. He ran away and returned to the village.

Still today people don’t know if the legendary snake really exists but it’s intriguing and mysterious to think that it is so.

 The Black Beast

In an area near Viterbo people believed there was an enormous black panther hanging around. Some people affirm that this panther really exists and they have called it the “Black Beast”. According to the legend the panther was imported in Italy and when it grew up it was abandoned by its owner.

The panther was seen in Vejano exactly in the area named the "Pantane".The bravest hunters of Vejano hung around in the places of the sightings, but they couldn’t catch it, because the "Black Beast" was too fast and when they arrived in those places it had already escaped. In particular a hunter named Giovanni found himself face to face with the fierce panther. The man didn't escape and he wasn’t scared to see the animal, on the contrary he charged his mighty rifle while the panther roared loudly but  unfortunately he did not have the time to shoot and the animal escaped. When Giovanni  told the story to the people in the village he received many scoldings by the shepherds, who were afraid that the panther could eat their sheep.

No other hunter managed to kill the panther and some people say that the 'Black Beast' might have died of starvation, others affirm that it might be still alive.