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)
014. The Hole In The Hill (El Cerro Hueco)
Collected in Cañete, Province of the Department of Lima, by Gloria Makthon G., a fourth-year high school student at the “Miguel Grau” National School of Magdalena Nueva, Lima.
Near the ruins of Yucahuasi is a village, which situates more or less ten kilometers from Cañete; here there are many ruins that belong to the era of the Incas.
In this village there is a hill which has a very large and deep opening, and this is why they call it the Hole in the Hill (Cerro Hueco).
The inhabitants of that place say that after the earthquake of 1904, during the government of don José Pardo, a pheasant appeared in the Hole in the Hill. After the earthquake, many people had lost their relatives; among them there was a man who was the lone survivor in his family. To pass time, this man went after the pheasant, captured it and placed it under his care. One day he forgot to feed it, and the pheasant disappeared; the man went to search for it and after several days he managed to find it again; and he placed even more attention into rearing the bird. After many years, one day the man neglected to look after the pheasant, and so it disappeared once again; and no matter how hard the man searched, he was not able to find it; he could only find one of its beautiful feathers which the bird left behind in the Hole in the Hill.
The inhabitants of the valley believe that this most beautiful animal had been sent by God to serve as a companion to that man who had lost his entire family in the earthquake.
—– VOCABULARY —–
Hueco – (empty space) hole, hollow; (free time) opening, spare time; (free space) space, gap; (on a road) pothole; (vertical passage) shaft; (without anything inside) hollow, empty; (frivolous) shallow, superficial, empty; (sound) resonant, hollow; (springy) soft, spongy
Abertura – (act of opening) opening; (cavity) opening, aperture, hole, slit, crack, gap; (geography) pass; (candor) openness
Terremoto – (natural disaster) earthquake, quake; (figurative) (menace) terror
Entretenimiento – (diversion) entertainment, fun; (source of diversion) entertainment, pastime, activity; (upkeep) maintenance
Faisán – (animal) pheasant; (culinary) pheasant; (botany) pheasant mushroom