Tall Jeanne of Elsegem

Near Elsegem lived two unmarried sisters on a farm. With their savings they had bought lambs, their pride and joy. The animals were cared for with the greatest devotion.

On a rainy October day, the women had decided to keep their lambs indoors. The weather was too foul to let the animals outside. The sisters were certain that all their lambs stood safely in the stable.

But the area around Elsegem had long been plagued by a mysterious being the people called Tall Jeanne. Nobody knew exactly who or what she was, but everyone feared her.

Suddenly, the sisters heard one of their lambs bleating outside near a haystack. The women looked at each other in astonishment.

‘It cannot be that one of the lambs has escaped,’ said one of them. ‘I brought the animals water just five minutes ago and I am certain I closed the door properly.’

Nevertheless, the women went outside and brought the bleating lamb back to the stable. But when they counted their animals, they discovered to their amazement that there was one sheep too many in the stable.

The sisters looked at each other with fear in their eyes. How could there be an extra lamb in their stable? They had counted their animals carefully and something was not right.

Then the unthinkable happened. The lamb they had just brought inside opened its mouth and began to speak with a human voice: ‘Take me back to the place where you found me, for I am Tall Jeanne.’

Upon hearing those words, one of the women dropped dead from fright. The talking lamb disappeared as mysteriously as it had appeared. Tall Jeanne had once again spread her terror across the countryside around Elsegem.