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.

Guabancex, the benign face of the goddess of water and winds

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.

Taino representation of the Coqui

Happy Hispanic Heritage Halves

In the US, September 15^th marks the beginning of Hispanic Heritage Month, which runs until October 15^th. Having half of one month and then another month makes for odd celebrations—it sneaks up on you and then leaves almost silently. Sometimes I don’t remember it’s Hispanic Heritage Month until I see a commercial wishing me a happy one.

I wondered at the choice. So, I did some research. It turns out it was originally a week for decades and then grew by 1989, which explains why as a kid I didn’t know about it and then suddenly I was eight and we were told we had a month to celebrate. I also learned it’s based on quite a few Latin American independence days, which is why it starts in the middle of September.

I’m hard pressed to relate this to fairy tales because of the lack of correlation. It’s always been difficult to find any original stories that haven’t been influenced by European ones. But there is one I found that I’ve always liked. It’s the legend of the Coquí, the frog of Puerto Rico.

Ignacio, the King of the Forest and a parrot, was disgusted by how lazy and complacent his subjects had become. To encourage them he challenged them to a race and that one of each species could represent them in the race. There would be no consequences for losing, but the winner would be given a surprise gift. The animals chose their strongest and fastest but didn’t take it too seriously. However, the tiny coquí, who had no voice, did. They trained a champion in the hopes it would outstrip the bigger, stronger animals.

The day of the race, the biggest and strongest animals lined up next to the tiny coquí and sprinted forward leaving the frog behind. And yet, the coquí used his powerful legs to jump past the leaders and won. King Ignacio, true to his word, spread his wings and chanted over the tiny frogs and gave them a voice. They, in turn were able to respond with a special song, “COQUÍ, COQUÍ.” And it was a reminder those who are overlooked can make their voices heard.

A comforting thought when your month is really half of two cobbled together.