The Wolves of Cernogratz

Thank You Rahini! Good Afternoon Ma’am. Now I will give you a gist of the
lesson. I would like to point out that the words in the screen may not tally with
our speech, because our speech is prepared by us individually. This story is
about superstitions and beliefs. The Gruebels had bought a von Cernogratz
Castle and were staying there for some time now.

Conrad was a prosperous merchant and was also an imaginative and sensitive
poet.

One day, he was gossiping with her sister, the Baroness Gruebel. He casually
asked if there were any old legends attached to the castle. The Baroness
responded by saying legends were always hanging about such old places. She
went on by mentioning old stories about how all the dogs in the village and the
wild beasts in the forest howl all night in case someone died in the castle.

The merchant felt it was both weird as well as romantic.

Baroness said however it was not true. She mentioned how when her mother-
in-law died, nothing of this sort happened. She thought that the story was
made up to lend dignity to the place.

All this while, their old governess Amalie, who was sitting quietly listening and
was generally quiet, started to talk. She spoke rapidly and nervously at the
same time. She said that hearing of howling wasn’t linked to any stranger dying
in the castle. It was rather heard when someone from Cernogratz family died.
That’s when the all wolves of the forest came and howled at the edge of the
forest just before the death hour. This would also make the dogs in the castle
and the village bay due to the fear and anger of the wolf chorus. She also said
that a tree would crash down in the park as the soul of the dying person left.

The family was astonished with this. They felt that her voice had a note of
defiance and almost of contempt too. The Baroness stared angrily at her. She
taunted the governess about her unexpected knowledge on the matter.

Her response, that she herself was a von Cernogratz, was even more
unexpected and astonishing. She went on to explain she had to go out and
became a teacher when the family became poor. She shared the history about
her family. She mentioned that when she took the job with the Gruebel family,
she didn’t know that one day they would buy the castle and shift.

The conversation then shifted to other topics and soon the governess slipped
away to her duties; leaving a clamour of disbelief with the Gruebels.