Federico Stories

Long ago, three fishermen woke up and decided to hunt some fish on the shores of El Espino Beach. Everyone was happy and seemed like it would be a good day. After a while, one of them started to yell, “Come here! I found a portrait.” The other two men came to see it and were shocked by the portrait. They were sure it was the Virgin Mary. All of them kneeled on the sand and thanked her for her visit. Especially because they were humble men. The men picked up the portrait carefully and brought it to the closes Catholic Church where the local priest deduced that it was the Virgin of Candelaria. The priest spoke with some local people, and everyone agreed to bring the portrait to a tiny old hermitage in the Old Town. Also, they agreed to create a statue that resembled her to her perfection (figure 1). From that day, the Virgin of Candelaria became their Patron and yearly Pilgrimage Festivities are organized on February 1 st and 2 nd as a memory of her visit. Figure 1. The Virgin of C...

Long ago, when the Spaniards arrived in El Salvador, they went to a place called “Ucelucla,” which in indigenous language means “The Place of Tigers.” The inhabitants say the Spaniards founded a town there and built a church so that the villagers could congregate. The people who lived here were incredibly happy and positive; however, the gossip says that one day during a mass, the church suddenly sank completely into the earth. Many people inquired why this had happened. Some believe the cause of the disaster was the church was very close to the sea. Due to this, the land of this place was very loose, and as the church weighed heavily, the land had ceded to, and the structure was sinking. After they lost their church, the people decided to move since many attacks started by pirates from Meanguera Island who ruined everything in their path and stole all their treasures. Somehow the loss of their church created much fear in their lives. They believe the church gave them some protecti...

Many moons ago, long before the Spanish colonization of the Americas, a unique kid was born in a Lenca region called: Tangolona. He possessed unique and divine powers like a few people in the world. Everyone who met him said he could perform many miracles plus possessed surprising wisdom for his age, but he had a notorious physical malformation, he had several extra legs. For this reason, his parents never allowed him to play or meet with other kids in their town. The life of this kid was challenging and full of health problems. One day he was seriously ill, and this unfortunate and uncommon disease led him to his death. Nevertheless, because of his unique powers, he was allowed to talk with the beautiful  Moon  in his last minutes of life. During their conversation, the Moon politely asked him: “What would be your last wish, my dear?” The boy replied he had always dreamed of visiting the sea, and if the beautiful Moon allowed it, he wanted to enter the seawate...

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...