Myths, Legends and Peruvian Stories (Mitos, Leyendas y Cuentos Peruanos)
Selections and Notes by José María Arguedas and Francisco Izquierdo Ríos
Costa – Leyenda (Coast – Legend)
004. The Mysterious Boat (La Barquita Misteriosa)
In the Department of Piura, as we all know, one can find the Cabo Blanco (e.g. White Cape). They say that something occurred here at this site that even today this is remembered with much fear. It is said that people who worked as fishermen would go out in their boat to fish at night near the Cabo Blanco, but they never came back; only their boat was returned to the shore by the waves, but without the slightest sign of the poor fishermen; they mysteriously disappeared, as if it was done by a curse. And they say that every night a luminous boat would appear [only] to sail away; and later it would disappear in the immensity of the waters. The Holy Week was when those fishermen would feel the impulse to venture very far into the sea to fish, but they were never heard from again.
Once the wife of a fisherman was sad and feeling hopeless due to her husband’s delayed return when she felt an immense heat all over her body and saw the bright reflection of the light from that boat; and then she wanted to flee back to her humble abode, but she remained standing there, [as if] petrified, and a weak voice said to her: “There shall be no more afflictions for this place, but I ask that tomorrow, which is St. John’s Day, an unbaptized child be thrown into the sea at midnight, or else the men who had gone out to sea to fish will disappear [forever].”
The woman turned pale and promised to do as agreed; the boat then quickly disappeared. For this, all the women talked about the voice that came from the boat. And one woman, making the greatest of sacrifices, took her little daughter in her arms; the child was near death and was considered terminally ill by the doctors; and with great sadness she threw her child into the sea. And a light made the woman trembled: it was the explosion from that boat which, as they say, belonged to a pirate who was damned, and who, in order to save himself, had made many of the fishermen disappear; and only a [pure] child could save him; and it is because of this that the immense sorrow and anxiety of the fishermen disappeared forever, with the sacrifice of the dying child. However, even today, with great timidity they’d venture close to that site to see if the cursed boat would come out, but the boat remains hidden away. And they say that only during the Holy Week that it’d come out at midnight, and it is a terrifying sight to behold.
[Note 1] In the legend titled “The Mysterious Boat”, from the folklore of Paita, the same affirmation is made that the days in the Holy Week are propitious for the realization of prodigious events, be they evil or good. This belief is very popular throughout the country.
—– VOCABULARY —–
Barquito – (nautical) little ship, little boat, small vessel
Cabo – (geography) cape; (rank) corporal (army, marines), petty officer (navy), sergeant (police); (end piece) end, stub; (string) strand, thread; (nautical) line; (handgrip) handle
De vuelta – (one more time) again; (at a place previously left) back; (back to the place of origin) return
Navegar – (to travel by vessel) to sail (ship), to fly (plane); (computing) to surf; (to travel by vessel) to sail (ship), to fly (plane)
Cierto – (real) true; (sure) certain; (particular) certain, one; (undoubtedly) certainly
Palidecer – (to blanch) to turn pale, to go pale; (to overshadow) to pale
Convenir – (to be desirable) to be advisable, to be a good idea, to be worth; (to be a good time) to suit, to be convenient; (to be beneficial) to do good, to do well, to be in the interest of, to be good for; (to be in agreement; used with “en”) to agree on, to agree to, to agree; (to admit, used with “en”) to agree; (to arrange) to agree (price or date), to agree on
Comentar – (to comment on) to discuss, to talk about; (to explain) to comment on; (to state) to mention, to tell, to say; (radio or television) to commentate on; (to give one’s opinion) to comment, to make a comment; (to gossip) to talk
Moribundo – (near death) dying, moribund; (person who is near death) dying man/woman
Desahuciado – (person made homeless) evicted person; (terminal) terminally ill
Estremecer – (to make tremble) to shake (a building or object), to make shudder (a person); (to tremble) to shudder (a person)
Pirata – (nautical) pirate; (illegal) bootleg, pirate, pirated
Pecado – (immoral act) sin; (offense) sin, crime
Inquietud – (care) worry; (uneasiness) anxiety; (curiosity) affinity, interest; (restiveness) restlessness
Asomarse – (to check) to look; (to peep out) to stick out, to lean out; (to show) to come out, to appear, to stick out
Asomar – (to pop out) to stick out, to lean out; (to show) to come out, to appear, to stick out