“It happened by Candelaria: my grandmother’s house is very large and old (it seems that it was one of the first built in that neighborhood).” Thus it starts The gold butterflyone of the Legends of Guatemala which is part of our oral tradition.
The story begins in the vicinity of the Candelaria neighborhood. Martín, a family knight, was very dear to his relatives and employees; However, its vigor went out over the days.
In the midst of strong drowning and agitation, Martín left this world. His wife (who is presumed was called Griselda) was a strong woman who took care of her loved ones with devotion, according to the narrative.
His children were Ana and Mariano. They lived in a beautiful house, surrounded by flowers and trees. In turn, they had two daughters: Carolina and Ana María, apparently. Both stood out for their beauty and used to talk about loves and friends in the old courtyard of their grandparents’ house.
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What happened to Carolina and Ana María?
According to the narration of Celso Lara, Ana María and Carolina were sitting in a battery in the house of their grandparents, when a woman appeared near the Trebejos room of Doña Griselda: “It seemed that it was in the air and did not follow the sidewalk, but passed through the rosets and was dressed in white,” says Lara.
The woman had a black hair that fell on her back. A great cold shook the premiums and, when they asked their grandmother, The lady replied that since the death of Don Martín, the woman with black hair and the white dress bothered every night.
However, the story did not end that way. Carolina, one of Don Martín’s granddaughters, had an incident with that horror. During one Burning of the devilCarolina entered the house and a shocking cry was heard. Then, her cousin ran to the place and watched the girl lying on the grass.
At that moment, He saw a golden butterfly, as much as gold, which rose between the smoke of the fires of that December 7. According to the writer’s narration, Carolina told his family that he shuddered and entrusted to Jesus of Candelaria. It was then that the strange woman became a butterfly and moved away.
However, Carolina was marked forever, because the hand that touched the fright was thin as if it were that of the same death.
Who was Celso Lara, author who collects the legend of The gold butterfly In your texts?
This story was collected by the Guatemalan Celso Lara Figueroa, one of the most recognized authors for their significant contributions to the dissemination of the country’s oral tradition. Lara studied popular culture during her career as a historian, anthropologist, poet and musicianaccording to information from the Francisco Marroquín University (UFM).
According to this house of studies, Lara was the author of academic articles and essays published in Guatemala and other Latin American countries. He was columnist in the media and director of the Folk Studies Center of the University of San Carlos de Guatemala (USAC).
Brief story of The gold butterfly and other legends of Guatemala
In his work Legends and cases of the oral tradition of Guatemala Citypublished in 1973, Lara spread the narration of The gold butterfly and other stories that are part of the cultural background of Guatemala.
According to the prologuist of this work, Francisco Albizúrez Palma, this book represented The revalidation of the Guatemalan oral tradition, which had been forgotten by the academics of the time in which it was written.
In addition, Albizúrez pointed out that it was a particular event that positioned Lara as a pioneer by offering a volume of legends where they converged scientific rigor and refined prose management.
As for the legend, it is part of the stories linked to the city of Guatemala and its oral tradition, which remains alive in collective memoryespecially those who recreate in their imagination a golden butterfly that flies through the old neighborhoods of the capital.