Evening Republican, Volume 18, Number 169, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 20 July 1914 — Werrd Legends of Mexico [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Werrd Legends of Mexico

O F all the relatively larger cities on the American hemisphere, the capital of Mexico is by far the oldest. Its beginning was • long before Columbus sailed on his memorable voyage of discovery, when It was the seat of the Aztec empire. Civilization of a sort flourished there long before the first hardy pioneers settled along the northern Atlantic coast and before the eyes of a white man had ever rested upon the Mississippi river. It has been a city of many vicissitudes. It has been held by Indian and Spaniard, by viceroy, by. repubem invader. Many of its streets are of the greatest antiquity. Many of its traditions are so old that no man knows whether they originated in the dayte of the Montezumas or of the Conquistadores. As is inevitable, the City of Mexico has its own peculiar folk-lore, its mysterious legends. There are old tales that have been handed down from generation to generation by word of mouth and are still told by Mexican nurses to the children as they were told centuries ago. The Wailing Woman. A relic of Aztec folk lore is the tale of the Wailing Woman. Once, a long time ago,-the story runs, there was & very bad woman in the City of Mexico. She gave birth to many children, but children bored her, and, as fast as one came upon the earth, she drowned it. Finally her conscience

began troubling her. It Is supposed that her punishment was to go through eternity looking for her lost •children. Frequently since then, it is said, watchmen have seen a woman in white, with a white mantilla over her head, roaming through the streets' at night Thdse who have inquired her business have received an answering inquiry as to where her children can be found. The greatest misfortune always overtakes those who question her. Most of them are stricken dead or become Insane. This latter fate is said to have overtaken a gifted young army, officer, iyho once tried to flirt with the Wailing Woman. It is said her lamentations are still heard at night, sometimes. One story with a foundation in fact is the legend of Don Juan Manuel. As the tale survives in the folk-lore Don Juan was an amiable enough gentleman, except that he had a bad habit of wandering out nights and murdering people. His custom was to approach somebody on the street, ask him the time, and, when he replied, tell him he was lucky because he knew the hour of his death and stab him to the heart. This went on until one night Don Juan killed his dearly beloved nephew, whom he had not recognized. Stricken with remorse Don Juan confessed to his priest, who for penance ordered him to go alone at midnight to a certain church, before which was a gallows, and to fell his rosary under the gallows. Three nights he attempted to fulfill the command, bnt was driven- back by the groans of the persons he had murdered, After begging in vain for a lighter penance he finally reached his goal under the gallows. And then angels from heaven came down and hanged him. —-——- .1- .'-iViiL : - • fSi ' i ' ,? *

As a matter of history there whs such a person in Mexico in 1641 and he was a dishonest collector of revenues. He was jailed, and, to Secure his liberty, his wife was compelled the hands of a judge- Don Juan broke prison, went to his home, found the judge there, and stabbed him to death. Later he was mysteriously lynched one night before the church, and from this grew the legend that the angels had punished him for his etna ‘ , - A striking story of ghostly revenge is the legend of Don Juan de Nava, pjfeest and gaardian of his orphan niece, a beautiful girl. A Portuguese nobleman, Don Duarte de Sarraza, fell in love with her, and she reciprocated the attachment, but the priest rejecter Don Duarte because he was known as a gambler. One night the priest came upon Don Duarte talking to his niece through her window. Duarte struck the old man with his dagger, which was imbedded in his skull, killing him. He threw the body, dagger and all, into a ditch. Just one year later Duarte was found dead at the site of the crime. Kneeling over him, oire~ of its bony hands" urlpping~ h.tr body by the throat, was a skeleton in priestly garments, with a dagger sticking in its skull. - The Ghostly Raven. Rather a weird legend is that of Don Rodrigo de Ballesteros and his raven. It is said that there is a certain bridge where at midnight when

the weather is stonpy one may even yet hear the ghostly cawing of this raven, although the incidents with which the story deals happened 300 years ago. Don Rodrigo, It seems, was very rich and very wicked. He lived in a palace and he and the raven dined from gold and silver plate, but the Don always went about in shabby clothes, in spite of his riches. He never went to church, and he made’ fun of holy things. Suddenly he and the raven both disappeared. On Investigation persons found in his house a sacred image that had been defiled and was sprinkled with blood. From this it was supposed that the raven had beaten the Image until it had shed the crimson fluid, and that Satan punished them both by taking them to himself. Occasionally, however, they come back to haunt the scene of their misdeeds. Rather a humorous turn is given to the story of the Street of the Somersault According to it a Spanish nobleman, Don Mendo Qulroga y Saurez, very rich and very old, was much neglected In his dying days by his beautiful niece, upon whom he had showered every benefaction. He planned to revenge himself by his will. When the will was read, everything was bequeathed to the niece, who wag spoken of in terms of the warmest affection, up to the last paragraph. In it certain terms of acceptance were set forth with the provision that if they were not complied with every cent Bhould go to religious orders. The terms were that on or before a certain day the niece must attire herself in her richest ball dress, and, wearing her richest Jewels, must proceed in her coach at noonday to the busiest corner in the city. There she must go to the middle of the street