This happened in Texas:

Some dudes were drinking at a bar so they came out they were fucked up. And then like when they walked out the bar there was some chick walking across the street and she look like a broad like she look good. She was fine from behind hahaha. And she was with a white dress but her back… you could only see her back when she was crossing the street. I don’t know if she had cakes or not but she look good. So anyway she kept on walking and one of the guys tries to spit game and he’s like “Hey, what’s your name?” but she doesn’t turn around or say nothin’ and she keeps on walking. So he’s like “Naw, Imma get her number.” So he keeps on trying to talk to her like “ey where u goin’? You want me to follow you or walk you home?” But she doesn’t turn around so they keep on following her and like you know they’re drunk as fuck so they don’t really notice. So they keep on following her and following her and they keep on following her like down the road and its like an empty ass road. And then when he finally says “ey turn around lemmie see you.” So she turns around and then supposedly she has like the horse… the face of a horse. And like then they get all freaked out and shit. Like she’s all fine but just her face is a horse. And they’re like “oh shit” and then they run.

Jimmie says that the moral to this story was to not chase after a female in a dark lonely road. If she did not want to talk to you at the bar, don’t waste your time chasing after her, just move on to the next one.

I think Jimmie is right in a sense, but there is a whole lot more to the story. The lady that he describes matches the description of El Salvador’s Siguanaba: white dress, beautiful body, and head of a horse. Another aspect that matches these two figures is the fact that the woman in this story attracts men. The Siguanaba is said to mainly appear to men who typically are cheaters. In this instance, the men that walk after the woman are basically stalking her because she does not respond to them and they keep following her anyway. The Siguanaba attracts scumbags like those gentlemen and if she were to touch them, they go crazy. This leads me to believe that this story was made up by an El Salvadorian. Jimmie himself is Mexican so he probably heard it from someone who was El Salvadorian and had lived in Texas.

I am positive that the version has a great variation from the original version that he was probably told. Many of the phrases he uses, such as spitting game, broad, cakes, getting her number, etc., are terms that he frequently uses when talking about parties that he goes to. He spits game (flirts with) at some broads (good looking girls) with cakes (booty) and tries to get their phone numbers.

Also the vulgar language that is used to tell the story depicts the everyday language of the area he lives in. Most of the younger crowd in Inglewood actively curses when speaking. So naturally when they tell stories they add vulgarity since it’s a part of their nature.

Legend – Cadejo

Over there in El Salvador… well my mom told too that they have the story of the cadejo. I even read it in Spanish class in high school. There’s a black one and a white one. The black one is evil like has like red eyes and the white one is good and it protects women and I dunno what… umm like its said that the white one also protects people who are walking at night and like you shouldn’t turn away from them cause its bad and like you’ll go crazy.

Silvia says that this is one of the many stories that she has heard that come from El Salvador. She says that her family always talks about them and that they have even experienced witnessing some of the legends. She says that her aunt one time had to use the restroom outside since they didn’t have any restrooms at her house. It was dark when she went and while she was out there, she saw a huge black dog with red eyes. For fear of going crazy, she kept looking at it while walking back to the house and when she arrived at the front door, the dog left. She says that the story may sound crazy but that she believes it is true.

To start, the word cadejo sounds like the Spanish word cadena, which means chain. The way that the cadejo is described, it seems like they are hanging behind you and possibly protecting you or haunting you. Regardless, then hang around you like a chain.

Also the cadejo consists of a black one and a white one. That is a typical dichotomy for good and evil, light and dark, etc.

The protection of women by the white ones comes as no surprise either. Females are usually the ones that need protection since the male usually is stronger and they carry a machete with them.

Furthermore the notion of going crazy arises a lot in Salvadorean folklore. It also shows up in the legend of la Siguanaba. It may be that there is an abundance of mentally ill or insane people in El Salvador and they people wanted to come up with a reason as to why they are that way.

See:

Reed Johnson (2007, October 7). EL SALVADOR; Latin revelation; El Pital, once a rebel lair in El Salvador’s highlands, is now an unexpected haven of natural beauty and outdoors pursuits :[HOME EDITION]. . Los Angeles Times,p. L.1.  Retrieved May 1, 2008, from Los Angeles Times database. (Document ID: 1358940731).

Legend – Siguanaba

La Siguanaba always comes near a river because she drowned her kids in the river. So that like everytime… like its always near the river and that if it appears… like it always appears mainly to men and that sometimes it has the face of a horse or something… like that appears to be a beautiful woman from far away and that if she touches you, you go crazy.

Silvia first heard this story as a little girl, maybe 5 years old, from her father. says that the Siguanaba is El Salvador’s la Llorona. She goes on to say that they are the same concept except that the Siguanaba’s face is that of a horse. She also mentioned that many legends from El Salvador are for some reason always near the water.

La Siguanaba literally means the hideous woman. After doing some research, she is suppose to appear beautiful from far to men and then when they get close and she has them in an isolated place.

