Today is a National Holiday for Switzerland.
It is a day to remember Wilhelm Tell, the Swiss National Hero for Liberty.
THE HERO...
One
day William Tell - a hunter from the nearby valley of Schächen - passed the
market-place with his son Walter without paying attention to the hat. Gessler
had him arrested immediately and told him that his only chance to stay alive was
if he could hit the apple that Gessler had placed on the head of his son Walter-
with a cross-bow. Tell's arrow hit the apple and, when Gessler saw that Tell had
brought a second arrow, he asked why. Tell replied that it was intended for
Gessler if he had hit his son instead of the apple. Gessler was furious, had
Tell dragged on to his boat which was ready for departure to his castle in
Küssnacht at the north-western shores of Lake Lucerne. Suddenly there was a
raging storm and the boat was close to heeling over. Gessler got scared to death
and decided to release Tell from his fetters hoping that he could save them all
with his strong arms. Tell stood in towards land and some rock that he knew near
Sisikon. He escaped at one single bound. The boat drove on and Tell knew that he
was lost. Therefore he hurried to Küssnacht where he hid in a bush near the
gorge that led to Gessler's castle. When Gessler arrived Tell hit him with an
arrow straight through his heart."
From Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia
