From Cuentos Populares en Chile (Chilean Folktales) – by Ramón A. Laval
Part 2 – Myths, Traditions, Things (Mitos, Tradiciones, Casos)
053. The Mermaid of the River Cato (La Sirena Del Rio Cato)
(12-year old D. Augusto Escárate; who has lived in Chillán.)
Near the Cato River in the province of Ñuble, in a part far away from the road, a very beautiful girl with golden hair who sings with a beautiful voice appears every Thursday evening. Some people, attracted by the singing, enter the mountain where the Mermaid stays (she is known to them by this name) and never return. No one knows what happens to them.
—– VOCABULARY —–
Atraído – (used with “por”) attracted to, keen on
Internarse – (to penetrate into) to penetrate, to advance deep, to go into; (to go in depth) to get into, to become deeply involved in; (to process one’s admission into the hospital) to go into the hospital
Internar – (to send to) to commit to (a mental institution), to put in (a mental institution), to admit to (the hospital), to take to (the hospital), to intern (the military); (to move toward the interior) to send inland