The restless souls of dead sinners, ghosts, demons and other hellish creatures do not always wait for darkness and bad weather to emerge from the fiery depths of the underworld and wander the earth...
Jean de Baran and Christophe Ovchar chose clear nights for walks, when the moon was shining and the entire sky was strewn with bright stars. It was then that these phantom shepherds appeared in Sernia at the head of their devilish flocks. Residents of mountain villages often saw a striking picture in the dark sky. Two men engulfed in flames ran straight through the air, and behind each of them hurried countless goats, sheep and rams, bleating in such strange, such deathly voices that anyone who happened to hear them froze the blood in their veins with fear.
The first of them, Jean de Baran, walked from Mont de Creusu, through rocks, abysses, forests and pastures to Biffex, Berra and Gros Chaumio, howling in a plaintive voice:
- To whom should I give the lambs and ewes born in the flock? Who should I give them to?
Another, Christophe Ovchar, descended from the heights of Gros Brane. Rounding the crests of the Morvo, Patralon, Bremingard, Ballisa, Lenz and Shia mountain ranges, he flew in a fiery streak towards the first, also shouting desperately:
—Who should I give the lambs and ewes to? Who should I give them to?
The two herds invariably met over the pastures located in the vicinity of Gros Chaumio. There they stopped and lined up in battle formation, like two huge armies.
Both commanders ran, fussed, shouted, gave orders and encouraged their soldiers. Like the warriors of former times, they exchanged mutual insults and provoked each other to attack.
“Come here, you terrible thief of sheep and rams,” Christophe shouted. “Go and see if I won’t give you a head start in this matter, if I’m better than you!” Pathetic Frenchman from Sernia! Drive your worthless kids and lambs here!
“Shut up, old man from Kutseru,” answered Jean, “your goats and sheep are just skin and bones!” Today you will be left alone with your filthy dogs. Moaning and howling, you will forever rush over pastures, rocks and abysses. Come closer, I will destroy your herd, already half-dead from hunger.
And then a terrible battle ensues. Christophe's herd rushes towards Jean's herd. Goats, sheep, rams clash their horns and fight like wild animals. The screams and curses of the generals, the bleating of animals, the howling of dogs echo throughout the entire valley... The monstrous battles of the ghostly troops usually dragged on until the morning. The enemies dispersed only after the first rooster crow was heard. But it happened that the next night they met in order to continue the war.
Jean de Baran and Christophe Ovchar struck fear into all the inhabitants of Sernia without exception. As they approached, hedges, bushes and trees began to burn of their own accord. For years the grass did not grow in the place where the devilish regiments fought. Peaceful herds, sensing evil spirits, scattered and ran to distant pastures. The shepherds, even the bravest and most determined ones, hid in their homes in horror and preferred not to stick their noses out into the street until the next ghost skirmish was over. And the wives shed burning tears and begged their husbands never to steal other people’s livestock.
For many decades, the terrible battles of Jean de Baran and Christophe Ovchar had been dragging on, when several monks of the Carthusian order decided to settle in Sernia - a gloomy land where huge spruce trees grow and mountain falls are frequent.
One night, the Carthusians prayed earnestly, gathered around a tall tree, on the branches of which hung lamps and a bell for the future monastery. Suddenly, ghostly herds appeared from behind the mountain peaks. They walked straight through the air towards the praying monks. Lined up in battle formation directly above their heads, the hellish creatures rushed at each other. With their mouths open in surprise, the holy fathers looked at the carnage, listened to the bleating of the animals and the cursing of the shepherds. They came from distant lands, where they had never heard of such disgusting performances.
At first, the monks did not know what to do - get away as quickly as possible from these damned places or try to stop the demonic amusements. Father Mitchie, a kind, intelligent and pious priest, and brother Victorian, a brave man who was a former soldier and was not afraid of any challenge, wanted to rush at the enemy. But the young novices, almost sobbing, began to beg their comrades to moderate their ardor and not attract the attention of devilish creatures.
In the end, Mitchie's father, as the eldest, made a decision: we should try to pacify the evil spirits, but first, find out what their nature is and find out what weapons can be used to overcome them.
The next day, the Carthusians gathered residents of the surrounding villages and asked them in detail about the battles of the ghostly herds. Here's what they found out.
