Salvadoran legends passed on

Legends and myths are an important part of El Salvador's culture and tradition. Grandparents or older relatives usually tell them to young children and they often have a didactic or moral purpose. Many love to tell these myths and legends to scare children and to make them behave. There are many legends, but the most famous ones that many remember are "La Carreta Chillona", "La Siguanaba" and ,"El Cipitillo".

   

I interviewed a family friend to tell me what it was like to grow up in El Salvador and have these legends told to her. Sandra Luna, while growing up in El Salvador her grandparents would tuck her in and her siblings and tell them stories of their country. The main one that stood out to her the most is "La Carreta Chillona". The story is about a cart also known as a wagon. It had no driver or horse pulling it. It passed by at night and it is said that it makes noise. The wagon is told to have dead bodies in it and you can find skulls on its poles that is said each skull has red eyes that shine. Sandra was told that the children had to be in bed and asleep by midnight or else the wagon would pass by to pick them up and take them away. Sandra was not to look out her window or ever follow it because if she did she would go crazy or die the next day. Her grandparent said that it only passed by los campos and that one of their friends went crazy after trying to follow the wagon.

Until this day it has created fear in her. Now all of the time when it gets dark she closes her windows and doesn’t like to look out of them because she feels that she would see la carreta chillona and go crazy. So she doesn’t take any chances. She says that now she understands why her grandparents would tell her that story. They wanted the kids to fall asleep early and not bug after dark. She is now telling her daughter the same story since she likes to stay up late. In her case her grandparents used it to make them go to bed early and not want to stay up and play all night. But for others as I did research, it was to keep nosey people out of ones life and to not be a chismoso. It also said it would come to take the liars away. So it made people think twice about lying and talking bad about others.

Another famous Salvadoran legend is "La Siguanaba". The story that my mother would tell me when I was little. Its about a pretty attractive women called Sihuehuet. She was married to a son of a God ,Tlaloc. But when her husband went away to fight in the war, she cheated on him with other men. She had a son, Cipitio. She would leave him unattended and would neglect him so she could run off with her lovers. Once Tlaloc found out he condemned her and gave her a new name, Sihunanba, meaning horrible woman. He also cursed her son too. 

She is described to be seen in Salvadorians creeks, rivers and lakes during the night. She is a woman with long nails, long eye lashes, big long boobs and appears to be wearing all white. Men fall in love with her blindly. She traps you and screams horribly and loud. When her scream sounds close it means that she is far away but when the sound seems to be far it means that she is closer then you think. She is seen as a beautiful woman at first sight, but she turns into a horrible abomination after luring her victims to isolated gorges. She was forced to wander the countryside, appearing to men who traveled alone at night. She is supposed to be seen at night washing clothes and always looking for her son. Her victims are usually single or unfaithful men. Who then are said to have fevers, lice in their hair, and scratches all over their backs and arms. It is said that the only way to prevent her from attacking is to bite a cross or a religious medallion. Or pull on her hair and say a prayer to repel her.

The concept that many get from this story is to not cheat on their partners or bad things can happen to you. For women it shows that you should be a faithful wife and to not leave your children unattended for adultery or anything bad. For the men it shows that being unfaithful can cause you harm and that you should be home at night with your family and wife and not doing foolish things.

The other legend is about her son "El Cipitio." who because of his mother’s malnourished treatment was also cursed and condemned to live forever as a young boy. About 7 years old, his feet are said to be in a backward position, he has a huge belly and wears a large pointy hat like a sombrero. He has the ability to tele-transport. He likes to eat bananas and ashes. Although according to the legend he is not harmful, he likes to bother people especially pretty ladies by laughing boisterously, throwing things, or whistling. He also confuses people by leaving foot marks that many follow into no where and are confused since his feet are position backwards. He is a trickster that likes to play a lot of games. He behaves as a mocking spirit, laughing a lot, dancing around the victim, and always leaving behind traces of his small footsteps.

These legends are going to be passed on from generation to generation.  It’s a part of the Salvadoran culture that many are trying to keep alive.  Which I think is a great idea. I think its important to keep traditions going to keep the culture alive. It helps one understand morals, values and beliefs. It gives people a sense of what boundaries they should have. These stories aren't just told to pass time but to set examples on how to act socially. It makes one think about their actions and know from right and wrong. Lastly, it helps that it entertains people so we will keep hearing them through out the years, even if they are changed a little over time they still have the same meaning one can take in.