The water woman
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Foto de Daniel Jacob en Unsplash
Don Pedro Rodriguez de Roda was a tall, distinguished, and handsome gentleman: he was the favorite of the ladies in love affairs and the terror of the knights in duels. Although his past was not without affairs with various high-class ladies, he had not yet fallen so much in love with any of them that he decided to marry.
It was then that the King set the date for the Royal Hunt of that year and invited Don Pedro, who did not hesitate to attend, mounted on his spirited chestnut horse with a long mane and his best hunting dogs. The trumpets sounded, and the procession began to move slowly until they spotted the stag with the seventeen-point antlers. Don Pedro galloped off behind the animal, which he eventually brought down.
Once the animal was ready to be taken to the castle and become the main course for its inhabitants and companions, Don Pedro separated himself slightly from his companions and headed toward the lake to drink from its crystal-clear, fresh waters. He did so, and was about to return when, on top of a rock, he saw a beautiful woman, dressed only in her long, lush hair, carefully combing it.
Don Pedro approached carefully so as not to frighten her, but she heard him and, at first, made a move to escape. But she stopped and looked at him with eyes the same green color as the lake water from which the knight had drunk. It took little for Don Pedro to swear eternal love to her and ask her to marry him, to which she agreed, but on only one condition:
– On the nights of the first days of each week, I'll come to the lake, and you can’t follow me. Do it just once, and you'll never see me again.
He happily agreed: the wedding took place amid rumors and gossip, because where had he gotten such a… strange woman from? The marriage was happy until rumors began to ask how it was possible that this woman with alabaster skin, pale and delicate, could still be as young as the day they had met. Don Pedro, breaking his promise, decided to follow her and see what she was going to do in the lake.
Hidden in the undergrowth, he saw his wife throw herself into the lake, and when she reemerged, leaping over the water, her body had changed: she no longer had legs, only a large, long, and colorful fish tail. Seeing him, Don Pedro gave a sigh of astonishment that she heard, and disappeared into the lake.
Don Pedro begged, prayed, sang wonderful love songs: it was of no use. But on the first night of every week, his wife's voice lulled their children to sleep, and the next morning, a pearl wrapped in water lily pads appeared on the dressing table. It was the water woman's way of letting him know she hadn't forgotten them.
This story is based in some Spanish legends, that had lasted through centuries (mostly medieval times but there are also data that points out that existed throughout Roman domination) and spread by great areas in Southwestern Spain, Castilla-La Mancha, Madrid and also the Basque country. In each area, they have some particularities, but the main theme is mainly the same. The name of these legends is “La Encantada” or “The Enchanted Woman”.
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