Myths, Legends and Peruvian Stories (Mitos, Leyendas y Cuentos Peruanos)
Selections and Notes by José María Arguedas and Francisco Izquierdo Ríos
Costa – Leyenda (Coast – Myth)
009. The Celebration of the Negros (La Fiesta De Los Negros)
Collected at the Port of Callao by Estela Westphalen Milano, a fourth year high school student at “Miguel Grau” National School in Magdalena Nueva, Lima.
The story goes that many years ago the famous Port of Callao extended as far as the Isle of San Lorenzo, but due to a punishment from God, it had been reduced to what it is today.
It is said that the Negros worshiped an unknown god, dancing the most immoral dances, which caused qualms among the citizens of Callao who witnessed this. God wanted to put an end to this scandalous celebration by the Negros and, as if to erase this mark of stain, he exerted all his strengths on the tranquil water of the ocean, causing the waves to swell enormously, and in search of land where they could spread, they covered immense areas of the Port, bringing fear and terror to the Negros. They ran for their lives, but all were for nought. Never again did the ocean bring devastation like it did that day.
However, every year during the Week of Easter the ocean would rage, as if to remind itself of the old times when these lands did not belong to it.
—– VOCABULARY —–
Historia – (series of events) history; (narrative) story; (discipline) history; (something of the past) history; (excuse) story; (rumor) tale; (fling) affair; (dealing) business
Castigo – (sanction) punishment, penalty; (damage) punishment; (burden) pain
Festejar – (to party) to celebrate; (to honor) to entertain, to wine and dine; (to flatter) to laugh at; (old-fashioned) (to woo) to court
Festejarse – (party, holidy, occasion) to be celebrated
Danzar – (to move rhythmically to music) to dance; (figurative) (to run around) to rush about; (colloquial) (to stick one’s nose in; used with “en”) to meddle in
Escrúpulo – (hesitation) scrupple, qualm; (meticulousness) care, scrupulousness; (queasiness) qualm
Presenciar – (to view) to witness, to see; (to go to) to attend, to be present at
Escandaloso – (shameful) scandalous, outrageous, shocking; (vibrant) loud; (boisterous) noisy, hearty (laugh)
Borrar – (to make disappear) to delete, to erase, to remove, to wipe off, to rub out, to rub off, to wipe; (to forget) to blot out; (to unsubscribe) to take off, to take out
Borrarse – (to vanish) to fade, to disappear; (to unsubscribe) to cancel one’s membership
Terreno – (geography) land, soil, terrain, ground; (parcel of land) land, lot, plot of land, plot; (figurative) (area) field, sphere; (sports) field, playing field, pitch; (place occupied illegally) squat
Tapar – (to cover up) to cover, to block, to hide, to fill, to wrap up; (to close) to put the lid on, to put the top on; (to obstruct) to block; (to conceal) to cover up; (dentistry) to fill
Taparse – (to cover yourself) to cover up, to wrap up, to cover; (to become obstructed) to get blocked up
Azotar – (to punish with a scourge) to whip, to flog; (to thrash) to spank, to slap; (to pound) to lash, to batter; (to do heavy damage to) to devastate; (to close forcefully) to slam
Embravecer – (literary) (to make rough) to enrage
Embravecerse – (to become rough) to rage
Recordar – (to recall) to remember, to recall; (to call to mind) to remind
Recordarse – (to awake from sleep) to wake up
Pertenecer – (to be owned by) to belong to; (to be part of) to belong to; (to be included in) to belong to; (to be the duty of) to be the responsibility of