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)
020. The Headless Priest (El Cura Sin Cabeza)
Collected in Tambo, District of the Province of Islay, Department of Arequipa, by Esther Barreto, a fourth year high school student at the “Miguel Grau” National School in Magdalena Nueva, Lima.
Long ago, the story of a deceased priest who conducted his life with stinginess, and who had to suffer for his sins, ran through the imagination of the inhabitants of the town of Tambo. They said that he used to appear at midnight, next to the main altar of the chapel, where he had been chaplain; but his apparition was both strange and fantastic, for he appeared without his head. At midnight, everyone who passed by saw the lights lit, and aroused by their curiosity they took a peek at the altar; and they all were stunned to see “the headless priest”, as they called him.
It is said that one day, after the mandatory ceremonies, the doors to the chapel were closed and the room was vacated; a young man who had fallen asleep was trapped in that small temple and became fearful for his situation when he woke up: locked in and with candles mysteriously lit. He began to shout and pull punches, but his calls for help were in vain at such late hours.
He was greatly surprised upon seeing a figure appearing at the altar! The headless priest! His legs weakened and he was at the point of fainting when the famous priest made a gesture to him, calling for him. And he heard a voice that told him to come closer, to not be afraid, that he only wanted to celebrate a mass and that to do this he needed someone to listen to him; and he begged him to be his listener. Dumbstruck with fear, the young man decided to kneel down and abide with the circumstances. A mass was celebrated. The light was extinguished and the ghost of the chapel disappeared forever. The young man rushed toward the door, which was still closed. He crashed and fell unconscious.
—– VOCABULARY —–
Difunto – (dead) deceased, late; (dead person) deceased
Difuntos – deceased, departed
Sacerdote – (religious) priest
Mezquindad – (quality of being mean) meanness; (tightfistedness) stinginess, meanness; (despicable action) mean thing to do; (inadequate amount of money) pittance
Penar – (legal) to punish; (to visit in the form of a ghost) to haunt; (to be in pain) to suffer; (to agonize over) to pine; (to appear in the form of a ghost) to be in torment
Culpa – (responsibility) blame, fault, guilt; (religious) sin
Capellán – (religious) chaplain
Fantástico – (related to imagination) fantasy, fantastic, fantastical; (excellent) fantastic; (used to express joy or amazement) fantastic
Puesto que – since, given that, because, as
Atisbar – (to see) to make out, to discern; (to keep a watch on) to observe, to spy on, to watch; (to look furtively at) to peep at; (to look out) to peep out
Pasmar – (to astonish) to amaze, to stun
Pasmarse – (to be astonished) to be amazed; (to freeze) to freeze
Desalojar – (to leave) to vacate, to abandon, to move out of; (to empty) to evacuate, to clear; (to put out) to evict, to remove, to eject (by force); (nautical) to displace
Aprisionar – (to put in prison) to imprison; (to immobilize) to trap; (to hold captive) to trap
Templo – (place of worship) temple; (center) temple
Flaquear – (to grow weak) to weaken, to flag; (to become dispirited) to lose heart
Desmayar – (to become disheartened) to lose heart, to become demoralized, to falter
Desmayarse – (to lose consciousness) to faint
Gesto – (indication) gesture; (facial movement) expression, face, gesture; (courtesy) gesture
Oyente – (audience) listener; (student) auditor, auditing student, unregistered student, occasional student
Enmudecer – (to hush) to silence; (to become silent) to fall silent; (to be rendered speechless) to be struck dumb
Arrodillarse – (to genuflect) to kneel down, to kneel
Arrodillar – (to bend the knees) to make kneel, to bring someone to his knees
Atenerse – (to comply with; used with “a”) to abide by, to follow, to obey; (to take into account; used with “a”) to bear in mind, to stand by, to abide by; (to limit oneself to; used with “a”) to confine oneself to, to stick to
Disparado – (in haste) quickly, in a rush, in a hurry; (catapulted) off like a shot
Estrellarse – (to collide) to crash, to smash; (to fail) to fail; (to run up against; used with “con”) to come up against
Estrellar – (to break violently) to smash, to crash, to slam; (to cover with stars) to fill with stars; (to cook in oil) to fry