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.

Devil's stone

LEGEND

Main element: Fire

Language of the original: Italian

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

Little villages in the Piedmont region are full of stories and legends like this one: usually that’s because of the lack of scientific knowledge available to people in the past. People tried to give a meaning to what they saw and perceived through these stories.
In many of these kind of legends there is the fight between good (God) and evil (Devil) and the natural world around can only obey these two powerful decision-makers.

Many years ago, in a village in Piedmont, at the point where the way to the cemetery is crossed by the main street, there was a huge stone, extending up to the shoulders of a man. It seemed as if that stone had been put there on purpose so that people coming from the mill and carrying bags full of flour could rest there. But it was also a tradition, when someone of the village died, to go to this stone called “the black stone”, lay the coffin down and wait for the priest and his last benediction. It was said that before the priest arrived, the devil always came to steal the soul of the corpse. These stories existed because all the time the coffin was on the black stone, it smelled like sulphur and burning.

One day at the beginning of July, the “Saint” died. She was an old woman in her nineties who lived alone in a little isolated house. The day of the burial was typically summer: the sky was clear, the wheat was cuddled by the sun, cicadas sangand lizards rested quietly on the rocks. Suddenly a very strong smell of sulphur and burning spread through the air. It was so strong that the cicadas stopped singing and the lizards hid. The procession for the Saint’s burial had almost reached the black stone, but the rock burned under that warm summer sun, while the devil behind the rock happily looked forward to the new soul that he was going to take. But this time the priest arrived first and didn’t let anyone stop at the stone, so they continued toward the cemetery. The singing and praying continued, the cicadas sang again and the lizards went back to their sunny rocks. At the cemetery the coffin was lowered into the earth. Then everyone returned to their work in the fields.

Suddenly, during the night, lightning quivered in the sky, and thunder made the houses tremble. Lightning flashed and hail beat down. he bells began to ring a death knell. The inhabitants woke up. heir hearts were in their throats and they couldn’t understand what was happening. The sound of a strong blow was heard from the crossroads by the black stone: a sphere of fire sank into the ground and again there was the smell of sulphur and burning.

The tempest ended in the blink of an eye, the bells stopped ringing, and quiet and silence returned to the village.

Next morning the black stone had disappeared, shattered into a thousand pieces scattered across the burnt ground. On the biggest of these fragments there was the track of a horseshoe.

Since then the black stone has been known as the "devil's stone" and it is said that sometimes there still is a smell of sulphur and burning in that place.

La pietra del Diavolo

LEGGENDA

Elemento: Fuoco

Lingua originale: Italiano

Per avere ulteriori informazioni sulla leggenda, accedi alla piattaforma 4elements da qui.

Tanti anni fa, in un paesino piemontese come ce n’è tanti, nella zona di intersezione della strada che conduceva al cimitero, c’era una enorme pietra, alta fino alle spalle dell’uomo. Sembrava che quella pietra fosse stata messa lì apposta per dar riposo a chi usciva dal mulino con i sacchi pieni di farina in spalle. Ma era anche usanza, quando qualcuno del paese moriva, andare a questa pietra detta “pietra nera”, appoggiare il feretro e aspettare il prete per l’ultima benedizione. Si diceva che prima del prete arrivasse il diavolo per rubare l’anima del morto. Queste voci esistevano perché tutte le volte che la bara veniva posata sulla pietra nera, si sentiva odore di zolfo e di bruciato.

Uno dei primi giorni di luglio, morì la “Santa”, una vecchietta di più di novant’anni che viveva da sola in una casetta isolata. Il giorno della sepoltura era tipicamente estivo: il cielo limpido, il grano coccolato dal sole, il canto delle cicale e le lucertole tranquille sui sassi. Improvvisamente si diffuse nell’aria un fortissimo odore di zolfo e bruciato, tanto che le cicale smisero di cantare e le lucertole si nascosero. La processione della Santa stava per arrivare alla pietra nera, ma il masso scottava sotto quel caldo sole estivo, mentre il diavolo dietro la roccia si pregustava la nuova anima che avrebbe preso. Questa volta, però, arrivò prima il prete della cassa alla pietra, i portatori si dettero il cambio, ma la processione proseguì, senza fermarsi alla roccia. I canti e le preghiere continuarono, le cicale tornarono a farsi sentire e le lucertole tornarono al sole. Al cimitero il feretro venne calato nella terra e tutti tornarono al lavoro nei campi.

All’improvviso, nella notte, un lampo guizzò nel cielo, un tuono fece tremare le case, fulmini e grandine si abbattevano ovunque e le campane iniziarono a suonare a morto. Gli abitanti svegliati da quel finimondo, avevano il cuore in gola e non capivano cosa stesse succedendo. Si udì un colpo fortissimo nell’incrocio dalla pietra nera: una sfera di fuoco sprofondò nel terreno e di nuovo ci fu odore di zolfo e bruciato.

La tempesta finì in un battito di ciglia, la campana smise di suonare e la quiete tornò nel paese.

Al mattino la pietra nera non c’era più, frantumata in mille pezzi sparsi tutt’attorno dove ogni cosa era incenerita. Sul più grande di questi frammenti c’era l’orma del ferro di un cavallo.

Da allora la pietra nera fu chiamata “Pietra del Diavolo” e si dice che ogni tanto ci sia ancora odore di zolfo e bruciato.

Gatto Chanu T. (2010), Leggende e racconti popolari del Piemonte, Newton Compton Editori, Roma.