She is said to always be near the water most likely because El Salvador is covered by water on one entire side. And since it is a very small country, it makes sense that the legend takes place near the water.

See:

Reed Johnson (2007, October 7). EL SALVADOR; Latin revelation; El Pital, once a rebel lair in El Salvador’s highlands, is now an unexpected haven of natural beauty and outdoors pursuits :[HOME EDITION]. . Los Angeles Times,p. L.1.  Retrieved May 1, 2008, from Los Angeles Times database. (Document ID: 1358940731).

Legend – India

“There are these two heroes, Akbar and Birbal, the former was a Mughal emperor and the other supposedly his chief advisor. There are books telling hundreds of stories of the things these two guys got up to. Basically, Birbal is super smart and Akbar, while also quite wise and a good ruler at heart, tends to lose his temper, since he is emperor after all. So the stories usually involve how Birbal plays off Akbar’s weaknesses to teach him important lessons.”

Manoj first told me about this legend a year ago when we were randomly discussing childhood stories. At the time I wasn’t aware that Akbar and Birbal were real individuals and found their adventures rather amusing. However, when I later read up that they were in fact actual people I decided to ask Manoj for more information.

He first came across the two historic figures when his mother bought him ‘101 stories of Akbar and Birbal’ He was in elementary school at the time. Manoj was very amused by their adventures and feels that they teach important lessons to children, while introducing them to two historic figures and entertaining them. “It’s a mix of history, entertainment and morals,” describes Manoj.

It is common to see children’s’ books teach morals but rarely are historic figures, and even less commonly is royalty, used to teach them. I feel that more children’s books should follow the example set by ‘101 stories of Akbar and Birbal’ since it also educates in addition to entertaining and introducing morals.

While I have not read any stories on Akbar or Birbal, I have read similar books. Unfortunately, I feel that stories like this should be limited, historic figures should not be recognized purely due to adaptations in literature, it does not do justice to their legacy. On the other hand, these books do introduce youngsters to the two historic figures and maybe in the future they would pursue deeper into Akbar and Birbal.

Annotation: to enjoy some of Akbar and Birbal’s adventures you could consider reading ‘Akbar and Birbal’ by Amita Sarin and Dipankar Bhattacharya, 2005

Legend – China

“There’s this story of a Monkey King that pretty much everyone in China knows. He goes around doing all these mischievous acts like stealing. In one such instance, he goes to the realm of the Sea Dragon King and he steals a quarterstaff that he uses a lot in his later adventures. This staff is magical and can change to any size and when the Monkey King isn’t using it he shrinks it and puts it in his ear. The Monkey King also has lots of other magical abilities and such, like he can pull hairs off of his body and blow on them and they turn into monkeys that will do his bidding.

Eventually the gods get angry at him for being so mischievous and to punish him they take him and trap him under this huge rock, and no matter how hard he tries he can’t get out, mainly ‘cause it had a spell on it.

So he’s stuck there for a long time until this holy monk comes up and sees him stuck. The monk frees him under the condition that the Monkey King will escort him to this holy place that the monk is going to ‘cause he needed to deliver some sacred scrolls or something like that.

So the Monkey King had intended not to help the monk but just say that he will help him so he could get out from under that massive rock. But the monk anticipated this and stuck this holy circlet on the Monkey King so that whenever the monk said this specific word the circlet shrinks and crushes the Monkey King’s head. So the Monkey King was forced to obey the monk and escort him on this journey. What ensue are numerous adventures between the two companions.”

The Monkey King also known as Goku or Sun Wukong was Hanlong’s favorite childhood hero, and although he barely remembers the Monkey King’s adventures, it was a huge influence on his character while growing up. According to him, this is a well know legend in China and variations of the Monkey King’s adventures were in many forms of media at the time. Hanlong first came across this legendary figure sometime during first grade, mostly in story books that his mum bought him. He also learnt a few tales from his parents. Hanlong enjoys this legend because he found the Monkey King’s character very appealing and his adventures “cool”. However, Hanlong feels the media has blown this legendary figure out of proportion and has been overused. One example he draws upon is the famous cartoon ‘Dragonball Z’ in which the main character is called Son Goku, in direct correlation to the Monkey King. It angers him that the legendary figure has been changed so much that very few individuals know anything about the original legend.

I myself have come into contact with the Monkey King in the media. When I was in high school I watched a Japanese animation on television called ‘Saiyuki’ which was loosely based on the epic novel ‘Journey to the West’ which is a tale about the Monkey King and the monk that saved him. While it is great to see the legend in widespread media, one must realize that most adaptations are very loose and since this was my first impression of the Monkey King I had a skewed view until I spoke to Hanlong. This leads to one questioning the media’s responsibility to preserve the context of certain things. It’s great to use a legend as a reference, but not so much so that the original is forgotten.

Annotation: To read more about the Monkey King’s adventures please consider Journey to the West by Anthony C. Yu, 1980