“I actually haven’t told it to anyone in a long time so I have to refresh my memory…Okay…So there’s a legend about a dog that roams the outskirts of the town I used to live in. Supposedly the dog belongs to the devil. It’s got white fur and these like piercing red eyes… It’s a ghost. No, it’s a demon…And what happens is that if you encounter the dog in the forest is that it will put you in a trance and lose you deeper in the forest. Eventually the dog will kill you and take your soul.”

Context/Analysis: This legend was first heard by the informant from their father when they were four years old. He would go into the forest to play and get lost. His father told him about the story of the cadejo and how he would get possessed by the dog if he ever encountered him. He doesn’t believe the dog exists because he’s never seen it himself, but there are people who claimed to have seen the dog before, but turn around before the dog’s piercing red eyes puts them in a trance. This legend has been published online. It is said to come from various latin American countries and represents the fight between good and evil, for there is a white cadejo and a black cadejo.

For another version of this, please see: Rivera, David Antonio, 1951. El Cadejo. 3; 3. Vol. San Salvador: Lis, 1998.