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Published on Wednesday, October
27, 2021
By Andrew McCarthy In Costa Rica are, of course, all sorts of well-known myths to keep the religious and the drunks in line. Expats love these tales, particularly around Halloween. There is the Cadejos, a large black dog, similar to a stern, skinny, hedgehog, woolly wolf, with two intense glowing and radiant red eyes, a long and wide tail, long sharp nails that sounds when it is walking on the sidewalk (or, goat legs, depending on the version) which drags thick chains. And the Segua, a very beautiful young woman with black eyes, long curly black hair, lips red as blood, with a divine voice as siren's song and with a tempting body. But the legend of La Carreta sin Bueyes, the cart pulled with no oxen is even more mysterious. Thanks to the tales compilation described in the book ”Leyendas Costarricenses" (Costa Rican tales in the English language) by Elías Zeledón-Cartín, we have been able to learn a little about that legend. The spooky cart tale is about a ghost in the form of a folk cart that at night is pulled by invisible oxen through the streets. The paranormal ox cart has no rider either. According to the writer, "the cart pops up in the middle of the darkest nights with no moonlight near the houses of fighting couples, greedy people, robbers or a bad person who has just died." In all cases, the presence of the ghost ox cart is a warning to the villagers that they must change their conflictive lifestyle toward a good life. The ghost is recognized because, at first glance, it is observed that the cart moves by itself, no oxen, no rider. Instead of that, it is led by a ghost, or a witch, or the devil itself, who turns invisible when there are people nearby. According to legend, the wagon carries the corpse of a person who was found walking alone on the lonely roads and died when they saw the ghost. The soul of the person was trapped in the cart wagon forever. Another version of the legend shares how some people managed to survive the sighting by running away and hiding in their homes. However, the few who managed to survive that terror-stricken are overcome with the debilitating speech impediment of stuttering for the rest of their lives. One version or the origin of the tale explains how a Spanish man named Pedro, nicknamed "bad Pedro" who came to America on a boat in the time of the conquistador Christopher Columbus. He was known to be a cruel person to the indigenous people of the land and didn't believe in religion. One day, "bad Pedro" tried to enter with his oxen cart to the town church on the day of the San Isidro Labrador celebration- a unique holiday in which the animals were blessed. The father of the town cursed him for not respecting the church, condemning him to travel for all eternity and fright whatever town he travels looking for help. Another version tells of a witch named Epiphany who was in love with the most handsome young man in town. The man without knowing that she was a witch married her. Over the years when he was already an old man he asked his still young and beautiful wife to take him to the church before he died. However, he dies without being able to reach the town church. The witch, determined to carry out the last will of her lover, placed the man's corpse in the cart wagon and whipped the oxen to gain momentum to enter the church by force. The oxen avoided entering the church and managed to escape. The church priest saw what happened and cursed the witch. He condemned her to travel like an invisible ghost on the cart with the corpse of her husband for eternity. In another version, it is told of a farmer who lived in Escazú Canton. He was very poor but managed to steal fine wood that had been brought from Europe to build the first church in the town. The precious wood had been blessed by the town's catholic father. The farmer used the wood to build his house and with the boards that he had leftover, he built a cart. The farmer's actions were seen by Saint Joseph, the saint of the carpenters, from heaven. So the saint decided never to absolve the thief of committing that sin. The farmer died a few days later and without being able to receive the forgiveness of Saint Joseph, his corpse was condemned to travel in his wagon for eternity. The farmer ghost travels at night to the other thieves' houses. He parks his cart right to the door and stays there until dawn. The thieves inside, after spending all night scared and praying, wait until dawn to go to church to confess their crimes. According to the author, the ghost cart warns when it is approaching the town. In the middle of the night, people can hear the creaking of old, deteriorated wheels on the road, moving slowly until they reach the front door of each house. Then right before dawn, people can hear when the ghost is slowly traveling away from the town. The arrival of the cart has also served as a warning alerting others that misfortune is coming, so it is also considered a ghost that predicts bad events. There are several versions of the story related to the origins that influenced the lonely ox cart tale. One possibility is that the sounds people heard were those of the carts that transported the corpses of the victims of the cholera plague pandemic, between 1826-1856. Another version of the origin of the legend dates back to the year 1856 when the governor of San José city created a plan to clean the pipes of the dirty water during the time of the cholera disease. Contaminated waters exposed people to getting infected. The governor hired poor people to work on cleaning the pipes and filling barrels with dirty water. The barrels filled with contaminated water were carried in carts and thrown into the Virilla River. To avoid a scandal for pouring the contaminated water into the river, the governor ordered that the cleaning work be done at night. So people would not see what was happening with the contaminated water. In order not to be seen, peasants wore black and placed black blankets on the oxen's backs. Their dark drabs were meant to conceal them and camouflage them into the night, never to be seen. However, there were always tramps, robbers or drunk people hanging out on the roads in the middle of the night. They were the first witnesses of having seen the cart around the town with no rider and no oxen. For those who still want to know more about the folk Costa Rican tales, the pleasant book by Elías Zeledón-Cartín can be purchased for about $5 online at the National University editorial website. Happy Halloween! ---------------- Should a ghost cart be enough to scare off thieves now? We would like to know your thoughts on this story. Send your comments to news@amcostarica.com Real
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