In the voice of Héctor Gaitán, one of the legends of Easter week that are narrated in Guatemala is Who do the bells bend?a legend That, like many others in its kind, it has various versions.
Gaitán tells the story that begins in an extremely hot atmosphere: “As a burning lava, I was invading roofs, streets and alleys of that city that fit in one hand just, and For a corner, an ox cart appeared parsimonously with its cargo”, Says the writer.
The story continues when the temple clock marked 15.30. The boys attended the religious doctrine while belling the bells. They knew that, when this happened, It meant that someone had left forever.
That day was Don Macario, a carpenter who had suddenly died. They commented that they had barely seen him in the afternoon. Finally, the day had come when they would receive their first communion.
While they ate tamales and drank chocolate, Father Jovita entered, very dear to the neighborhood: “With a frank smile, he greeted all the ducks and for me,” Gaitán mentions in his narration.
Father Jovita explained that The bells touched the dead to publicly demonstrate that a Christian had died and as an invitation for the friends and family of the deceased to attend the present body mass.
“I went to work at a company and changed from neighborhood. From time to time I looked out for my old neighborhood, for my old loveness, and greeted the boys. But these, at the same time, were also leaving the beloved and old neighborhood. The time was when there were people completely unknown and unaccutive. But when I felt nostalgic I was going to visit my old neighborhood”, Gaitán continues.
Then, Gaitán says that, being there, he could see in the distance the ox cart walk slowly and listen to the whistle of the knife sharpener. That environment made him return to his childhood. At that moment, He saw how Father Jovita advanced where she was. According to the narrative, the pastor smiled in the distance, they exchanged a hug, but suddenly the sound of bent bells were heard.
When he asked the pastor who folded the bells, Father Jovita only smiled and looked at the bell tower, saying: “Don’t ask things. Let’s go to church. You have to pray for the Christian who left”
Upon arriving at the Church, the absence of Father Jovita was evident. The priest in charge of the Mass was a stranger. Before starting, the new father exclaimed:
“Dear brothers, this Mass is in suffrage for the soul of the beloved and remembered Father Jovita, who died last week in Spain.” The priest’s words went out for twice the bells. At that time, the legend tells, it was the moment in which Father Jovita had said goodbye.
History of Who do the bells bend?
In addition to the Gaitán version, there is another legend with the same name, from Guazacapán, Santa Rosa. In both narratives a key element predominates: twice the bells as an indicator that a person will not return.
Carlos Zeceña, Guatemalan director and writer, mentions that Guazacapán is characterized by his religious syncretism, since There are many beliefs related to enchantments and other similar elements.
According to Zeceña, in Guazacapán there is a hill known because every time he doubles a bell in its vicinity, this represents a bad omen, since some person who is in that place will never return.
Likewise, it is said that in that place a single person managed to return, who had gone at age six and returned to 40, according to the oral tradition of the place.
Zeceña adds that Legend has no temporalitysince it is a story that persists in the municipality because it is still believed that, hearing the sound of the bells that bend, a person is close to disappearing. The writer points out that in these villages stories such as they have survived thanks to the oral tradition.
According to information from the Francisco Marroquín University Digital Library, one of the versions of this legend is found in the work Regional legends of Chiquimulilla, Guazacapán and Taxiscowritten by Herlindo Villegas Orantes.
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Religious symbology of bell doubles
Guatemalan historian Fernando Urquizú explains that The touches of bells have become a collective language quite linked to the culture of the peoples. The professional mentions that there are two kinds of touches: the repiques, which are associated with celebrations, and the doubles, which are related to the death of someone.
In the case of bell doubles, they have become an element present in our oral tradition in stories such as Who do the bells bend? and The deceased belltext that appears in Legends of Guatemalaby Miguel Ángel Asturias.
Urquizú refers to the bell doubles that were heard the day Pope Paul VI died, since they resonated in the Guatemalan churches. The professional adds that, at other times, these touches were also used to communicate the death of some ecclesiastical authority:
“At the time of Spanish domination, the bells used to bend when the bishop, archbishop or president of the Royal Audience died. Therefore, the question was asked: Who do the bells bend?”, Mentions the historian.
Another curious fact about bell doubles in the history of our country is that in the north tower of the church of Santo Domingo de la Nueva Guatemala they used to touch the bells at 12 noon on Good Friday to commemorate that Christ was already hitting the cross.
At that time silence was kept at that time as part of the tradition. This type of religious practices explain the reason why twice the bells with deaths, an element that persists through certain legends and also as part of the collective imaginary in our country.