On the heights above Eischen there is a wide, flat stretch of land called Plakeg Lee. A great old tree stands on the spot, and the place has an uncanny reputation. Long ago, a band of robbers had their hideout there and made the whole region unsafe.

One evening a cattle dealer, who that day had sold a drove of draught oxen, was passing by this place. Suddenly he heard a noise, looked around—and a robber stepped into his path, pressed a dagger to his chest, and demanded: money or blood. When the man tried to defend himself, the robber stabbed him dead, robbed him of his money, and then returned to his comrades to tell them what he had done. After that he set out again with a few of them to bury the corpse.

But when they reached the spot, they saw the Devil, who shouted at them threateningly:

“Now you must line up by the tree, and the last one who passes me shall be mine!”

Then the one who had committed the murder stepped forward. As he came past the Devil and the latter was just reaching out to seize him, he pointed behind him at his own shadow and cried:

“There comes the last one!”

The Devil turned toward the shadow, sprang at it, and the robber escaped safely. But when he came back to his comrades, they noticed to their horror that he no longer cast a shadow. A week later, the shadowless man was dead.

From that time on, many people are said to have encountered the robber’s shadow there in the evenings by moonlight. All sorts of means have already been tried to banish the ghostly shadow; people even say the place has been blessed, but so far nothing has helped.

N. Moes.