Crystal Aura Gaze

The “Pennsylvania Dutch” refers to the group of people who migrated from modern-day Germany to the United States and Canada (primarily Pennsylvania) during the 1600s and 1700s. They had a rich tradition of folklore, often passing down stories orally from generation to generation. The following tale comes from the book “Folk Tales of The Pennsylvania Dutch: Stories of Witchcraft, Magic, and the Supernatural” by William Woys Weaver.

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TW: This folktale involves mentions of suicide.

The Blue Egg

Rapunzel and Tobias Raddenmacher had recently got married and moved into a cottage in Sandschtick (Sand Patch.) Rapunzel became pregnant and began to crave the most unusual foods. She had a very specific craving for small, turnip-like roots of rampions. But she couldn’t find them anywhere.

In search of this specific craving, Rapunzel prayed to Saint Gertrude, and it was revealed that she could find a meadow of rampions nearby. However, Rapunzel’s aunt warned her against this, as this meadow belonged to Radda – a wicked queen of the crows.

Rapunzel’s aunt handed her a bag of herbs, “eat this, and you will become invisible. You’d be better off taking what you need without her knowing. Radda does not accept payments in money.”

Every night, during the ascending moon, Rapunzel snuck into the meadow and took the rampions that she needed. Radda never caught her – until she suddenly noticed several missing rampions and holes dug up in her meadow.

Radda turned to her sisters for help at the Witch Kettle beyond the Blue Mountain. Together, they placed a curse on the rampions – so anyone who ate them would become very ill.

Soon enough, Rapunzel began to feel sick and weak. Her husband realized that the rampions were verhext – cursed by Radda!

So, he confronted Radda – “You must remove the curse from my wife – or else I shall send rain and fire, and lightning shall strike you as you try to fly away. You know who I am.”

Tobias Raddenmacher was a Pennsylvania Dutch fairy. He was born as an egg and therefore had no belly button.

She replied, “I will strike back against you. Your wife is a thief – she must repay for what she has stolen from me.”

“What’s your price?” He asked with skepticism.

“Give me your baby. Since it’s being fed with my rampions, it is half-mine anyway.”

The husband was deeply disturbed by her request. But it was the only way to save his wife. And he secretly knew that they were having twins – so he could give her one while they kept the other.

“I shall bring you the egg,” he defeated. As his wife would be giving birth to Pennsylvania Dutch fairies, they would be born as blue eggs before getting hatched.

When it came time, Rapunzel gave birth to two blue eggs. Her husband took one of the eggs and placed it in a willow basket to bring to Radda. However, once Radda began flying away with the egg, he casted a storm. He was known as the Dunnerkeenich (the “storm king”) among the fairies in the Dutch Country.

Radda was headed to the Blue Mountain when she began to lose control. Raddenmacher sent one of his black eagles her way and knocked the egg basket out of her grip.

The egg basket had landed safely in a garden behind an Inn. The sign on the porch read, “Rooms Available – Lunch Included.” That following morning, after the storm had passed, Miss Beiler went to the garden to fetch some fresh herbs. Miss Beiler was head of the establishment.

The woman was amazed to find a baby boy hatched from an egg in a willow basket, covered in parsley and leaves. She brought him inside to clean him up.

“This must be some kind of gift from heaven!” She exclaimed, as the other women rushed to the baby boy.

They decided to name in Peter Laub – Peter for Pederli, the Pennsylvania German word for parsley. And Laub, the Pennsylvania German word for leaf. Peter Laub grew up in the hotel, cared for and adored by everyone who worked there.

The oldest son of Pastor Lobwasser had been secretly visiting the hotel quite frequently. It was thought that he was having an affair with one of the madams who worked there. And when he refused to pay his bill, she retaliated by spreading a rumor that he had fathered a child by one of the women. Of course, upon hearing this rumor, everyone assumed that the secret lovechild was Peter Laub.

The pastor’s son was so mortified by these rumors that he ended up hanging himself. His suicide further speculated that the rumors were true. As revenge, his younger brother took down one of the old books he had bought from Germany and casted a spell against Peter Laub.

From then on, Peter Laub was struck with bad luck – being chased by bullies, hit with fevers, haunted with dreams about a crow, and lost parts of his memory.

Peter Laub was grateful for the selfless women who raised him at the inn – but eternally sad that he could never remember his past or where he came from. All he had to know where he came from was a willow basket with a broken blue egg.

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This story reminds me of the original Rapunzel fairytale – in which a pregnant woman craves a specific herb and steals them from the witch’s garden, and when the witch catches her, she forces her to surrender her baby.

It’s not a happy ending, but it’s not a complete tragedy… it certainly has many tragic moments… but mainly ends on a bittersweet note.

Radda is right for getting angry with her crops being stolen… but absolutely wrong for demanding that she takes Rapunzel’s baby. While Radda is partially wronged, she goes to extreme measures to create a far worse wrong.

The husband is right to retaliate against Radda for the sake of his wife and his babies. While Radda does not get to keep their baby, they still end up losing that baby.

And then the story gets much, much darker when the pastor’s son has an affair and then commits suicide. And it’s not necessaily his affair, but the made-up rumors about him, that pushes him to hang himself. Worst of all is that the boy, who is completely innocent, gets sucked into this mess and has a curse put against him.

What this story teaches is how revenge can be such a nasty thing, whether the person “deserves it” or not. And sometimes, when you seek revenge, others who are completely innocent and have nothing to do with your anger end up getting directly hurt and involved.