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)
012. The Enchanted Hill (El Cerro Encantado)
Collected in Cañete, Province of the Department of Lima, by Enriqueta Alfaro F., a fourth-year student at the “Miguel Grau” National School of Magdalena Nueva, Lima.
In a small village called the Mouth of the River (Boca del Río) in Cañete there is a hill inundated by the sea; and on it, as the old townsfolk say, lives a cursed princess who is chained [to it]; and that on moonlit nights, when the fishermen leave [land] in their boats, they hear the clear ringing of the bells. Many of these old townspeople claim to have seen the princess, that she is very beautiful and is adorned with precious stones, and that there is a castle hidden beneath the hill.
—– VOCABULARY —–
Encadenada – (bound) linked, chained (physically); (film and television) fade, dissolve
Tañer – (to play an instrument) to strum (stringed instrument); (to cause to sound) to ring
Engalanado – decorated, adorned, decked out