The Giant Bihin

Bihin was unlike other men. His body was so vast that ordinary cottages reached only to his knee. His hands were broad enough to lift a cow, and his footsteps shook the earth.

It is said he appeared in the hills of Theux a thousand years ago, though no one knew where he came from. He spoke little, but listened well. The farmers were frightened at first, but soon discovered that Bihin meant them no harm. He was simply impossibly strong.

Bihin helped where he could. When a farmer had a great stone blocking his field, Bihin simply lifted it aside—a task that would have cost twenty men their lives.

When storms knocked trees across forest paths, Bihin carried them away. When mountain streams threatened the village, he dug new channels with his bare feet.

But Bihin also had moments of summer jest and confusion. Once, not fully grasping how fragile humans were, he gave a farmer a friendly pat on the shoulder and broke three of his ribs.

The farmers learned to keep their distance from the giant.

One day—no one knows exactly when—Bihin turned away from the world of men. Now he is seen only occasionally, a shadow of impossible size moving through the mist of the deepest valleys.

But his mark remained. The deepest valleys, the steepest hillsides, the great lines of stone—all are said to have been made by Bihin’s feet and hands.

Parents told their children: be careful what you ask of the giant, for he does not forget, and he is always listening.