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The "Dead Alp" Saga

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The barren area of today's Totalp on the Parsenn was once covered with fertile pastures and permeated with the spicy scent of herbs. No wonder that in midsummer the herds fed there splendidly and the merry tinkling of bells could be heard. In these bygone, productive times, a dainty but capable and reliable dairymaid once tended the alp.


Two boys from the nearby monastery had taken a fancy to the beauty. They liked her very much. The young farmers would have liked to lead them both to the altar and welcome them to their wealthy farms. But since it was not yet decided which of the two suitors would get the dairymaid, they both had their eyes on her. Each tried to show himself from the best side. On Sundays, they sought out the courted woman in her best dress, greeted her politely and considered themselves lucky if they got to talk to her. One of them tried to outdo the other, even when it was a matter of making the dairymaid feel good with gifts. The dairymaid's reaction was not entirely dismissive, but rather reserved, perhaps because her heart could not decide so quickly for one or the other. Although she listened to it hopefully, she followed the course of events with mixed feelings. The two single people, however, became impatient with time and pressed for a decision. They behaved more and more indignantly, teased the desired one more and more brazenly, became pushy and insolent, until the dairymaid was no longer comfortable. She got angry and finally left the alp, even did a secret spell - and since then nothing wants to prosper on that alp ground. The beautiful pastures receded and withered away. The spicy herbs lost their sap and died. Since then the alp is "dead", which gave it the name Totalp.

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