Lupus in Fabula e Grotta della Giara

Today we want to surprise you, we will walk and discover a gem that few people know about!

Surprising you has always been our aim, but today we have really surpassed ourselves, let’s go step by step!
Once again we have involved our friend Giorgia Firpo, healthy carrier of smiles and enthusiasm, giving her the task of recovering some led torches.
She asks few questions and acts immediately, in the series: actions not words!
We drive to Toirano and pass the town centre to quickly reach the “Cave Marchisio” along the provincial road, and after about 500 metres, near the first big bend, we leave the car.
In the middle of the bend, we take the little path that will be our starting point. This first part of the itinerary is called Lupus In Fabula and at the end of the story you will understand why, or rather, we will tell you!
We set off along a beaten and clean stretch of road, characterised by the constant presence of the Varatella stream a few dozen metres below on our left. After passing the first stone bridge and a small waterfall formed by the presence of a cement dam, we proceed along the track through the woods, slightly uphill.
In no time at all we reach the bridge known as the “Salto del Lupo” (Leap of the Wolf) over the gorge of the same name and we cross it, turning back towards the sea. At the end of the bridge, we cross the road and take a slightly uphill cart track, the starting point of the nature trail, which is clearly marked with a red rhombus. We are in the wild heart of the Rio della Valle. We pass a couple of vegetable gardens and as many olive groves, ignoring on the right another path that goes up towards San Pietro ai Monti passing through Monte Ravinèt, we continue quickly until we reach an old aqueduct outlet, near the banks of Rio Servàira, which flows on our left. At this point an information board tells some old stories and legends handed down and lost in time about the wolves that used to descend from Calizzano to the valley. We then continue along the right-hand path in the direction of Grotta della Giara.

From here on, pay close attention to the signposts, which are mostly made up of small stone towers and a few rare yellow markers. The gradient of the path increases and climbs steeply through the dense Mediterranean scrub. Twice we ford the Rio Della Valle and continue along the opposite bank, characterised by a series of hairpin bends invaded by vegetation and fallen trees, where it is easy to lose track. Gaining more and more altitude, the climb becomes steeper and luckily Giorgia, who for the occasion has her little Ginevra’s backpack with her, has a supply of sugary sweets really useful to the camel, who is not too fit! Once we reach a sort of small valley, the wood thins out, leaving space for the characteristic Mediterranean scrub, and the rocky ridge appears in front of us. After circumventing a ridge on which it is easy to slip, we come across a very steep, fragile and uneven earthy slope. Shortly afterwards we find a very thick blue electric cable coming down directly from the nearby cave, which will act as a “tow” to help us get to the summit without improvising as budding climbers. In 7 to 8 minutes we arrive at the entrance to the large Grotta della Giara. At the summit we take a moment to catch our breath and those who have it (Vale doesn’t, needless to say) change their clothes to avoid the risk of catching a cold, we turn on our torches.

The cave in question is one of the largest in the Toiranese area, created over the millennia thanks to the channelling of water that has eroded its interior. At the moment, in the first part of the cave, the one we will explore, we will not find the slightest trace of water. The main gallery is wide and well lit for about 250 metres, and it is here that we discover the first stalagmite, which is squat and bulbous in shape, reminiscent of a jar, which would explain the name of the cave. The second limestone formation, on the other hand, is found further on, reminiscent of a waterfall with several jumps. We are in total darkness but the help of the torches allows us to reach the end of the cave where we find a small manhole that allows expert cavers to continue the exploration, unfortunately not us.

We did not expect to reach such a beautiful cave right at the top of the hill, what a surprise! The return trip, hooked on the blue cable first and almost running afterwards (due to the extreme slope), was particularly fast.
We haven’t forgotten our promise, don’t worry, we will now tell you a beautiful folk tale handed down in time from the memories of grandmother Pierina Pastorino, called “Piera”, told to us by Elena Rocca, the curly and very sweet granddaughter. Here is an extract from the story already published in “Le favole di mia nonna” Gruppo Editoriale L’Espresso, 2012.

