The Fair Judge of The Night

Many moons ago, after the Spanish colonization was over, when it was necessary to maintain tranquility at night and remove the dangers from it, an uncommon being appeared from the beyond to bring peace and order.

This being was a ghost, but no one knew what he was until one night during the summer of 1821. Some men were returning drunk and were causing a lot of troubles in their neighborhood in La Palma. They did not listen to anyone and continued their mess. However, a strong wind suddenly blew and shook the branches of the trees. It was so strong that they hit the ground immediately afterward.

When they stood up, they saw the being as nothing they had ever seen in their lives. It was quite tall, perhaps 1.80m, and was headless! They could only see a plume of smoke from his neck! Also, it dressed entirely in black and rode a black horse (figure 1). Plus, in his right hand, he held a whip.

Figure 1. The Fair Judge of the Night during the sunrise. ¹

They were aquiver because they didn’t know what that being was. However, for a brief moment, they thought they were brave and bold and started to throw stones, sticks, and all that they could find. Later, they yelled at him: “Who do you think you’re? Why are you spoiling our night?”

Suddenly, these men were shocked because their stones and sticks didn’t hit him or his horse, they just went across their bodies! The men tried to run, but the ghost chased, whipped, and reprimanded them for a while as never before. Later, he stopped and yelled:

“RETURN TO YOUR HOMES AND STOP YOUR CRIMINAL ACTS BECAUSE THE NIGHT IS MINE! ONLY MINE!”

And the ghost vanished in front of their eyes.

The men returned to their homes extremely anxious because of their experience. They couldn’t believe they had met a real ghost!

During the following weeks, they started to share this with everyone in their town. Some people believed in their story, but others thought they were just charlatans wanting to earn some fame. These people tried to refute their story and left their houses at night and caused a lot of trouble. However, they experienced similar stories with the same ghost.

Over the years, the same ghost started to show up in all rural areas of El Salvador. He is a vigilante of peace and order and always reminds everyone that he is the only owner of the night, and because of all his heroic actions, the Salvadorans called him: “The Fair Judge of the Night.”

Some people believe he lost his head in an ancient war, but no one has been able to prove it. Also, he is a ghost of few words. On rare occasions, when he is not completely sure, he asks and cross-examines the person to confirm his next actions. If the person is fair, he left them alone, and if not, you already read their destiny.

Indeed, he is a judge by his own criteria and delivers justice in his own way. He takes care of those decent and honest inhabitants. He prevents disturbances from the lazy and vicious criminals who follow orders from the wicked spirits. As the fair judge, he teaches right and left after any night transgression, and his punishment is whip lashes. The settlers are subject to his rules that are enforced and must be obeyed and respected.

Inspired by El Salvador Mi País’s version.

Credits:
Location: El Salvador

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