The Briar Saga

(Rainer Barbi) It was around the year 1840, on one of those wonderful nights when so many young people fall in love for the first time. In a scenic valley of the French Jura a group of shepherds were gathered around the flickering flames of a fire, enjoying the end of a day of hard work, sharing bread, wine, and tobacco. One of them kept to himself completely absorbed in something entirely new, something he had discovered that same day when one of his sheep was making a hole in the ground – a round piece of wood with an unusually even shape. It was the root of a bush growing in millions in this valley – always obstacles when the shepherds had to collect their scattered sheep. With determination, he was carving this piece of wood, shaping and modeling it while his friends were giving him a slightly mocking look. Hours went by. Continued