139. The Plate Woman / Das Plattenwibli

The Seveler carpenter S. G. once went to Oberschanzur Spinni” (to the pub). As he was returning home through the Seveler woods early in the morning – it was not yet daylight – he saw a woman in the beech forest, close to the path, and asked in amazement what she was doing there so early. She answered, but without turning around, that she was collecting leaves for the pigs. Only then did he notice that she was wearing a red stocking on one foot and a black one on the other.

It was the well-known “Plattenwibli” (Plate Woman), who died soon afterwards. As the coffin was being taken away from the house, a girl asked her mother, who had come into the house, who was being buried and said, when she answered: “No, Plattenwibli is sitting in the kitchen on the hotplate. Just look!” The mother told the child to be quiet and followed the funeral procession. From then on, however, there was a “ghost” in the house.

Dr. Henne-Am Rhyn, Deutsche Volkssage.


Das Plattenwibli

Der Seveler Zimmermann S. G. ging einst nach Oberschan “zur Spinni”. Als er früh morgens durchs Seveler Holz heimkehrte – es war noch nicht Tag – sah er im Buchenwalde, nahe am Wege, ein Weibchen und fragte verwundert, was es so früh da mache. Sie antwortete, aber ohne sich umzukehren, sie sammle Laub für die Schweine. Jetzt erst gewahrte er, dass sie an einem Fusse einen roten, am andern einen schwarzen Strumpf trug. Es war das bekannte “Plattenwibli”, das bald darauf starb. Als man mit dem Sarge vom Hause wegzog, fragte ein Mädchen seine ins Haus gekommene Mutter, wen man begrabe und sagte, als diese geantwortet: “Nein, das Plattenwibli sitzt ja in der Küche auf der Herdplatte. Schau nur!” Die Mutter hiess das Kind schweigen und folgte dem Leichenzuge. Im Hause aber “geistete” es von da an.
Dr. Henne-Am Rhyn, Deutsche Volkssage.

early morning before sunrise, alpine forest, a Swiss woman in 19th century clothes with her back to us, she is collecting leaves, she is wearing one red stocking and one red black stocking. Lithograph. – Midjourney 6

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