Histories of Witches – Historias de Brujos
From Cuentos Populares en Chile (Chilean Folktales) – by Ramón A. Laval
Part 2 – Myths, Traditions, Things (Mitos, Tradiciones, Casos)
065. The Sorcerers of Peumo (Los Brujos de Peumo)
(This comes from D. Roberto Rengifo, who gave me this story in writing in 1921.)
Near the town of Peumo, capital of the Cachapoal Region, there are some isolated hills whose summits have the shape of conical caps with high rounded tips, and the people in the nearby areas are accustomed to go there to enjoy themselves and relax on Sundays, bringing along foods and drinks with them. The largest of these hills is called Gurutrén or Gulutrén.
There lived around that time, not many years ago, some poor descendants of the aborigines that were considered sorcerers among the modern settlers, attributing to the fact that, as the Devil danced on the summit of Gulutrén, they climbed up there on Saturdays to make ointments or cream to spread over their bodies and go flying like the kites do.
They say that the carpenter from the Codao plantation, which was the largest and closest in the surrounding areas, disappeared on Saturdays in Peumo, and the ill-intention tongues attributed this to him having entered a pact with the sorcerers. And as proof of this they said that sometime afterward he also wanted to fly, [so he] went with the other sorcerers up to Gulutrén, spread the ointments over his body and saying “Neither God nor Saint Mary”, he threw himself off the peak and immediately found himself flying in the air between a cluster of kites; but, on passing above the houses of the plantation and seeing them so far below, he exclaimed fearfully: “Ave María, we are flying very high [above ground]!”, and immediately he fell and was killed. On Sunday the following morning they found him torn apart in the middle of the road, in front of the houses.
[Author’s note:] There is no need to explain the explosive death of our carpenter, because surely he was probably used to spending his weekly pay enjoying himself in the house of some poor families in those areas, in which liquor was plentiful, as our people usually do in gatherings of that nature. The fact that he dared to overstep the limit at those drinking parties: the fact that he lost his life and was accidentally or intentionally run over by a cart is nothing strange in those times and in the countryside like those. This story of sorcerers and many others certainly would have served as to cover up or excuse a murder to peasants or gullible people. -R. Rengifo.
—– VOCABULARY —–
Bonete – (religious) birreta; (hat) cap; (education) mortarboard; (animal anatomy) reticulum
Redondeado – (with curved shape) rounded; (linguistics) rounded
Holgarse – (to enjoy oneself) to have fun, to have a good time
Holgar – (to dally) to be idle, to take one’s ease; (to be superfluous) to be unnecessary
Causear – (Chile) comer (foods)
Cumbre – (geography) summit, top, peak; (pinnacle) height, peak; (convention) summit; (outstanding) most important, high
Chonchón – (lamp) (Chile) oil lamp; (toy) (Chile) paper kite
Contornos – (periphery) outskirts, environs, surrounding area
Contorno – (silhouette) outline; (geography) contour; (measurement) girth; (of a coin) edge
En prueba de – under proof; test; as proof of; in proof of; as a demonstration of
Bandada – (group of birds) flock; (group of fish) shoal; (crowd) swarm
Fundo – (rural property) country estate, farm
Reventado – (very tired) exhausted, shattered; (party-loving) (Mexico) party animal
Reventar – (to break with pressure) to burst; (to explode) to blow up, to shatter (glass); (to cause to fail) to ruin, to spoil, to disrupt, to wreck, to break up (a gathering); (colloquial) (to bother) to annoy, to piss off; (to finish off) to ride into the ground; (to hit) to beat the living daylights out of, to punch; (to exhaust) to wear out, to tire out; (to break) to burst, to blow out; (to crash) to break (wave); (to be full) to burst; (to get angry) to explode; (to be eager to, used with “por”) to be bursting to, to be dying to
Reventarse – (to be destroyed) to burst, to break, to explode; (to exhaust oneself); (to collide with) to crash into, to run into
[J]
Huelga – (collective withdrawal from work) strike
Holgar – (to dally) to be idle, to take one’s ease; (to be superfluous) to be unnecessary
Holgarse – (to enjoy oneself) to have fun, to have a good time
Semanal – (corresponding to one week) weekly; (per week) a week
Prodigar – (dar generosamente) to lavish, to be lavish with, to be generous with; (to waste) to squander
Sobrepasar – (to go above) to exceed; (to pass) to overtake; (aviation) to overshoot
Sobrepasarse – (to overstep the bounds) to go too far; (to exceed) to overreact
Atrevidamente – daringly; safely; boldly; bravely
Remolienda – (Chile) party
Encubrir – (to hide) to conceal, to mask; (to keep secret or hidden) to cover up (a crime), to harbor (a criminal)
Disculpar – (to pardon) to forgive, to excuse; (to ask forgiveness)
Disculparse – (to admit guilt) to apologize
Crédulo – gullible, credulous