FABLES OR LEGENDS "THE MAWARI"

Legend has it that the Mawari are magical beings that inhabit the water and are a mixture of person and fish, they are also said to be charms or spirits present in many indigenous cultures. They can swim like fish and talk like men, their appearance from the waist up is of a man which allows them to deceive those who pass through the river. For example in Puerto Ayacucho, on the Orinoco River, there is an area where there are many petroglyphs called playa el catfish, in the winter time the sound of drums is heard at dusk but it becomes clear as it approaches head to the water and when you put your ear under the surface you can see that the music of the drums comes from the depths. It is a rhythmic sound that can not be the result of the clash of stones that drag the river. It is said that the Mawari have villages underwater, that the Toninas are the same Mawari as well as other fish. There are fishermen who go to the river at dusk when the drums are heard, they spray with tobacco and alcoholic beverages the surface offering these substances so that they can enjoy them in their underwater parties and ask them in return for a fish of certain characteristics in Your next fishin

It is attributed to the dolphins (freshwater dolphin) the property of enchanting, because they are believed to stop on land and enchant their young, produce sounds similar to a child's cry, that is why they are said to be transformed into women for perform the charm. This is a long process that happens when someone fishes in a pond or river whose owner is the Mawari.

On a certain occasion when I visited the State of Amazonas seeking to know a little more about their culture and beliefs, I came across a woman with a worn face and tanned skin full of anecdotes, stories and fables from her childhood, so I took the time to listen to her , drawing much my attention the story of a man who lived by hunting and fishing, the only means of subsistence in the interior of the territory, one day he left his house at six in the morning in a canoe carrying as food a piece of roast. At around one o'clock in the afternoon he decided to eat his cold food. The woman tells us that the fisherman was in love and his image did not disappear from his fiancee who lived in a distant community. When he was back down the river, he realized that hundreds of dolphins were following him. The man reached the riverbank and the dolphins started jumping near his canoe. The next day the well dressed bride appeared to him; Astonished that man interpellated: How did you do to come from so far? She told him that in a boat that was in the port below. And he did not give much importance to the boat, he went with her to the port on a road that connects the house with the river and made love on the way; at the end of his love delivery, she immediately threw herself into the black river and disappeared, what the man did not imagine is that at that moment and with his acts the enchantment was born to all plenitude, which allowed him exclusively to see his girlfriend , not so to the others who lived in the place.

When he got up the next day, he left for his usual job, he fishing; his lady mother did not notice anything abnormal in him, only he saw hallucinations on returning from the lagoon, a favorite place to do his work; where he saw in the middle of the river how they played the dolphins that used as an entertainment medium an orange that was thrown at each other; It was approached carefully in its curiara until reaching just two meters from where they were. One of them threw the orange that fell into the canoe; He grabbed it and ate it by the hand. The taste of orange was completely sweet, the sweetest of all that had been eaten so far. That day came with the curiara almost on the verge of sinking for the amount of fish that it brought, since it had gone very well, because so much was the amount of fishing done that it had to rest two weeks, the mother came down to scale the fish, while the old woman fixed the product of the fishing; He went to bathe in the river.

Five minutes later, the mother realized that the son was not leaving, and immediately the alarm went off. The neighbors found that the man had actually thrown himself into the river, since his shirt and dirty trousers were on the riverbank. Some began to track the place. Others went to notify the nearest authorities, who did not wait; meanwhile the relatives looked for a witch; She stated that the man was not dead, that the Mawari or charm had taken him away and he was in TEMENDAGUI, a city that lies at the bottom of the river and is the capital of charms; The witch ordered to leave the clothes in the same place since that would be the only sign that he would have if he could return, his relatives kept hoping to see him again, while the townspeople already thought he was dead, they said that the fisherman had drowned. After two months when the hopes were lost the man was found on the riverbank right next to his clothes and told that he had been living in a village that exists under water, where snakes, fish and dolphins they make life just like human beings in a town or city, the only thing that kept him alive was the hope of returning to his home and what allowed him to leave the enchantment was not to eat anything of what these beings offered him, so they decided to let him go because not eating the charm lost strength and there was no point in keeping him there but he was going to be part of them.

In my trip through the Amazon I could see that the myths and legend stories gain strength according to the beliefs of its inhabitants around all their habits and customs of life, being they themselves that exalt the value of their magical land.