The Wolf and the Fox
Once upon a time, and still today, in a small village called Balestrino, there was one of the most beautiful and imposing castles of the Marquis of Carretto. From its high position, it dominates the entire village below, which was once bordered by two farmsteads at the bottom of the valley: the “Fasciora” and the “Fussou”.
All around the castle and the village was an expanse of cultivated land belonging both to the villagers and to the Marquis del Carretto. All kinds of pets, livestock and even all kinds of wild animals lived here, even wolves and foxes.
One day, a wolf and a fox met.
The wolf asked: “How are you doing today?” and the fox replied: “Not too well, since I haven’t found anything to eat yet!”.
On hearing these words, the wolf exclaimed, “Then we’re both hungry, because I haven’t found anything to fill my belly with yet either. After much back-and-forth, the wolf and the fox were chatting and wandering around the village, looking for something to eat. Suddenly the fox stopped and said: “Do you smell that tempting scent too?” The wolf, who could not smell any food at all, replied: “You are so hungry that you can smell good things even though there is none!” The fox paid little heed to the wolf’s words and, not at all demoralised, replied: “I may be hungry and smell things that aren’t there, but I trust my nose and follow it!
So she didn’t lose heart and set off immediately, with the wolf following at a distance. There was a lot of people coming and going, and curious to know what was going on, the two animals got very close until they discovered that all those people were busy preparing bread, sweet and savoury pies and many other mouth-watering dishes.
The wolf and the fox, extremely happy at the spectacle that was unfolding before their eyes, decided that when the time came, this would be the right place to fill their bellies, and so they decided to wait patiently for a little more peace and quiet around all that food. They waited until it was dark. At that point the fox told the wolf that perhaps it was better to go and see what was going on, so he set off and slowly approached the door of the farmhouse; as soon as he was sure that no one was watching, he went inside through the small opening on the door that allowed dogs and cats to enter and leave the house in total freedom.
The fox sneaked into the farmhouse and saw an unimaginable amount of delicious food and realised that all those preparations were for the bride and groom of the next day. Fearing that they would discover her, the fox did not stay long in the farmhouse, but as soon as he realised the situation, he went back and joined the wolf, to whom he said: “You’ll see that we’ll eat well tomorrow!
He asked for an explanation and the fox said: “They are preparing a meal to celebrate the newlyweds.
But the wolf was very impatient and exclaimed: “But I’m so hungry I can’t eat any more”. Then the fox, also hungry, suggested to the wolf: “What shall we do? Shall we try to get close to the farmstead without being discovered to see if they have thrown away any leftovers?”. Without further ado, they headed for the farmstead and, to their delight, when they reached the kitchen, they found cocks’ feet and rabbit heads, which they ate with great relish.
The wolf and the fox went back to stand guard over the farmstead to keep an eye on the situation.
Suddenly the wolf broke the silence that surrounded them, telling the fox that he was sleepy, that it was now dark and that, since the lanterns were out, it was useless to stay awake because you could not see anything.
So the wolf and the fox curled up on the ground and went to sleep, waiting for the great day to come. The next morning they were awakened early by the smell of good food coming from the kitchen where they were cooking rabbits, chickens and pigs; the smell was so intense that the two of them were already salivating. While the wolf and the fox were waiting for the right moment to eat, a lot of well-dressed people were arriving at the “Fussou” farmstead, so much so that the fox turned to the wolf and exclaimed: “Do you want to see that it is the son of the family of the farmstead who is getting married? In fact, at about ten o’clock, the groom, relatives and friends left the “Fussou” and all went to the village in front of the church, where the bride and her relatives were already waiting for them.
They all exchanged greetings and then entered the church for the ceremony. When the wolf and the fox were finally alone, they went into the farmhouse and began to eat; the fox occasionally went to check if he could still get through the small opening in the door, but the wolf continued undaunted to eat without ever stopping and without ever taking a look at what his companion was doing.
During one of his checks, the fox noticed that he could barely get through the opening reserved for domestic animals, so he turned to the wolf and said: “We’d better go!” but the wolf replied that he was still hungry. The fox replied: “I’m still hungry too, but we’d better go!” and without another word he went out.
In the meantime, the greedy wolf remained in the farmhouse and continued to eat until he was full, but when he decided to leave, he could no longer get through the opening through which he had entered.
Worried, the wolf tried to find a way to get away with it, but the only option left to him was to find a good hiding place, wait for his guests to come home and then, as soon as they had opened the door, flee from there. He went round and round the kitchen looking for the best place to carry out his plan, until he realised that there was nowhere else to hide but behind the door.
In the meantime, the fox, wandering around outside in peace, noticed that there were still hens in the henhouse and, considering his hunger, he planned a foolproof attack, then went in and ate two of them, taking care to leave out the guts, which he tied around his neck at the end of the meal.
