Serapio

Long ago, a young man called Serapio used to live next to a borehole in Santa Elena, Honduras. He was the richest man there and possessed uncountable goods that graved everyone’s attention. Everyone said that one day he appeared with a table, the next one with a bed, later with a new mattress, and many more things every day. Who knew what the next thing on his list would be!

Serapio was a very peculiar person. Every night he came to the town with his black mule (figure 1), and they did some unusual business with chosen people. Only a few people were aware of what these businesses were, but as soon as they concluded, they vanished, and, suddenly, they were in El Salvador. No one could understand how it was possible to move from Honduras to El Salvador in less than 5 minutes!

Figure 1. The young and the black mule. ¹

Over the years, everyone was more and more concerned; his wealth and goods were unmeasurable! Hence, a couple of them investigated his trick and they discovered that Serapio had made a deal with the devil many years ago.

The unique deal gave him his black mule, the one that carried all his earnings in some special bags after his nightly business; therefore, no one would notice them. Plus, it allowed him to walk faster than anything alive in this world, that’s how he traveled to El Salvador from Honduras in a couple of minutes. When he was in El Salvador, he acquired all the goods he was known by.

The people were shocked after this discovery! No one could believe he had made a deal with the devil! Hence, they sent a priest to his house who asked him to tie his witchcraft books and throw them at the bottom of the borehole next to his home; therefore, he could save his soul, and gain his place next to Jesus in heaven after his death.

Serapio was reluctant and couldn’t believe what he was listening to! They had discovered his secret! But he obeyed and got rid of his witchcraft books in the borehole.

Suddenly, in a blink of an eye, he lost everything! His life became extremely miserable, and he couldn’t stop thinking about his previous life. He missed all that he had so much that he decided to return to the borehole to try to recover the books and make a new deal with the devil.

When he arrived at the borehole, something unexpected happened, an incredibly powerful and unknown force propelled him to the bottom, and died drowned. No one ever found Serapio’s body or books. Now, the borehole serves as a reminder that you should never make deals with the devil. Also, the community renamed the borehole, Serapio; therefore, everyone would keep this in mind.

Inspired by Leyendas de El Salvador’s version.

Credits:
¹ BBC
Location: Santa Elena, Honduras

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