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One evening in early summer after the snows had melted, a cattleman working on the Schlern returned to his summer cabin to rest for the night. As darkness fell he crawled into the small haystack left over from the previous summer to sleep. Just as he was nodding off the door to the cabin opened and a huge wild looking man dressed in rags and furs entered the room. Petrified the herder hid in his hay bed and stayed as quiet as a mouse. The wild man went straight to the hearth, lit a fire and with ashes and water and began to cook a gruel. The herder watched quietly from his hiding place praying he would not be seen.

When the porridge was ready, the savage, without turning around quietly beckoned the dairyman to join him. Not daring to refuse, the herder descended from his hiding place and approached the fire. The savage began to eat his porridge and motioned the man to join him; he demurred, saying he had already eaten but when the wild man waved his hand a second time, the herder forced a little of the disgusting mix down. The savage grinned, content that he had eaten and when the porridge was finished, the wild man quietly got up and left, disappearing into the night.

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