Many years ago, very strange things happened in Sernia. Here and there, in some incomprehensible way, sheep, goats and other small livestock disappeared from the herds guarded by respectable shepherds. The inhabitants of La Roche, Charme, Bellegarde, Montevres, Motelon and other villages were alarmed, one and all, because, despite the measures taken, no one could catch the thieves. The villains, who seemed to be helped by the devil himself, continued to steal animals right from under the noses of the vigilant shepherds. And only two people never lost anything. These were a Savoyard named Jean de Baran and his friend Christophe Ovchar, originally from the Swiss town of Kutserou. For many years they wandered with their herds through meadows and valleys and sometimes reached the highest mountain pastures. The sheep and goats followed them obediently and faithfully, like dogs. It was nice to see!
One day, on a beautiful starry night, an old hunter from Sernia named Pierre was making his way through a dense forest. He intended to shoot a couple of wood grouse at dawn and reached the edge of the forest, near which there were a fair number of these birds. Pierre hid under a tree and began to listen to the sounds of the night forest. At first he heard only the rustling of leaves and the murmur of the Zhavro River, which flows at the foot of a high mountain. But suddenly he heard the ringing of bells, the bleating of sheep and the cries of a shepherd. “Who is it that drives the herd at night?” – Pierre thought, peering intensely into the darkness. Soon he saw the Savoyard Jean emerge from a fog-shrouded ravine. He shouted:
- Follow me, follow me!
And rams, sheep, and goats rushed to his call. And there was something strange in the behavior of the animals. It seemed as if they were being drawn to the shepherd by some irresistible force... They seemed to be bewitched. Taking a closer look, the hunter realized with amazement that these cattle were not from the Sernia herds at all.
Suspecting something was wrong, Pierre decided to trace where Jean was driving these animals. Letting the herd go ahead, he began to sneak after them. The old man's greatest fear was that Jean's dogs would smell him.
Jean de Baran headed towards Gros Chaumio, to where inaccessible mountains rose, shrouded in gray clouds, and the cold wind howled wildly in the gorges. Having reached some pasture overgrown with small clover, Jean stopped. The animals huddled together. The shepherd silently peered into the foggy distance. Pierre hid behind a large stone and eagerly awaited developments. He guessed that something was going to happen soon. And sure enough, on the opposite side of the pasture another herd of goats and sheep suddenly appeared, and it was led by none other than Christophe from Kutseru. Both shepherds greeted each other joyfully, and the hunter heard the following conversation:
- Well, is the catch good?
- Great! And you?
– It couldn’t be better! Animals came running from all directions! When they saw me, even the lambs and kids left the herd. They ran after me obediently, cheerfully and playfully. Needless to say, the great owner is helping us quite well!
At these words, the earth suddenly shook, stones fell from the rocks, and someone’s strange metallic voice said:
- You will not follow me cheerfully, not playfully... Not now... but soon... after death!
A terrible smell of sulfur came from somewhere, and the poor hunter, who was huddled behind a stone, could hardly restrain his cough.
After some time, a man approached Jean and Christophe. Apparently, he usually bought stolen cattle from them. After haggling a little, the stranger handed the shepherds a tightly stuffed wallet and drove the bleating herds somewhere. Jean and Christophe were left alone. And then a furious argument broke out between them. They could not divide the money they received. The shepherds began to insult each other and accuse each other of all sorts of atrocities. Pierre learned with horror that these people were guilty not only of cattle thefts, which had haunted good people for the past thirty years. They were also responsible for robberies, arson, disgusting witchcraft, murder and many other crimes. Jean and Christophe's bickering turned into a fight. Clutching, the villains rolled on the damp ground. Growling and howling, they mercilessly punched each other, and were about to take up their knives, when suddenly something amazing happened. Two bright lightning flashed in the darkness, and immediately two screams were heard. Something rumbled in the sky, and then everything became quiet.
The old hunter realized that a misfortune had occurred. Jumping out of his hiding place, he ran to the battlefield. It's too late! He could no longer help the quarreling shepherds. Two charred bodies were stretched out on the ground. And morning was dawning above the ground...
When Pierre ran to Sernia and, having gathered people, told them about the terrible events that he had become an involuntary witness that night, at first no one believed him. But there was such genuine horror in the hunter’s eyes that some men still decided to climb the mountains and see what happened in the distant pasture.
