A legend from Valdesorna, the village with the stone bridge.
In Valdesorna, when the village fountains run dry for no reason, the old folk climb up to the stone bridge and look at the third flagstone. They say someone hasn’t given back the spindle. This is the story that explains it.
Under the bridge lives the Spinner, who on autumn nights spins the river’s water so that it reaches the village fountains, thread by thread. To anyone who has truly lost something she lends her spindle: when you set it rolling, the thread unwinds by itself and leads you to what you lost. She sets only one condition: it must be returned to the third flagstone of the bridge before the first cock crows. If not, the fountains will not flow again until the spindle is back in its place.
One October night, Nel, Elvira’s little brother, didn’t come back from the hills with the goats. Elvira went down to the bridge and asked for the spindle. Behind her, crouching behind the parapet, Anselmo the miller was listening. For years he had been searching for some coins his grandfather had buried without saying where.
The grey thread led Elvira up the hillside to a cave, where Nel was sleeping with his arms round a goat. They came back together, and Elvira left the spindle on the third flagstone. She was already in bed, her feet frozen, when she heard the first cock crow.
But the next morning, the fountain in the square didn’t give a single drop. Nor did the one at the washing place. By the third day, with the pitchers empty, everyone in the tavern was blaming Elvira.
She didn’t argue. She walked slowly round the village, looking. Caught on the latch of the mill door was a grey thread, as fine as a hair. And Anselmo’s vegetable patch, where he never planted anything in autumn, was full of freshly dug holes.
Activities
1 Detective Inference
Why did the village fountains run dry? Tick the correct hypothesis.
- a) Because Elvira returned the spindle to the third flagstone after the first cock had already crowed.
- ✓b) Because Anselmo took the spindle from the bridge to look for the coins his grandfather had buried.
- c) Because the Spinner was angry with Elvira for letting her brother get lost in the hills.
- d) Because in autumn, before the rains, the Valdesorna fountains always run low.
Which clues prove it? Copy or summarise the clue from the text that proves it.
Correct hypothesis: b). That’s right: the spindle wasn’t in its place because Anselmo had taken it.
Key clue: “Anselmo overheard the condition, there was a grey thread on the mill latch and his vegetable patch was full of freshly dug holes.” Three clues that fit: he knew about the spindle, the thread had passed his door and someone had been searching for something buried.
2 The Loom Order of events
Put the legend in the order it happened. Write the order number (1, 2, 3…) in each box.
- 5 In the tavern, they blame Elvira for the lack of water.
- 4 Elvira hears the first cock crow from her bed.
- 6 Elvira finds a grey thread on the latch of the mill.
- 3 The thread leads Elvira to the cave.
- 1 Nel doesn’t come back from the hills with the goats.
- 2 Elvira asks for the spindle while Anselmo listens in secret.
Correct order:
- Nel doesn’t come back from the hills with the goats.
- Elvira asks for the spindle while Anselmo listens in secret.
- The thread leads Elvira to the cave.
- Elvira hears the first cock crow from her bed.
- In the tavern, they blame Elvira for the lack of water.
- Elvira finds a grey thread on the latch of the mill.
The story begins with today’s custom (looking at the third flagstone) and then tells how it started: Nel going missing, the loan of the spindle, the cave, the cock, the days without water and, finally, the clue at the mill.
3 The Missing Page Coherence
Which ending fits the legend? Tick only one option.
- ✓a) Elvira follows the grey thread to the mill, finds the spindle and returns it to the third flagstone. The next morning, the fountains flow again.
- b) Anselmo finally finds his grandfather’s coins and, as soon as he digs them up, the village fountains flow again.
- c) Elvira goes back down to the bridge, asks the Spinner for a new spindle and, as soon as she leaves it on the flagstone, the fountains flow again.
- d) On the fourth day, the fountains start flowing again on their own, although nobody has touched the spindle or gone back to the bridge.
Answer: a). That’s what the rule says: the fountains flow again when the spindle is back in its place.
- b) The fountains depend on the spindle, not the coins: until it’s back on the bridge, they will stay dry.
- c) The legend speaks of a single spindle being returned to its place; a new spindle doesn’t meet the condition.
- d) It contradicts the Spinner’s condition: the fountains don’t flow until the spindle is back in its place.
4 Spot the Contradiction Literal reading
Three statements don’t fit the legend. Put an X next to the 3 statements that don’t fit the text.
- ✗a) The Spinner lends her spindle to anyone who asks.Only to people who have truly lost something.
- b) The spindle had to be returned to the third flagstone of the bridge.That’s the Spinner’s condition.
- c) Nel spent the night in a cave with a goat.That’s where Elvira found him.
- ✗d) Anselmo planted his vegetable patch every autumn.He never planted anything in autumn: that’s why the holes stand out.
- ✗e) The fountains were dry for just one morning.They were dry for at least three days.
- f) Elvira found a grey thread on the mill door.Caught on the latch.
5 The Gallery Visualisation
In the game you choose the illustration that answers this question: “Which illustration shows the moment Elvira returns the spindle?”. Here, you draw it yourself, with every detail the text gives you.
What should appear: Night, Elvira and Nel on the bridge and the spindle on the third flagstone.
Reward drawings that include the details from the text, not artistic skill.
Ending
To read aloud once the answers have been checked.
Elvira pulled the grey thread from the latch, and it led her to the back of the mill, under the sacks of flour. There was the spindle, all tangled from so much searching.
Anselmo had taken it from the bridge that very night. But the thread only leads to what you have truly lost, and those coins had never been his: that is why he found nothing but stones.
Elvira returned the spindle to the third flagstone at dusk, and the next morning the fountain in the square sang again as if nothing had happened. It took Anselmo a month to fill in the holes. And ever since, when the fountains run dry for no reason, the villagers don’t look for someone to blame in the tavern: they climb up to the bridge to look at the flagstone.
Suggested marking
Each activity is worth 2 points (10 in total). In 1, one point for the hypothesis and one for the clue. In 2, give one point if only a couple of events are swapped. In 4, half a point for each correct cross and minus half a point for each true statement crossed out.