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.

Black Kate

LEGEND

Main element: Earth

Language of the original: Dutch

Date of origin: 16th century

Origin of the legend: Regional legend in the Kempen.

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

About 400 years ago, Bruno, a big strong man with red hair, and his wife Black Kate, a woman with long black hair, thin lips and a big pointy nose, were sitting in a poor small house. They were the leaders of a gang of outlaws who terrorized a region in the province of North Brabant called the Kempen. Their den was called Hellenend or Hell’s End.

sSuddenly there was a knocking on the door. Three long knocks and three short ones, that meant "a friend". Another gang member, Terus, entered the house. He sat down by the fireplace and told them that on the Ten Vorsel farm a baby had been born. Lord Ten Vorsel had sent all his servants out to tell everyone the good news, so the house was as good as unprotected. This was the perfect moment for Terus to rob the farm.

The farm was south of Bladel, in the middle of the forest. In this farm lived Dirk Ten Vorsel, his wife Elizabeth and their son Floris. The farm was very quiet and as good as abandoned.

Bruno called for reinforcements and two other members of the gang came. They all stormed into the farm and stole many things. As Dirk tried to protect his family, he was hit hard with the infamous club of Bruno and Elizabeth was forced to see how the robbers took her baby out of his crib and left. The gang fled to the Abbey of Postel.

The next morning a garrison of soldiers, who had already been warned, went to the Abbey of Postel and arrested the four gang members. Bruno, Terus and the two other gang members were sentenced to death and were hanged the next morning, but there was no trace of Black Kate. Floris took the baby back to the Ten Vorsel farm. A short time later the family heard a loud screech and a dirty, ugly old woman with a black cape jumped out of the bushes: Black Kate! She screamed that the baby was her son and that he should have brought the gang luck, but they got continuous misery instead. She tried to attack the family but Floris stopped her assault by tackling her and she fell into a ditch. She stood up and ran into the woods.

Black Kate was found the next day and they imprisoned her. She was sentenced to death and they beheaded her the next morning. She couldn’t have a cross on top of her grave, so instead they planted a shrub. Because the shrub never grew normally, it grew into a tree that everyone in Ten Vorsel and the surrounding area still knows as the Witch’s Tree.

Zwarte Kaat

SPROOKJE

Element: Aarde

Originele taal: Nederlands

Datum van ontstaan: 16e eeuw

Oorsprong van de legende: Regional legend in the Kempen.

Om meer informatie te vinden over de legende, ga langs deze weg naar het 4elements platform.

Ongeveer 400 jaar geleden, zaten Bruno, een grote sterke man met rood haar, en zijn vrouw Zwarte Kaat, een vrouw met lang zwart haar, dunne lippen een grote puntige neus, in een klein arm huis. Ze waren vogelvrije bendeleden die een regio in de provincie Noord-Brabant met de naam De Kempen terroriseerde. Hun schuilplaats werd Hellenend of het einde van de Hel genoemd. Opeens werd er aan de deur geklopt. Drie lange en drie korte kloppen wat bevriende mensen betekent. Een ander bendelid, Terus, kwam het huis binnen. Hij ging zitten bij het haardvuur en vertelde dat op de boerderij van Ten Vorsel een baby geboren was. De eigenaar van Ten Vorsel had alle bedienden weggestuurd om iedereen het goede nieuws te vertellen zodat de boerderij onbeschermd was. Dit was volgens Terus het perfecte moment om de boerderij te overvallen. De boerderij ligt in het Zuiden van Bladel, in het midden van het bos. In deze boerderij leefde Dirk Ten Vorsel, zijn vrouw Elizabeth en hun zoon Floris. Het was erg rustig op de boerderij en zo goed als verlaten. Bruno riep versterking in en nog 2 andere bendelen kwamen bij de groep. Ze bestormden de boerderij en roofden veel goederen. Omdat Dirk zijn gezin wou beschermen, werd hij hard geslagen met de beruchte knuppel van Bruno. Elizabeth moest toekijken hoe de rovers haar baby uit zijn bedje namen en vertrokken. De bende vluchtte naar de Abdij van Postel. De volgende morgen gingen soldaten naar de Abdij van Postel om de 4 rovers te arresteren. Bruno, Terus en de 2 andere bendeleden werden veroordeeld tot de doodstraf en werden de volgende dag opgehangen, maar van Zwarte Kaat was er geen spoor. Floris nam de baby terug naar de Boerderij Ten Vorsel. Na een tijdje hoorde de familie een luide schreeuw en een vuile, oude en lelijke vrouw met een zwarte kap kwam uit de bosjes gesprongen: Zwarte Kaat! Ze schreeuwde dat de baby haar zoon was en haar roversbende geluk had moeten brengen maar dat ze alleen maar miserie hebben gekregen. Ze probeerde de familie aan te vallen maar Floris deed haar struikelen en ze viel in een gracht. Ze stond recht en liep weg in het bos. Zwarte Kaat werd de volgende dag gevonden en opgesloten. Ze werd veroordeeld tot de doodstraf en de volgende dag onthoofd. Ze kreeg geen kruis op haar graf, maar men plantte een struik. Omdat de struik nooit op een normale manier groeide, werd het een boom waarvan iedereen in Ten Vorsel en omgeving zegt dat het de Heksenboom is.

Jan Renier Snieders (1812-1888). Het kind met den helm (1852).