El Cipitio

Origin: El Salvador

Told by: Cesar Henriquez

“El Cipitío was an 8 year old boy that was cursed by a god. His name comes from the language of the Native Americans in El Salvador. The language is called Nahuatl. His name comes from the Nahuatl work ‘cipit’, or ‘cipote’, both of which mean kid.
El Cipitío was cursed to remain in his 8 year old body for eternity. He will never grow old. The curse placed on him also turned his feet to be backwards; the toes point behind him. He wears an excessively oversized pointy hat on his head, and nothing else. He wanders around lightly populated areas and is knows as a mischievous being. He whistles at pretty women, and yet also throws small stones at them. He is always naked, save for his hat, which makes it easy to see his backwards feet, his oversized belly that hangs over his waistline and genitals. He resembles more of a shrunken and fattened old man, despite being an 8 year old boy for life. His elongated and skinny nose on his face resembles a small recorder type flute.”

“These stories were told to me by my dad when I was a kid. The stories themselves are typically used to scare people from going to certain areas, or for parents to scare their kids out of going somewhere that might be otherwise unsafe for them. I remember my family telling me things like this with an air of providing me with knowledge, for the purpose of me knowing what others were talking about when speaking about it in public. ”

Analysis: This is a typical urban legend figure that nonetheless ties deeply into the historical roots of the country. The origin of the name from Nahuatl natives keeps that culture alive despite political power generally being in the hands of those who reject that culture and the natives. He is a trickster figure, and while somewhat malicious does not seem as threatening as other urban legends. His description is rather comical, too, which takes away from his seriousness: knowing exactly what the monster looks like takes away the fear of the unknown element at least visually. As a child, he is definitely more a trickster, but also shows that children might not be trusted (perhaps strange children or pickpockets). He might also be used as an explanation for women hearing whistling, or something like stones falling on them. While he might be a cautionary tale, he also seems to just be an explanation for unfortunate things occurring.