Finally satiated, thinking of the wolf still trapped in the farmhouse and the imminent arrival of the newlyweds, the fox looked for a perfect hiding place from which to enjoy the scene of the wolf being discovered.
He did not have to wait long, as he soon heard the voices of the happy couple returning to the “Fussou”.
They all headed straight for the front door of the house and, as soon as they opened the kitchen door, to their great disappointment and anger, they immediately realised that someone had come in to eat most of the food they had prepared. The first exclamations were enough to make all the guests rush to the door, leaving no way out for the wolf, who had to remain motionless in his hiding place, hoping that no one would discover him.
Unfortunately for him, however, this was not the case, because a moment later a guest turned to leave and noticed the wolf and started to scream.
Everyone turned around and, when they saw him, grabbed everything they had at hand and gave him so many blows that he could barely stand up. In the meantime, the fox had been watching the whole scene from his hiding place and was laughing with delight.
When everyone had finished beating the wolf, the animal finally managed to get out of the farmhouse and, in pain, to go away to hide and recover a little. As soon as he found a comfortable hiding place, he went to sleep and the fox, who had been watching him without taking his eyes off him, decided to take a nap as soon as he saw him asleep, as she was in great need of one too.
They slept for a couple of hours and when the fox woke up, he realised that the wolf was in pieces and could not even stand upright. The wolf answered in pain: “I almost got killed and now I’m incredibly thirsty, but I don’t know how to get to the well”.
The fox immediately replied: “Don’t tell me anything! They’ve given me so much that they’ve put their guts around my neck!”
The wolf smugly observed: “Then you’re more battered than I am! I’m all bruised but whole.”
“I’m thirsty too,” continued the fox. “If you lean on me, let’s try to get to the well together.” The wolf agreed and the two set off.
As they dragged themselves along, the fox continued to complain, saying that she felt sick all over; she was a real complainer, so much so that suddenly the wolf took pity on her and said: “Come upstairs and I’ll take you for a ride.
Without repeating it twice, the fox climbed up onto the wolf’s back, and from up there, thinking how stupid the wolf was, laughed and repeated: “Tran Tran che u maròtu u porta u sàn!1”. (1 “Tran Tran that the sick bring the healthy!”).
The wolf did not understand what she was saying and asked: “What do you say, my foxy dear?” and she promptly said: “I’m counting the hours!
They continued to walk for a while and when they finally arrived at the well, the wolf asked: “Who drinks first?”. The fox was very quick to reply: “I’ll drink first. The water, however, is low, so let’s say you hold me by the feet so I can reach it and, when I’ve finished, you can pull me up”.
So they did, the fox stood on the edge of the well, the wolf took her by the feet and helped her down to the water, then when she had finished drinking he pulled her up.
The wolf exclaimed, “Now it’s my turn!” and the fox grabbed his companion by the tail and helped him down into the well.
After the wolf had been drinking for a while, the fox asked him, “Are you drinking or lapping?” and he replied, “Lapping. The fox then said with a determined attitude: “Then I’ll leave you down in the water by the tail!” and he let go of his hold, causing the poor wolf to plunge into the well.
With his last remaining strength, the wolf shouted, “When I find you, I’ll eat you!
The fox was not in the least bit frightened, but rather laughed and left, while the trapped wolf continued to think in anger that if he met her on his path he would certainly eat her.
The next morning, the mistress of the farmstead, the “Fasciora”, went to the well, took the bucket of water and threw it down into the well, then slowly started to pull it up, but the bucket was really heavy that morning! Finally, the bucket reached the top of the well and the wolf jumped out of the bucket, startling the woman so much that she almost fell to the ground.
She hardly had time to realise what had happened when the wolf, wet and in pain, had already escaped.
Now free, the wolf walked on for some more time until he found a haystack and decided to lie down in the sun to dry himself off a bit.
He woke up after a few hours when the sun was no longer high in the sky; he finally felt really good and, thinking about everything that the fox had done to him, he realised that he had really made fun of him and that it was time to take his revenge.
A few days went by, and when the wolf finally met the fox again, he said to her: “You’ve done all sorts of things to me! Then he continued in a firm tone: “This time I’m going to eat you up!
The fox, apparently worried, begged him to forgive her, but the wolf had already decided: he would eat her!
So the fox asked his old companion: “Will you grant me one last wish?” and the wolf, who was good after all, replied: “All right!”.
The fox then said: “I wish you to eat me in Erucaglie where that high rock is”.
The wolf did not object: “Perfect! Wherever you want!” he replied.
The two set off. The journey to their destination was so long and tiring that when they arrived in Erucaglie, they were so tired that they had to take a few moments to rest.
Then suddenly the fox said: “Now I’m going to lie down on that big rock and I’m going to ask you one more favour: start eating me from the feet!
The wolf nodded, thinking that whichever way he started, it was over for the fox.
So the fox lay down on the rock with his belly up and his snout looking out over the valley; the wolf stood in front of him and just in time to open his mouth to take his first bite, the fox gave him such a hard shove with his paws that the wolf slipped down the rocks and rolled so much that he ended up in the river where a team of men were busy building a bridge, which is still called “the bridge of the wolf’s leap”.
Fonte: Due zaini e un camallo.