Birth of the Coqui - HH story
We’re still in Hispanic Heritage Month and it felt appropriate that I continue my retelling of Latino fairy tales from my particular corner of Latin America, Puerto Rico.
Another story related to the coquí dates back to the time of the Tainos, the indigenous people of the Caribbean. Admittedly, I took a few liberties with the details, but the conclusion is the same.
There was a water goddess who fell in love with the son of a chief. To show her favor for him, she made sure that he always returned with ample catch when he went fishing. He, in turn, would thank and praise her each time. The goddess, not content to simply love him from afar, came to the chief’s son as a Taino woman. Despite taking human form, the man knew who the woman was, and they fell even deeper in love. But she couldn’t remain indefinitely. She promised to return the next evening with the rising of the moon.
When the man returned, instead of finding the woman and goddess he loved, he was confronted by Juracán, the mercurial side of Guabancex, goddess of the weather. Perhaps Juracán, envious of the other goddess’s happiness or overcome with desire for the man, caused the skies to darken and blew down great winds to snatch the chief’s son. The water goddess tried to save her lover, but in vain. She called his name over and over again until her voice grew hoarse, but she never saw him again. In her grief she created a tiny frog that echoed her cries, calling to the man named Coquí.
