More Legends of Ancash

On a cold rainy night in Boston, Memorial Day around the corner though Spring hasn’t sprung, let alone Summer, it is nice to remember another world, in its way as different and as fantastic as Star Wars, but in reality only 18 hours away, by plane and bus…

The legends in this collection can trace their origins to the Chavin culture.
Reaching its height between 400 and 600 B.C., the Chavin civilization was known
for its intense design skill, fueled by ritual use of psychedelic snuff, especially
visible in their advanced textile and metal work. After a prolonged and gradual
decline, they were eventually conquered by the Incas less than a hundred years
before the arrival of the Spaniards.

The Heart Sickness

Before the existence of the tiny town of Huacllan, in the same spot lived
the tribe of the  Wallas. The cacique (chief), a man much respected
and feared for his honor and his cruelty had a daughter named Kori (Gold),
whom he adored.

Kori was secretly in love with a man with a disfigured face, which made
him horrible to look  at. And despite her strict father, she married
him in secret.

The caique discovered what his daughter had done, and mortally wounded to
the depths of  his heart, he swore revenge, and had his son-in-law secretly
poisoned.

The beautiful young widow asked to move away from the palace. She traveled
to the coast,  intending to settled on the beach in front of the ocean,
whose immensity would help her  forget her loss.

But when she had barely arrived at Kuta-Kocha, near the heights of Huacllan,
she felt a  terrible pain in her heart. She became sick, and could not
continue her travels. She remained  their, and her servants built a
beautiful palace, from whose roof one could contemplate the green llanura
whose enchantment dissipated her sadness.

And time passed.

A powerful Inca who was traveling through the area to bring it into his civilzed
reign, arrived  at the palace of the sad princess. During the time he
remained as her guest, she told him of  her sickness. The generous ruler
took pity on her, and promised to bring, from the distant  land of Quito,
a magical stone.

The king kept his promise. When he got back to Cuzco, and on the way to Kuta-Kocha,
he  left the miraculous stone in her garden. Upon leaving, he said:

"Put a few small pieces in boiling water, and then drink it."

Since that time, every time the pain and the sorrow tortured her, beautiful
Kori drank the  potion that the king had given her.

With the passing of the years, the prodigio appeared. The princess was cured.

And from the furthest corners of the land her subjects began to appear to
ask for a small  piece of the miraculous stone, to cure their sicknesses
of the heart.

This stone still exists, although it is now quite small, for those who know
of its existence still visit it, to chip off little pieces.

Links to all ten of the Legends