They came to a meadow overgrown with white clover, and saw that in one place the grass was scorched and covered in blood, and the ground became hard as tiles. But the corpses disappeared...
In the evening of the same day, when the sun set and dusk deepened, some noise was heard in the sky, and strange luminous spots suddenly appeared above the mountain peaks, rushing from different directions towards Sernia. As they approached, they took on human shapes, and within a few minutes people were amazed to see two ghosts running through the air. It was Jean! It was Christophe! Both shepherds were engulfed in flames and screamed loudly, and countless hordes of sheep, goats and rams hurried behind them, bleating in some kind of devilish voices.
Jean de Baran and Christophe Ovchar met over the pastures of Gros Chaumio, just where they had sold stolen animals the day before, fought and were killed by two lightning strikes. The ghosts lined up their herds in battle formation, and the two armies rushed into battle. The terrible battle continued until the morning, and all night people whispered prayers with lips numb with fear. But then light appeared over the mountains, and at the first crow of the rooster the phantoms disappeared.
Since then, for many years, the ghosts of criminal shepherds, accompanied by hellish animals, appeared from time to time in Sernia, invariably choosing for their walks clear nights when the moon was shining and the stars were endless. The green pastures over which the massacres took place became a scorched wasteland, and neither people nor animals dared to even approach them. The inhabitants of Sernia constantly prayed that the souls of Jean de Baran and Christophe Ovchar would finally find eternal peace, but, apparently, the shepherds sinned greatly during their lifetime, and the Lord turned away from them. They fell into the clutches of Satan, who helped them do evil and now became their sovereign master.
The Carthusians were quite surprised by the story of the inhabitants of Sernia. Being merciful people, they felt not so much disgust as pity for the restless souls of sinners. The monks understood that Jean and Christophe came to earth not only to scare good Christians, that perhaps they were waiting for something, looking for something, and that there was a higher meaning in everything that was happening.
Mitchie's father and brave brother Victorian decided to put an end to the ghost war at all costs.
The next day, the monks were already climbing the steep slopes - up there to the scorched pastures of Gros Chomio. In their hands they held ancient staves that they had visited with pilgrims of former times in many holy places - both in Rome and Jerusalem. Long rosary beads hung from their belts, and bottles of holy water tinkled in their pockets. Both read the Gospel of John in a low voice.
Having reached the pasture over which Jean de Baran and Christophe Ovchar had fought the day before, the Carthusians knelt down and continued their prayers. The sun was setting. It started to get colder. The wind blew. The grass was covered with dew.
Night has fallen. Mitchie's father and Victorian's brother suddenly felt intense fear. Gathering all their courage, they sang psalms loudly. Suddenly the sky seemed to become lighter and a growing noise was heard. Enemy hordes have appeared! They went straight to the monks.
- Help us, Saint Bruno! - the brothers exclaimed and began to read “Our Father.”
Seeing the uninvited guests, Jean and Christophe burst into curses. Echoing the shepherds, the devilish animals bleated in terrible voices. With wild speed the evil spirits rushed towards the people. Obeying the instructions of their leaders, the goats, sheep and rams lined up around Father Mitchie and Brother Victorian. Lowering their horns, they growled and wheezed, their empty eye sockets throwing cold sparks. They seemed to be waiting only for a signal to rush at the Carthusians. From somewhere behind the clouds the hellish dogs of Jean and Christophe suddenly jumped out. Right above the heads of the monks they burst into thunderous barks.
Brother Victorian suddenly realized that, out of horror, he was beginning to forget the words of his prayer. His thoughts were confused, and for some reason the tales of his beloved, long-deceased grandmother came into his head. Brother Victorian remembered that she used to say that a drawn circle could protect against evil spirits. With a trembling hand, he took his staff and drew a line along the ground around himself and Mitchie's father. At the same time, he hastily read the Gospel.
Some animals, angry at the actions of Brother Victorian, rushed forward, but immediately hit their horns against an invisible barrier that had grown in their way. There was no limit to the rage of both shepherds.
– Why the hell did you come here, impudent monks? Haven't we had enough suffering? Do you want to hurt us even more? - they shouted.
