The Black Knight


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The Guirola Family

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Long ago, a tall, white, and good-looking man appeared from nowhere on a cold night, along the cobbled streets of Zacatecoluca. He had a lonely and melancholic air and resided in a tiny cabin. He claimed to be Rafael María Guirola. Mr. Rafael was born in Spain and became a successful businessman in El Salvador, where his first businesses were related to trading. He got married to Gertrudis de la Cotera y González, of Spanish descent, and from their marriage in 1826 was born Ángel Guirola de la Cotera. Ángel was sent by his family to study for his bachelor’s degree in Guatemala City. After his graduation, he worked for a couple of years in one of the largest pharmacies there, owned by Mr. Pío Porta. In 1844, Ángel returned to El Salvador, where he spent his savings and acquired some loans to buy a few lands that he dedicated to the cultivation of indigo. He showed a great ability to export this product and extended his business throughout the Caribbean, Panama, and the Un...
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The Cuyancua

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Long ago, when the Maya people used to live in El Salvador, at the end of a dry season, some Indians discovered an uncommon animal near a river, which was massive and was half-pig and half-snake (figure 1). The Indians tiptoed and tried to approach it, when, suddenly, they heard a dark squawk, and the animal slid on the river and started to rain. After this, a new wet season began, and they named it the Cuyancua or the Cuyancuat. Figure 1. The Cuyancua, the half-pig, and half-snake animal. ¹ Following this first encounter, the Cuyancua became more prevalent in their lives.  It began to  appear to  announce the wet season or to predict rains, tropical storms, hurricanes, La Niña, and floods, among other water phenomena in some unexpected cases. Nowadays, you can see Cuyancua in the north of Izalco. Here, the citizens say when dusk is falling, they listen to a very dark squawk and feel strong turbulence under the earth, which panics all Indian families...
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Comizahual “The White Woman”

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In the 13th century, a white woman appeared on Honduras’s north coast. The Lenca people were surprised by her appearance since she looked completely atypical to them. They wondered where she came from because she was able to speak their mother tongue as if she was any of them. Plus, she understood all their traditions and rituals. The white woman started traveling through the entire Lenca region between Honduras’s north coast and the southeast part of El Salvador. In all these lands, she was called Cozumel (figure 1), which means “The flying tiger.” Figure 1. Cozumel “The Flying Tiger.” Some people said she was as light as air and flew through their lands, so they nicknamed it that way. Cozumel was a fierce, powerful, and clever woman. Many people acknowledged her as a force to recognize because she was a sorceress who was capable of casting impressive spells that surprised all tribes. She protected the Lenca people from multiple invasions and brought the rain back dur...
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