High in the Alps of Switzerland, where snow melts into silver streams, lies a lake so still that mountains bow to their own reflection. The villagers called it Echoensee, for whatever one whispered to its surface would return threefold — once in joy, once in sorrow, and once in truth.
No one dared speak there carelessly, for the lake remembered.
Among the villagers lived Clara, a shepherd’s daughter known for her laughter and her songs. Every summer, she sang across the valley, and the echoes followed her home.
One year, a traveler came — a young mason named Lukas, who built stone bridges for the mountain roads. He heard Clara’s voice and followed it like sunlight through fog. Soon, love grew between them.
But Lukas was poor, and her father forbade the match. “Sing all you wish, girl,” he said, “but a song won’t fill a stomach.”
Heartbroken, Lukas left to earn his fortune. He promised to return by the next snowmelt.
The seasons turned, and Clara waited by the lake each day, singing his name. The water always answered — “Lukas… Lukas…”
Years passed. Her father died, and still she waited. One winter, she walked to the lake and whispered bitterly, “If love is true, why does silence answer me?”
The lake echoed back: true… true… you.
The next morning, the ice cracked, revealing Lukas’s satchel beneath — carried by a landslide from the pass above. Inside lay a letter, sealed but unread.
Clara broke it open.
“My dearest,
I have built the bridge that will lead me back to you.
If the mountains take me first, know that I love you beyond the echo of time.”
Her tears fell onto the lake, and for the first time, its reflection rippled. In that trembling mirror, she saw Lukas smiling.
From then on, her songs were no longer of sorrow but of gratitude. The echoes returned softer now, like blessings.
To this day, shepherds say that when the wind carries a woman’s voice across Echoensee, the mountains answer not in sorrow, but in peace.
Moral of the Story
Love may fade in sound but not in spirit. What is spoken with truth is never lost — it only changes form.
Knowledge Check
- Where did this story take place?
In the Swiss Alps beside a lake called Echoensee. - What was special about the lake?
It returned voices three times — in joy, sorrow, and truth. - Who were the main characters?
Clara, a shepherd’s daughter, and Lukas, a stonemason. - Why did Lukas leave?
To earn money to marry Clara. - What happened to him?
He died in a mountain landslide before he could return. - What was the story’s message?
True love never dies; it echoes forever in memory and nature.
Origin: Swiss folktale (Alpine oral tradition)
