Legends are a staple in central American countries and can be found everywhere with each story having their own version depending on the country. Some popular legends are:
La Leyenda Del Sombrerón
El sombreron is a famous legend from Guatemala. El sombreron is a short dark man that carries a guitar and rides on a horse. According to ABC tales the story goes:
“In the neighborhood of La Recolección lived a woman named Susana, a young lady, daughter of the woman who owned the store. She was a very pretty girl, with long hair and big, hazelnut eyes. One night, when there was a full moon, she was on the balcony admiring the sky. Suddenly a short character with a big hat and a guitar approached her. Her beauty amazed him. He sang her a song, but at that moment her parents found out she was out and made her get inside the house. Since that day she was not able to sleep anymore because this character appeared in the house or sang to her from the street. She was not able to eat either, because every time they served her food it was contaminated with soil. Worried, the parents cut her hair and took it to the church so that the priest would put holy water on it and would pray for her. A few days later El Sombrerón stopped bothering her.”
This legend was created in order for young girls to preserve the collective values of society.
El Cadejo
Cadejos are dog-like creatures that appear to travelers. There’s a white cadejo who protects the traveler from harm and another black cadejo who tries to kill the traveler. According to Espookytales the story goes:
“There were two brothers who walked into the house of a black magician. During a storm, he asks the two brothers to help him with some logs for a fire. The brothers slack off and eat the magician’s food, but never complete the task he asked help with. When the black magician realizes food is gone and there is not enough wood for his fire, he puts a curse on the road that leads to the village where the brothers live. Voices bother the brothers, while on their way home, and when they turn their backs to these voices, they get turned into a white cadejo and a black cadejo. When they return to their village, in the form of Cadejos, they are banished and have no choice but to wander.”
This version of the story originates from El Salvador.
La Tulivieja
La Tulivieja was a beautiful woman turned into a hideous monster by god himself for drowning her own son. According to Folklore.usc.edu the story goes:
“The story is, there was this girl who was very beautiful. And she had a secret relationship with a guy in her town from which she got pregnant and a little boy was born. Then she drowned the boy in the river to make up for her premarital relationship sin. After that, God punished her by making her the ugliest monster possible. Like, making her face like a colador (pasta strainer) where hair came out of the holes. And like her hands turned into claws, and her feet turned backwards. And she’s supposed to spend the rest of her life looking for her son in her river. The legend is that she still hounds the river looking for her son and she will take her beautiful form while sitting by it. Any noise will bring out the ugly monster, though.”
These stories are but a fraction of the many stories and versions of these stories that exist among cultures and countries.
