La Llorona
The Weeping Woman (La Llorona) is an old Hispanic wives tale that has
been told for generations throughout the word. This tale is one that is
typically told by elders to the younger generations. It’s sort of along the
lines of the boogie man. This story is told as a way to make children behave
such as; if you’re bad, Santa Clause will see and he won’t give you presents,
or, “If you make that face, it will get stuck like that”. It is not a story
people will easily forget, and some people swear that it is a true story.
Long
years ago in a humble little village there lived a fine looking girl named
Maria Some say she was the most beautiful girl in the world! And because she
was so beautiful, Maria thought she was better than everyone else.
As
Maria grew older, her beauty increased And her pride in her beauty grew too
When she was a young woman, she would not even look at the young men from her
village. They weren't good enough for her! "When I marry," Maria
would say, "I will marry the most handsome man in the world."
And
then one day, into Maria's village rode a man who seemed to be just the one she
had been talking about. He was a dashing young ranchero, the son of a wealthy
rancher from the southern plains. He could ride like a Comanche! In fact, if he
owned a horse, and it grew tame, he would give it away and go rope a wild horse
from the plains. He thought it wasn't manly to ride a horse if it wasn't half
wild.
He
was handsome! And he could play the guitar and sing beautifully. Maria made up
her mind-that was, the man for her! She knew just the tricks to win his
attention.
If
the ranchero spoke when they met on the pathway, she would turn her head away.
When he came to her house in the evening to play his guitar and serenade her,
she wouldn't even come to the window. She refused all his costly gifts. The
young man fell for her tricks. "That haughty girl, Maria, Maria! " he
said to himself. "I know I can win her heart. I swear I'll marry that
girl."
And
so everything turned out as Maria planned. Before long, she and the ranchero
became engaged and soon they were married. At first, things were fine. They had
two children and they seemed to be a happy family together. But after a few
years, the ranchero went back to the wild life of the prairies. He would leave
town and be gone for months at a time. And when he returned home, it was only
to visit his children. He seemed to care nothing for the beautiful Maria. He
even talked of setting Maria aside and marrying a woman of his own wealthy
class.
As
proud as Maria was, of course she became very angry with the ranchero. She also
began to feel anger toward her children, because he paid attention to them, but
just ignored her.
One
evening, as Maria was strolling with her two children on the shady pathway near
the river, the ranchero came by in a carriage. An elegant lady sat on the seat
beside him. He stopped and spoke to his children, but he didn't even look at
Maria. He whipped the horses on up the street.
When
she saw that, a terrible rage filled Maria, and it all turned against her
children. And although it is sad to tell, the story says that in her anger
Maria seized her two children and threw them into the river! But as they
disappeared down the stream, she realized what she had done! She ran down the
bank of the river, reaching out her arms to them. But they were long gone.
The
next morning, a traveler brought word to the villagers that a beautiful woman
lay dead on the bank of the river. That is where they found Maria, and they
laid her to rest where she had fallen.
But
the first night Maria was in the grave, the villagers heard the sound of crying
down by the river. It was not the wind, it was La Llorona crying. "Where
are my children?" And they saw a woman walking up and down the bank of the
river, dressed in a long white robe, the way they had dressed Maria for burial.
On many a dark night they saw her walk the river bank and cry for her children.
And so they no longer spoke of her as Maria. They called her La Llorona, the
weeping woman. And by that name she is known to this day. Children are warned
not to go out in the dark, for, La Llorona might snatch them and never return
them.
Why is it that people believe in this
tale so strongly? A common pattern with Hispanic folklore is a strong belief. I’m
not sure why, but it seems that Hispanic tales are usually the most widely believed
and they are usually quite obscure. Maybe the tale is so deeply ingrained into
their childhoods that it follows the children to adulthood.
