In Rothenberg Castle, at Rougemont, which lies near the place of the same name on the road from Masevaux to Belfort, already on French soil though its inhabitants still speak German, there often appears a White Lady. She sits upon the ruins of the tower and gazes sadly down into the valley.
One day a girl saw her sitting there. The Lady at once approached the girl and asked her to return at a certain hour in the evening: she would then appear to her in the form of a dragon with a fire-breathing mouth and rush at her; but the girl was not to let herself be frightened. Instead, she was to take the key that would lie in the dragon’s mouth, for it would lead to great treasures. By this means the Lady would then be delivered.
The girl came back at the appointed time, but the appearance of the dragon filled her with such terror that she fled. When she turned around once more, the dragon had vanished; but then she heard a plaintive voice cry out: “Ah, now I am bound again for a hundred years!”
At certain seasons, especially when the weather is about to change, a heavy coach comes rumbling down the hill from the castle, with the White Lady seated inside. It drives as far as the market square of Masevaux and disappears into the chapter courtyard.
