Material

One day there was a lady a lady by the field her name was la llorona she was screaming…where are my sons she was crying she was saying where are my sons because she murder she she put them in the water and she killed them she used to live in the mountains she came outside in the midnight all people in the village were scared of la llorona they told her sons to don’t come out.

Context

The informant’s grandfather told this legend to the informant when he was age 7. His grandpa told him the legend because the informant and his cousins were at his house and it was raining outside. My informant told me the legend was communicated primarily as a pastime.

Informant Analysis

The informant believes in the existence of this lady. When I asked him why he believed in her existence he said because when he goes out at midnight in Mexico there are a lot of noises and people screaming. I asked him if he goes to Mexico often and he said he goes every vacation. According to him, la llorona only exists in Mexico.

Analysis from Collector

I like how the informant emphasized that he only hears the llorona in Mexico even though nowhere in the actual story that he told me did he mention that the llorona lives in Mexico. I believe that because he learned about this legendary person in Mexico he has always connected the legend to that place. This has led to his belief that she only exists in Mexico and that she can only be heard there.

 I also find it interesting that the informant began the legend with the llorona crying and screaming then going on to explain why she was acting like that. I found this interesting because from studying some other folklore and hearing other versions of the same legend, the story begins with an act being committed then the after effects of that act being said. The fact that she cries for her children is usually not told until the very end of the legend in contrast, my informant began the legend with her crying, explained why she was crying then ended the legend with her crying. His version of the legend is very circular.

Other places this legend is found

·         An entry submitted by Melanie Frakes

·         A book called La Llorona: the wailing woman by Victor Zubeldia published by Instituto Oaxaqueño de las Culturas