Federico Stories

Many moons ago, in a place not so far from San Juan Canton. It used to live a girl of magnificent beauty and impressive smile. She lived with her parents, brothers, and other relatives in a small wooden cabin. Her name was Xiri, which means “Star.” She belonged to the Lenca tribe. The Lenca tribe was very calm and smart. They were never involved in any wars with their neighbors until the Tecolucas-Nonualcos attacked them by surprise to conquer and seize all their lands, women, and gold. It was a bloody war, which unfortunately they lost. Lamani led this war and was the most powerful shaman of those times. He was a ruthless and cruel ruler who kidnapped Xiri because he fell in love at first sight. He saved her from the war. However, it was not the same luck for her family, who died immediately after the archers had invaded her hometown. In addition, when the war was ongoing, the Tecapa Volcano erupted with great fury, as if the gods thought this was enough! The eruptions continued...

In the year 1123, there was a lot of happiness in El Salvador. The rains had fallen with love; the moon had illuminated the rivers making them silverish, the Indians threw the grains of white corn, and even as Sihuapil’s teeth on the soil shelled in waves by the plow. During this year, timid little leaves covered the soil from drinking and breathing the moon. They grew and grew. One day, the goddess Sucuxi decided to visit the Indians. She was so beautiful by her dark skin, so good by her simplicity, and so pure by her naiveness. On that day, she looked from the top of a hill, at every hard-working Indian. In reward for their efforts, she wanted to give them a more gallant harvest. She descended from the hill to the cornfields that already gave ears of corn and wanted to make their stems taller than an Indian. Sucuxi began to walk through those cornfields that were crazy with joy when they heard the hymns of the wind, but between the stems of corn, a bush that had buste...

Most of you might have heard about some twins who transformed into the Cadejos because of their bad behavior and uncountable mischief. However, these Cadejos are mostly seen in the rural areas while the good and the bad ones are from the urban side, and their story comes from the pre-colonial era. Do you want to hear it? Are you sure? Because it’s a scary story, are you sure? So, let’s dive deep into it. It was the year 400 BCE when the first inhabitants of Quelepa, a settlement of the Lenca people, were moving to a new land, a place that was beautiful and relatively close to a volcano. Plus, it was next to an impressive river full of fresh water. In this settlement, a couple had a difficult birth of fraternal twins, the first ones in centuries. The town rejoiced because a new pair of twins had come, and there were massive celebrations, even the Shaman and their King came and blessed them. Some years passed, and these twins grew up. One had beautiful red hair, and yellow eyes,...

Long ago, there was a terrible war in the lands of Cuzcatlan. On it, Hoitzi and the Pipil people were fighting with Atlacatl and his group. No one knows the precise reasons behind it, but the results were catastrophic. After several months and uncountable causalities, the unthinkable happened. Hoitzi died, and when Princess Naba discovered her beloved was defeated and his body was lying down on the battlefield, she ran away to collect it. She took advantage that the King and his warriors were celebrating their triumph over the Pipil people. Throughout the night, Naba and her six maidens dedicated all their time to serving the wounded and comforting those who only waited for their imminent death. At midnight, some spies warned Atlacatl  what the princess was doing. The King enraged, and still, under the effects of chicha (a special alcoholic drink) went to face her. He wanted to demand explanations about her acts, but he saw what she was doing. She was next to Hoitzi’s dead bo...

It was around 10:30 PM, and I was coming back from the wildest party of my life when I heard some strange sounds. Something was close by, but I couldn’t see it. I stopped for a moment and turned around when a pair of red eyes were glaring at me from the top of a hill; the eyes looked like embers (figure 1). Figure 1. The Black Cadejo. ¹ Holy mother of God! I thought. What are these eyes? My God, get me out of here! This must be the Cadejo! Vreeew! There was a loud whistle that I had never heard before. It looked as if an animal was whistling far away, but it was actually in front of me. Suddenly, the animal became huge and then small. It was black, the size of a big pooch, but instead of paws, it had four hooves at the end of each leg. In a blink of an eye, I got paralyzed. I could not move, I felt that it was on quicksand, and I was sinking into it. I felt hypnotized, I could not stop looking at the embers in its eyes, and as I stood there staring, it stared right back at ...

Many moons ago, the Siguanaba ’s son was taken to the hereafter because his mother was cursed and forced to live in the Salvadoran rivers until the end of time. After the Siguanaba was cursed and vanished, Tlaloc called his son and told him: “Son. I have cursed your wife forever. She is going to live in the rivers washing her clothes and scaring bad men because of her greed and irresponsibility.” Tlaloc’s son couldn’t believe what he was listening to and replied: “Father, why are you taking all that I have? Haven’t I had work enough to have at least my child?” Tlaloc answered: “Son, I understand, but you have more responsibilities in this town. You will see your son again one day.” The man was furious and disappointed because his father took everything he had: his wife, his child, his dignity, all. They discussed for hours until he accepted his destiny and left his child with him. Meanwhile, he would try to recover the love of his life. He started a quest in every Salvadoran river,...

Once upon a time in a place known as El Salvador , there was a town inhabited by a working and respectful tribe who was very kind to all their neighbors. In this town, it lived a breathtaking girl who was admired by all the young men of this place. This girl was named Cihuehuet (figure 1). Her beauty was immeasurable, and all nearby hamlets knew her. Many young warriors and hunters propose to her all the time. Figure 1. Cihuehuet dancing on the rivers. ¹ However, the girl knew herself very well, and she had become very conceited and vain. Every time she went to wash her clothes in the river, instead of hurrying and doing her work, she stayed for a very long time watching her face reflected in the clean and shiny waters from Lempa. When the wedding time came, she married the bravest and strongest warrior of the region, who was Tlaloc’s son. Some months later, the Shaman told her: “You are going to have a boy.” She realized, when her son was born, she would not be able to d...