– The shine from your clothes hurts my eyes! You don't let me take revenge on the traitor! I'll strangle you! - Christoph Ovchar howled, waving a bloody knife. He was burning with anger, he wanted to rush into battle as quickly as possible.
“Did the old abbot give you his blessing to stop us from fighting?” - asked Jean de Baran. “You disobeyed the prior, and he will be very unhappy.” Get out of here or die!
The ghostly shepherds tried to cross the circle line, but nothing worked for them, and they furiously beat on the invisible wall with their hands and feet.
“What do you want here, people who eat grass?” After all, you don’t eat lamb! Why do you care that we stole stupid sheep? You took our place. This is our pasture! We are at war here! You will be trampled and torn apart. Death to the traitor! Death to the traitor!
With these terrible words, the opponents rushed at each other and grappled in a fierce fight. Goats, goats, sheep and rams also rushed into battle. They kicked, butted, bit, and clashed their horns with such force that whole sheaves of sparks flew from the sky to the ground. The dogs squabbled viciously among themselves, not forgetting to bark at the monks. What struck Brother Victorian most of all was that the ugly dogs sometimes began to swear in pure German. There was a monstrous noise, the air gradually became hotter, and the trees around the line that protected Mitchie’s father and brother Victorian from the evil spirits were already on fire. It was terrible what was happening! The monks read the Gospel, sang psalms, sprinkled holy water on the ground around them, and the enemy forces could not reach them, despite the fact that they attacked the circle line several times.
But then morning came and the bells rang in the village chapels. The infernal armies immediately interrupted the massacre. With a howl and roar, they rushed across the sky to the mountain peaks and in a moment disappeared from sight. Mitchie's father and brother Victorian stood on a small patch of green grass. Around them the earth was burning down and the embers of burnt trees were smoldering. Staggering from fatigue, the monks began to descend from the mountain. They were unable to overcome the ghosts, but were pleased that they themselves remained alive and well.
The first person Father Mitchie and Brother Victorian met downstairs was Father Superior. Having heard about the outrages happening in the valley, he personally appeared there at the head of a hundred clergymen to pray with the whole world for the sinful souls of Jean de Baran and Christophe Ovchar. Maybe then they will find peace and stop disturbing good Christians?
For nine days, priests, monks, novices and villagers fasted and prayed. The dark forces, of course, did not like this. Every night over Sernia the sky trembled from the devilish massacres, which became more and more evil, more and more terrible. Finally, at sunset on the ninth day, the old Father Superior, together with his sacristan, a kind and pious young man, went to the pastures of Gros Chomio. There, among the smoking trees and black rocks, they waited for darkness to fall. Father Superior was not afraid of people from the underworld, because he had a powerful weapon in his hands - the relics of the great saint and a bottle of water blessed by the bishop on the feast of St. Bruno.
When the damned Jean and Christophe with their herds arrived at the pastures of Gros-Chomio, a familiar and unbearable picture appeared before their eyes: two monks diligently reciting prayers. Howling with anger, the evil spirits rushed towards the worshipers and closed a tight ring over their heads. The goats and rams bowed their horned heads. The dogs bared their teeth. The shepherds were preparing to give the signal to attack...
Father Superior looked at the demonic army with a clear gaze. He knew very well that only those who are afraid are subject to dark forces, and there was no fear in his heart. Having entrusted himself to Saint Michael, Saint John, Saint Bruno, Saint Anthony the Great and other saints who had shamed the devil, the Father Superior made the sign of the cross and said something quietly to the shepherds and animals. And then a miracle happened: Jean de Baran and Christophe Ovchar, along with their dogs, goats and goats, rams and sheep, kids and lambs, disappeared in the blink of an eye.
All night the old man and the young man praised the Lord God, and at dawn they went back to Sernia. The sun was rising. The meadows and forests were filled with golden and pink light.
Below, at the foot of the mountain, a whole crowd of people anxiously awaited those who had gone to the terrible pasture. And so, with a feeling of great relief, the people saw the old rector descending the steep mountain path, leaning on the shoulder of the sacristan, who cheerfully waved his hand to everyone.
No one knows what exactly the Father Superior said to the people from hell - there, on the charred pasture of Gro-Shomio. But it is known for certain that since that memorable night the ghosts of Jean de Baran and Christophe Ovchar have never appeared in the sky over the land of Sernia.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru