The Evil One and Xochitl
Many years ago, specifically in 1749 in Panaquire, a town located in the lowlands of the Barlovento region, at an altitude of approximately 20 meters above sea level. There lived a man named Mauro Leon, a descendant of black slaves, he was a verseador, skilled with the drum and he himself elaborated the drums. He lived on the outskirts of the town near the river; with his wife, this was a beautiful Indian with long black hair, with honey-colored eyes that contrasted with her skin tanned by the sun; with a sensual gait of pronounced hips and narrow waist, which caused dark desires in the local men and envy in women. Her name was Xochitl, which means flower. They were very happy in spite of the intrigues of the villagers. As she did every morning, Xóchitl said goodbye to her husband and went to the river to wash clothes. When she arrived there, she met the rest of the women of the village who looked at her with suspicion because of her beauty; while others commented that she would see that ugly black man. The beautiful woman, ignoring the unpleasant comments, continues with her work.
At dusk, the beautiful woman leaves for home, where her beloved mauro is waiting for her. In the middle of the way she meets a group of women ready to bother the beautiful Indian woman, they trip her so that the basket with the clean clothes falls to the ground. Upset by what happened, she decides to pick up the clothes and return to the river to wash them again, without saying a word to her aggressors. Several hours have passed and the afternoon falls, Mauro, worried, decides to go in search of his wife because it is getting dark and those roads have many stories of dead and apparitions, and the river is very far from the ranch. When he finishes washing the clothes, the woman sets out on her way back home. When she approaches the bridge to cross the road, she sees the silhouette of a man, where the bridge begins, she accelerates her pace and panic takes over her; when the stranger approaches she says; what is such a beautiful woman doing alone at this time of day in these parts. Suddenly the stranger's eyes shone like two sparks of candle and he let out a laugh that echoed throughout the place and disappeared. The woman collapsed in the middle of the road.
Mauro is about to reach the bridge and, lighting the way with a torch, he sees the body of his wife in the middle of the bridge. He ran in a hurry with his anguished heart screaming: Xóchitl, Xóchitl, Xóchitl, Xóchitl. When he arrives he lifts her up and gently pats her beautiful face until she reacts, full of panic she tells her husband what happened, Mauro clenches his fists and says you have just stumbled upon the evil one and he will not rest until he takes you to him. You must not go back to the river. She is even more frightened and asks him who this man is that the evil one lies to, he explains that every year when the night of St. John approaches, the evil one appears to take the most beautiful woman of the village and challenges the husband of the female.
Mauro decides to go in search of the evil one, before he does, to clarify once and for all what he is up to and to make a pact so that he leaves his beautiful wife alone. According to the legend, the people who want to make a pact with the evil one must go to the end of the road, cross the bridge and wait until midnight. Mauro, following the recommendations of the village elders, arrives at the place and waits for midnight. When the hour arrives, the man begins to shout; he must call him three times and without fear. Evil, evil, evil, evil. Suddenly from the darkness emerges a silhouette wrapped in a black suit with a top hat, a tenebrous voice and eyes of fire. This strange character asks: who dares to call me and what do you want and have to offer. Mauro, taking courage, shouts: I came so that you leave my wife alone, the evil one answers: uhmmmmm, the beautiful Xochitl, what do you have in exchange for her superficial and inner beauty. He replies, a drum counterpoint between you and me the better seer wins. The evil one caressing his creepy face tells him, you are in no position to demand, I dare you to find out how old I am. Mauro scratching his head replies ok, the evil one tells him you have until 12 midnight on June 24 to find out my age.... With that said the creepy figure walked away with a laugh that was heard throughout the population......
More tormented than ever; mauro arrives home, his wife seeing so much despair in his eyes asks him what happened with that evil one; what is the pact, the man hugging his wife breaks down in tears and says forgive me my wife, but that evil one made it very difficult for me and he is going to come for you, the night of the 24th at twelve o'clock; but that evil one made it very difficult for me and he is going to come for you, the night of the 24th at twelve o'clock, she anguished tells him what he asked you to do, mauro tells him almost nothing woman, he wants me to find out his age, she remains thoughtful and tells him I already believe, to know what we are going to do to find out the age of that monster. The incredulous man looks at her and says how? Woman, she says leave it to me.... The beautiful Xochitl, says to her husband I need you to get me a lot of honey, dry leaves, many flowers and a small palm, the man without understanding does what his wife tells him. When he gathers everything, she tells him we must wait until nightfall, the evil one walks along the river in search of victims.
At dusk the beautiful Indian, undresses and bathes in honey, then wallows in the dry leaves, flowers and finally puts the corozo as a crest on his head, all the hair is combed forward to cover his face. Then she says to her husband: "You keep hidden so that you can listen to what the evil one has to say. In fact, when night falls, the woman squats down on the banks of the river. While Maura waits in hiding. When suddenly a chilling whistling sound is heard, the creature is already approaching. As it passes near the woman, it stops and says ohhhhh, what a strange animal this is, what strange feathers and this crest and this soft beak, what a rare species in my many years I have never seen such a rare animal. He kept whistling and continued on his way. Mauro waited for it to move away and said to his wife, "You heard him say his age will no longer take you"; they waited happily for the 24th to arrive. With his characteristic smile and his eyes of fire he said to Mauro; and well, you have the answer? Mauro smiling told him yes... maligno you have so many years... .... Writhing in anger he said to him you have defeated me but this is not over and letting out his usual laugh he walked away.....
Never underestimate the enemy, and much less a woman....... And since then a couplet has been heard to the rhythm of the drum that goes like this:
When the 24th arrives, the evil one is already approaching, to settle his pact.
He does it without machete or shotgun, many do not manage to save themselves from these terrible bets, but this time he lost; and with empty hands he walked away.
Maligno with all his years, magic and power, did not take any soul and thanks to the cunning of a woman, since that day a cry is heard throughout the region, is the evil one who is not resigned and cries on the banks of the river tuy, because a mortal defeated him and has lost power..... In his desperate cry is heard as a lament Noooooooooooooo. Trust in a woman.
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