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)
015. The Well In The Road (El Pozo De La Cazalda)
Collected at the Port of Blue Hill (Puerto de Cerro Azul), Province of Cañete, Department of Lima, by Nilda Ferrari M., a third-year high school student from the “Miguel Grau” National School of Magdalena Nueva, Lima.
Around Cerro Azul (lit. Blue Hill), on the road to San Luis, there is a place called La Calzada (lit. The Road). On a nearby hill there is a small irrigation ditch that runs through it. Regarding the origin of this irrigation ditch, it is said that an Englishman with the last name Renycke, a very rich man, came to Cañete and settled in San Luis. From there he would go to these places. At that time the town of Cerro Azul had not yet been founded. And he saw that these dead lands could be very productive, but water was needed to irrigate them. It is said that he sold his soul to the devil in exchange for a well of water on that hill so that the land could be irrigated. Thus the pact was fulfilled: this well appeared; and the English gentleman died shortly thereafter; and when they kept vigil over his body, there appeared a dog with eyes like two fires, which extinguished all the lights, and from which some of the visitors fainted. When the lights were lit again and they returned to the place, the body was nowhere to be found. The devil kept his word and carried the English gentleman away, but even today the water still flows down from the hill.
—– VOCABULARY —–
Pozo – (source of water or oil) well; (tunnel of a mine) shaft; (deepest part) deep part; (figurative) (supply) well; (pot) pool
Calzada – (central part of a highway) road; (central part of a street) road; (side of an expressway) carriageway; (thoroughfare) road; (street) avenue
Próximo – (following) next; (indicating closeness) close, near
Acequia – (agriculture) irrigation ditch, irrigation channel; (body of water) stream
Apellidado – with the last name
Regar – (to drench with water) to water, to irrigate, to hose down; (geography) to flow through; (to cause to flow) to spill; (to fail) (Mexico) to screw up; (to sprinkle) to scatter; (to disseminate) to spread
Regarse – (to bathe) to shower, to take a shower; (to disperse) to scatter; (to become cross) to get angry
Velar – (to observe the deceased overnight) to keep vigil over, to have a wake for; (to care for a sick person overnight) to sit up with; (to partially conceal) to mask, to veil; (photography) to expose, to fog; (to cover with a veil) to veil; (to envy) to eye with envy; (to go without sleeping) to stay awake, to stay up; (to care for) to look after, to watch over, to see to it, to ensure that, to safeguard; (anatomy) velar; (linguistics) velar
Velarse – (to cover oneself with a veil) to veil oneself; (photography) to get exposed, to get fogged
Apagar – (to disconnect) to turn off, to switch off, to put out; (to cause to stop burning) to put out, to blow out, extinguish; (to satisfy) to quench; (to pacify) to calm, to soothe; (to tone down) to muffle, to soften
Apagarse – (to blow out) to go out; (to stop working) to go off; (to abate) to die down; (to dissipate) to fade, to go out, to wane
Desmayarse – (to lose consciousness) to faint
Desmayar – (to become disheartened) to lose heart, to become demoralized; to falter
Prender – (to ignite) to light; (to activate) to turn on, to switch on; (to apprehend) to catch, to arrest, to capture; (to put on) to attach, to pin, to fasten; (botany) to take root; (to become popular) to catch on; (to receive) to take
Prenderse – (to burn) to catch fire
Actualidad – (current phase) current situation; (present moment) present; (these days); (current events) current affairs; (news program) news; (interest) topicality