Mexican Legend ''La Llorona'' (The Weeping Woman)

Mexican legend ''la llorona'' (the weeping woman)
La Llorona, christened “Maria,” was born to a peasant family in a humble village.

Her startling beauty captured the attention of both the rich and the poor men of the
area. She was said to have spent her days in her humble peasant surroundings,
but she would don her best white gown in the evenings and thrill the men who
admired her in the local fandangos.
The young men anxiously waited for her arrival, and she reveled in the attention
that she received. However, La Llorona had two small sons who made it difficult for
her to spend her evenings out and often left them alone while she cavorted with the
gentlemen during the evenings. One day the two small boys were found drowned
in the river. Some say they drowned through her neglect, but others say that they
may have died by her own hand.
Another legend says that La Llorona was a caring woman full of life and love who
married a wealthy man who lavished her with gifts and attention. However, after
she bore him two sons, he began to change, returning to a life of womanizing and
alcohol, often leaving her for months at a time. He seemingly no longer cared for
the beautiful Maria, even talking about leaving her to marry a woman of his own
wealthy class. When he did return home, it was only to visit his children and the
devastated Maria began to feel resentment toward the boys.
One evening, as Maria was strolling with her two children on a shady pathway near
the river, her husband came by in a carriage with an elegant lady beside him. He
stopped and spoke to his children but ignored Maria, and then drove the carriage
down the road without looking back.
After seeing this, Maria went into a terrible rage, and turning against her children,
she seized them and threw them into the river. As they disappeared downstream,
she realized what she had done and ran down the bank to save them, but it was
too late. Maria broke down into inconsolable grief, running down the streets
screaming and wailing.
The beautiful La Llorona mourned them day and night. During this time, she would
not eat and walked along the river in her white gown searching for her boys —
hoping they would come back to her. She cried endlessly as she roamed the
riverbanks and her gown became soiled and torn. When she refused to eat, she
grew thinner and appeared taller until she looked like a walking skeleton. Still a
young woman, she finally died on the banks of the river.
Not long after her death, her restless spirit began to appear, walking the banks of
the Santa Fe River when darkness fell. Her weeping and wailing became a curse
of the night, and people began to be afraid to go out after dark. She was said to
have been seen drifting between the trees along the shoreline or floating on the
current with her long white gown spread out upon the waters. On many a dark
night, people would see her walking along the riverbank and crying for her children.
And so, they no longer spoke of her as Maria, but rather, La Llorona, the weeping
woman. Children are warned not to go out in the dark, for La Llorona might snatch
them, throwing them to their deaths in the flowing waters.
Though the legends vary, the apparition is said to act without hesitation or mercy.
The tales of her cruelty depends on the version of the legend you hear. Some say
that she kills indiscriminately, taking men, women, and children — whoever is
foolish enough to get close enough to her. Others say she is very barbaric and kills
only children, dragging them screaming to a watery grave.
She has been seen along many rivers across the entire Southwest and the legend
has become part of Hispanic culture everywhere. Part of the legend is that those
who do not treat their families well will see her and she will teach them a lesson.
In Santa Fe, New Mexico, the tall wailing spirit has been seen repeatedly in the
PERA Building (Public Employees Retirement Association), built on land that was
once an old Spanish-Indian graveyard and near the Santa Fe River. Many people
who have been employed there tell of hearing cries resounding through the halls
and feeling unseen hands pushing them while on the stairways.
La Llorona has been heard at night wailing next to rivers by many and her
wanderings have grown wider, following Hispanic people wherever they go. Her
movements have been traced throughout the Southwest and as far north as
Montana on the banks of the Yellowstone River.
The Hispanic people believe that the Weeping Woman will always be with them,
following the many rivers looking for her children, and for this reason, many of
them fear the dark and pass the legend from generation to generation.
Referencia APA
Weiser-Alexander, K. (2021, agosto). La Llorona – Weeping Woman of the

Southwest – Legends of America. Legends of America. Recuperado 11 de
noviembre de 2021, de https://www.legendsofamerica.com/gh-lallorona/

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Mexican Legend ''La Llorona'' (The Weeping Woman)

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Mexican legend ''la llorona'' (the weeping woman)

La Llorona, christened “Maria,” was born to a peasant family in a humble village.

Weiser-Alexander, K. (2021, agosto). La Llorona – Weeping Woman of the

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