4 ELEMENTS

Project logo
Improve the foreign language learning and intercultural competences of adults through e-learning

The project

FOUR ELEMENTS is an initiative called to raise awareness and appreciation of the importance of culture and heritage as well as to train educators working with adult learners who want to improve their skills and competences necessary in today’s EU labour market.

The project will take advantage of the potential of the common European cultural values associated to the 4 elements earth, water, air and fire) to empower adults to improve their digital, foreign language and intercultural competences.

The partnership expects to develop and deliver innovative teaching materials presented in a culturally accessible E-book consisting of European legends and stories – giving visibility to the underlying common EU values and principles, especially adapted to learners with special needs.

To achieved such objectives, partners will develop:

An interactive map: a collection of legends and stories related to earth, water, air and fire, in different EU countries.

Digital Books with national legends and stories related to the four elements.

Methodological recommendations for adult educators.

To find more information, access the Four Elements platform here.

Digital books

The nations of Europe all have rich cultures of myth and folklore which give the different regions their particular individual flavour. Here we have grouped traditional stories from Belgium, Estonia, France, Greece, Italy, Slovenia and Spain according to the four elements: earth, air, wind and fire.

They are specially adapted to adult learners and can be used to develop language or ICT skills among your students while enhancing intercultural understanding.

Alongside the stories, this digital book contains interactive exercises and is in Easy Read format. All the material in it can be downloaded and printed. Teachers and trainers will find tips and suggestions for how to use it on the Recommendations section of this site.

European partnership

Four Elements is an Erasmus+ KA204 project designed to highlight the importance of culture and heritage at European Union level. It aims to train educators working with adult learners to enable them to acquire the skills and competences, including linguistic and digital skills and competences, required in the European labour market.

The project is coordinated by : CVO EduKempen (Belgium). The partnership also includes DomSpain Consulting (Spain), The Central Library of Võru County (Estonia), Les Apprimeurs (France), Istituto dei Sordi di Torino (Italy), Slovenian Third Age University (Slovenia), MyArtist (Greece).

Erasmus+ project

Erasmus logo The European Commission's support for the production of this publication does not constitute an endorsement of the contents, which reflects the views only of the authors, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.

The Alley of the Hell

LEGEND

Main element: Fire

Language of the original: Spanish

To find more information about the legend, access the Four Elements platform here.

The legend has it that a Spanish noble, Don Felipe de Pantoja, fell in love with a young Jewish woman named Rebeca, who was in fact engaged to another man, Samuel, a young and wealthy Jew. Don Felipe, determined to find a solution, decided to visit a beautiful witch known by all as “The She-Devil”. She cast a spell and summoned the necromancer. Felipe had to visit the witch again after a few days, as his beloved Rebeca was still seeing Samuel, and told the witch her cast had not worked. She did not take it very well and, annoyed, told him “the die is cast, I have not failed”. In order to prove she was right, she suggested both went together to the Jewish quarter the following night and find out what was going on. That night, they saw the beautiful Rebeca with her family leaving the synagogue and Samuel’s lifeless body leaning against a wall in a nearby street. Sometime after, Rebeca and Felipe got married, and Felipe went to visit the witch again to pay for her services. Although their marriage had had a high cost, young Samuel’s death, the She-Devil was not too worried about that and wanted Felipe to pay some coins for the horrible spell. Don Felipe went to the same old alley where they had met the first time and as he threw the coins to the witch and they touched her hands, blue and green flames sparked out and spread throughout her body until it consumed the witch completely. A strong impulse threw Felipe against the ground, and frightened, as soon as he recovered after the shock, he ran out of the alley. On the next day, as always, there was a blind man begging at the Toledo Cathedral’s door singing in the souk while the women around were doing the sign of the holy cross and saying: “Yesterday the She-Devil died, consumed by the fire; yesterday the She-Devil died, the one with olive eyes; the She-Devil, the She-Devil, of the demon she was possessed”.

El callejón del infierno

LEYENDA

Elemento: Fuego

Idioma original: Español

Para más información sobre la leyenda, accede a la plataforma de 4element aquí.

La leyenda cuenta que el noble Don Felipe de Pantoja, se enamoró de una joven judía llamada Rebeca, que estaba prometida con un joven y rico judío llamado Samuel. Por este motivo, Don Felipe, acudió a ver a una guapa bruja llamada "La Diablesa". Ella realizó un conjuro e invocó al nigromante. Felipe, impaciente, volvió a ver a la bruja y le dijo que su conjuro no había funcionado ya que su amada seguía con Samuel. La bruja, molesta, le dijo que la suerte ya estaba echada y que ella no había fallado. Así que, para demostrárselo, acompañó a Felipe la noche siguiente a la judería. Esa noche, al salir de la sinagoga, vieron a la bella Rebeca con su familia y el cadáver de Samuel apoyado contra una pared en una calle cercana. Pasado un tiempo, Rebeca y Felipe se casaron, y entonces, Felipe, fue a ver otra vez a la bruja para ajustar cuentas. La boda tuvo un alto precio, la muerte del joven judío Samuel, pero a "La Diablesa" no le importó mucho, ya que ella solo quería las monedas que le reportaría el horrible conjuro. Así que, volvieron a quedar en el callejón de siempre y en el momento en que Felipe fue a pagarle y las monedas tocaron las manos de "La Diablesa", un fuego azulado y verdoso salió de allí y se extendió por todo su cuerpo hasta consumir completamente a la bruja. Un fuerte impulso lanzó a Felipe contra el suelo y, asustado, cuando logró reponerse, salió corriendo del callejón. Al día siguiente, uno de los ciegos que mendigaba en la puerta de la catedral de Toledo, cantaba en el zoco mientras las mujeres se hacía la señal de la cruz: "Ayer murió la Diablesa por el fuego consumida; ayer murió la Diablesa la de ojos de oliva; la Diablesa, la Diablesa, del demonio poseída".

Alonso Oliva, J. L. (2010). Navengando por las Leyendas de Toledo. Madrid: Bubok Publishing.