Chronicles and Legends 06: El Chorro and the Golden Viper
Once again, Brenda Araiza generously shares her time and knowledge of the legends of San Miguel de Allende to eloquently tell us the legend of the origins of El Chorro, which her mother used to tell her when she was a child, thus passing down this oral tradition.
It turns out that in the past, where the halls of Casa de La Cultura now stand, there used to be the baths of San Miguel, where families from the region would go to bathe, enjoying the warmth of its hot springs as well as the washhouses located there.
Among all these people, there were some sisters who frequented the baths every night when no one else was around so they could enjoy a good, relaxing bath, taking advantage of the private shelter that night usually brings.
One of these nights, while the sisters were bathing with no one to bother them, they saw a golden glimmer on the floor of the water, to which they paid no attention until the younger sister felt a sharp pain in her ankle.
It turned out that a huge golden serpent was there, and it began to bite her mercilessly. Despite the sisters' desperate efforts and cries for help, nothing could be done to make the reptile release the poor sister until it later coiled around her leg and carried her away in the current until she disappeared.
Desperate, the older sister spread word of her sister's mysterious disappearance, and all the villagers began searching for her in the water as well as in the nearby orchards of pears, fruit, and peaches, but with no result.
Weeks later, when the farmers were gathering fruit, they caught sight of the golden serpent and stealthily approached it with a machete. They managed to wound it, and even greater was their surprise when, instead of shedding blood, the serpent released countless gold coins, but it fled and the people could no longer catch it.
However, word spread, and everyone in San Miguel set about looking for it. Some time later, when other people were at the baths, they once again saw a golden glimmer, and on this occasion they quietly got out of the water to ambush the creature.
This time they managed to capture it and split it in half to see whether they would find the woman in its entrails, for they believed that the woman had transformed into the serpent, but they did not find her. What the viper did yield, however, was hundreds of gold coins and precious stones, which they used to finish the construction of the Baths and the Washhouses.
This curious tale speaks to us of the town's folklore as well as its great inventiveness in giving rise to places that over time became emblematic of the region. But we must not forget that real history tells us that it was thanks to the Mayorazgo de la Canal Family that both the baths and the washhouses were built.
We always appreciate expanding our knowledge of our beautiful and mysterious lands.
