Or the power of skeptical thinking.Be they tales of dragons, water nymphs, or the devil himself, Catalonia’s rich tradition of mythology and legends have passed through generations for centuries. So, there you have it: This all-purpose supernatural yarn can be held aloft and brandished as a confirmatory tale by those who believe in Jesus. Happy are the people who can recognize Him whenever He comes, in and in whatever form. Christ came in disguise! There is reason to believe He still does. Mark states that after the Resurrection, the Lord "appeared in another form unto two of them, as they walked, and went into the country" (Mark 16:12). Truly "He will command His angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways." (Psalm 91:11) and yet God, quite possibly through the ministry of His unseen angels, had placed the moth on the headlight lens exactly when and where it was needed. No, the figure the engineer saw in the headlight's beam was not an angel. While moths are indeed attracted to light, what could have caused one to throw itself at that lamp at just the precise instant necessary to save so many lives? Surely some benevolent spirit or personal guardian guided the moth's flight, possibly the ghost of someone who had died at that very spot and now looks to safeguard others across a dangerous span (e.g., the " ghost children" of San Antonio).įinally, the tale can be regarded as a parable illustrating the mysterious ways by which the Almighty acts on His children's behalf, His unseen hand working miracles: Yet another ghost tale laid to rest yet another "spook" that turned out to be anything but (e.g., the mysterious self-driving car that a rain-soaked passenger took a ride in).Īnother interpretation focuses on the improbable coincidence of the moth's being drawn to the lamp's beam at just the right moment to project a menacing figure onto the tracks if the train was to be halted before plunging into the abyss. The dead moth) the sort of level-headed thinking that leads to the debunking of the otherwise inexplicably eerie. Where others are prone to jump up and yell "Ghost! Ghost!" then rush screaming into the night convinced they've had a brush with the supernatural, those whose innate skepticism causes them to look further into the puzzling or frightening see in the engineer's act of investigating the lamp (and thereby discovering On the one hand, it can serve as confirmation that seemingly spooky events often are found to have perfectly ordinary, rational explanations once initial panic has subsided. It was God's way of protecting us."Īs a belief tale, this yarn has a number of interpretations. When Queen Victoria was told of the strange happening she said, "I’m sure it was no accident. In the fog, it appeared to be a phantom figure, waving its arms. He knew the answer now: the moth had flown into the beam, seconds before the train was due to reach the washed-out bridge. He looked at it a moment, then on impulse wet its wings and pasted it to the glass of the lamp.Ĭlimbing back into his cab, he switched on the lamp and saw the "flagman" in the beam. But not until they got to London, did they solve the mystery.Īt the base of the engine's head lamp the engineer discovered a huge dead moth. While the bridge and the tracks were being repaired, the crew made a more intensive search for the strange flagman. If he had not heeded the ghostly figure, the train would have plunged into the stream. The bridge had been washed out in the middle and had toppled into a swollen stream. Suddenly he stopped and stared into the fog in horror. On a hunch, he walked a few yards further up the tracks. But they could find no trace of the strange figure. He and his fellow trainsmen climbed out to see what had stopped them. The engineer grabbed for the brakes and brought the train to a grinding halt. Revealed in the beam of the engine's headlights was a weird figure in a black cloak standing in the middle of the tracks and waving its arms. The train was carrying Queen Victoria.Suddenly the engineer saw a startling sight. The British express train raced through the night, its powerful headlamp spearing the black darkness ahead. This story about a ghostly moth figure saving a train from disaster has circulated in a number of forms, some that are mute about the identity of any of the passengers aboard the rescued train, and some that name various important personages (including Queen Victoria) as having been saved by the ghostly figure:
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