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)
019. The Old Indian’s Pampa (La Pampa Del Indio Viejo)
Collected in Caravelí, capital of the Province of the same name, Department of Arequipa, by Alicia Bustamante Moscoso, a fourth-year high school student at the “Miguel Grau” National School of Magdalena Nueva, Lima.
I am going to tell a story or legend from Caravelí. My mamá told me this story of the Old Indian’s Pampa, and my great grandmother told it to her; in this way I do not know how long ago it was.
In Caravelí, on one side of town, as if it is being cut diagonally, there is a pampa in which one can find three hills: two of them are bigger and the last is smaller. People tell of their origin in this way: once upon a time an Indian with his wife and their son left in search of firewood in the pampa. Then the hills began to roar, for they had entered a sacred area. The Indians felt the commotions of the hills, who were angry because these miserable beings had dared to walk along their slopes, which was considered a defiling act. The wife said to her husband that over there, between those hills, were mines full of riches. And her spouse let escape from his lips the desire to possess some of those fabulous treasures. On hearing this, the spirits of the hills became angry and transformed the three Indians into those three hills. The first hill is the Indian who remained seated while chewing on his coca leaves. The next hill is that of the wife; it is said that she has the widest hillside because the woman was sitting there spinning [yarns]. The smallest hill is that of the little Indian, who was turned into a hill because of his parents. Thus, just as they went searching for firewood, they were punished for their ill desires and had to remain forever in this location. And when the bells sound at mid-day or at six in the evening, people say that these hills roar: that the Indians complain of their terrible punishment. They say that within these hills are mines, but what use is it to these Indians to have riches in their bowels now that they have become hills? That is why they continue to bellow out their sadness. Sometimes they say that the Old Indian bellowed like a bull. This is the story of why they call that place the Old Indian’s Pampa.
—– VOCABULARY —–
Bisabuelo – (relative) great-grandfather
Costado – (of an object) side; (anatomy) side
Sesgar – (to cut diagonally) to cut on the bias; (to bias) to slant; (to put an end to) to cut short
Sesgarse – (to distort) to twist
Bramar – (of animals) to roar (bull, lion), to bellow (bull, deer); (literary) (relating to weather) to howl (wind), to roar (sea); (to shout) to roar, to howl, to bellow
Sagrado – (venerated) holy, sacred; (highly important) sacred; (old-fashioned) (religious) sanctuary (refuge in church or monastery), consecrated ground (sacred land)
Airar – (to irritate) to anger, to make angry
Airarse – (to get irritated) to get angry
Atrevido – (adventurous) daring, bold, adventurous; (insolent) sassy, cheeky
Falda – (clothing) skirt; (slope) hillside; (culinary) skirt steak
Profanación – desecration, profanation, defilement
Mina – (excavation) mine; (source) gold mine (of wealth), mine (of information); (explosive) mine; (graphite in a pencil) lead; (tunnel) gallery; (woman) (Southern Cone) chick, bird
Enfadarse – (to get upset) to get angry, to get mad, to get annoyed, to get cross; (to be bored of) (Mexico) to get tired of; (to have a disagreement) to fall out
Enfadar – (to upset) to make angry, to anger, to annoy, to irritate; (to cause boredom) to bore
Chacchado – chewing (https://www.andeanleaves.com/chacchado-of-coca-leaves/)
Ancho – (dimension) wide, broad, thick (wall or door); (in clothing) loose, loose-fitting; (self-satisfied) proud; (at ease) comfortable; (dimension) width, breadth
Hilar – (sewing) to spin; (to connect) to string together; (said of spiders and some insects) to spin
Quejarse – (to protest) to complain, to whine, to moan, to grumble; (to express pain) to whine, to moan, to groan, to complain
Mugir – (to make a deep sound) to moo (cow), to bellow, to low; (to cry out in pain) to howl