Federico Stories

In many villages around El Salvador, the amate tree (figure 1) is highly respected. Its structure is unusual and full of mysteries. Its branches have a wailing appearance and the thickness of its foliage. The tree is a piece of art, but it is also a symbol of fear. Figure 1. The amate tree. Many old people say you can’t sleep at night under the Amates because they throw bones. There is on top of the legend that a  flower  blooms from it that can be seen only by deaf and young children. Inhabitants of Morazán evade the tree at night. They say it is the moment when the trees scare the most. Some people throw bones to frighten it. However, if they don’t do it on time, the devil appears and offers them whatever they desire. It’s advisable not to pass near them when the sun has set in the sky. The amate trees abound in warm places, especially in Central America and Mexico. In El Salvador, the place where these trees are more common is Morazán. At a certain distance, y...

One day, Quetzalcoatl, the god who symbolized life, light, wisdom, fertility, and knowledge, and was considered the patron of the winds and the day, gave the cocoa tree (figure 1) to all loyal men as a reward for their love and fidelity of their wives. In those days, all men preferred to sacrifice their lives for good people before searching for quick wins and treasures. Figure 1. A cocoa tree. Cocoa was a gift from the gods that could only be consumed by the elite. The flavor of the fruit was bitter, a characteristic that the ancestors related to the suffering of Princess Cacahuaquahitl, who had died during a war. Some Indians said the cocoa was popularized when the princess died, and her blood fertilized the earth and gave life to the most splendid cocoa trees. The Olmecs ground the cocoa beans mixed with water and savored the delight of the seed in the form of a drink. Over time, the cocoa culture spread to the Mayan (600 BCE) and Aztec (1400 BCE) populations. At that t...