Soanan kerettiläinen

High in the craggy Alps of the Swiss canton of Tessin, travelers bound for the summit of Monte Generoso must choose one of three winding routes. The most arduous of them passes through the remote village of Soana, where a lone goat‑herder—known to locals as the Soanan kerettiläinen—roams the peaks in a tattered goat‑skin coat and spectacles that give him an oddly scholarly air. Though the guides laugh at his eccentric appearance, the villagers whisper that he is a relic of a darker, superstitious past, half‑revered and half‑feared.

When the narrator, a curious visitor, first meets the hermit, a dramatic scene unfolds: a newborn kid emerges from a struggling goat on a sheer ledge, its mother trembling yet unafraid. The hermit, moving with unexpected tenderness, comforts the animal and gathers the newborn into his arms, then invites the stranger into his modest stone shelter and a bright, vine‑covered cubical chamber perched on the mountain wall. The encounter leaves a lingering impression of a man who, despite rumors of devilry, tends his flock with a quiet, almost saintly compassion.