He stopped and spoke to his children but ignored Maria and then drove the carriage down the road without looking back.Īfter seeing this, Maria went into a terrible rage, and turning against her children, she seized them and threw them into the river. 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. La Llorona – The Weeping Woman the Southwest When he did return home, it was only to visit his children, and the devastated Maria began to feel resentment toward the boys. He seemingly no longer cared for the beautiful Maria, even talking about leaving her to marry a woman of his own wealthy class. However, after she bore him two sons, he changed, returning to a life of womanizing and alcohol, often leaving her for months at a time. Some say they drowned through her neglect, but others say they may have died by her own hand.Īnother 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. One day the two small boys were found drowned in the river. However, La Llorona had two small sons who made it difficult for her to spend her evenings out, and she often left them alone while she cavorted with the gentlemen during the evenings. The young men anxiously waited for her arrival, and she reveled in the attention that she received. 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. Her startling beauty captured the attention of the area’s rich and poor men. La Llorona, christened “Maria,” was born to a peasant family in a humble village. Though the tales vary from source to source, the common thread is that she is the spirit of a doomed mother who drowned her children and spends eternity searching for them in rivers and lakes. No one knows when the legend of La Llorona began or where it originated. She wears a white gown and roams the rivers and creeks, wailing into the night and searching for children to drag, screaming to a watery grave. The tall, thin spirit is said to be blessed with natural beauty and long flowing black hair. The legend of La Llorona (pronounced “LAH yoh ROH nah”), Spanish for the Weeping Woman, has been a part of the Southwest’s Hispanic culture since the conquistadores’ days. Tolby Creek in Cimarron Canyon, New Mexico, by Kathy Alexander.
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