Urban Legends, Haunted Places, ETC .

El Sombreron

In a local village near Antigua there lived a young lady, the daughter of the woman who owned the store. She was a very pretty girl, with long hair and brown eyes. One night when there was a full moon, she was sitting outside, admiring the evening sky. Suddenly a short character with a big hat and a guitar approached her. He began to sing her a song, but at that moment her parents overheard and made her get inside the house. From that day she was not able to sleep because he either appeared in the house or sang to her from the street.

Night after night he repeated this visit; he played the guitar well and with the sweetest of the voices he sang love songs until one night, the foolish girl allowed him to braid her hair, which was his intention all along.... to lay his hands on her long silky hair and tangle his tiny fingers in it to make the tightest and most beautiful braids. If she was foolish enough to let him, she would be cursed forever and she would become his "bride".

After she has the first braid done, he will leave her ...but not entirely. He will come back and throw tiny pebbles and dirt in her food, so she cannot eat it, until she becomes so thin from lack of food, and so distressed from her broken heart, she will die. If she survives, she will become an old maid: a woman cursed to spend the rest of her days alone...and never know any other love but the one from his songs.

n the folklore and of Guatemala, El Sombrerón is a legendary bogeyman figure who also appears in other Latin American countries such as Mexico. He also is known by other names such as Tzizimite, Tzipitio, and the goblin, but generally appears as a short male dressed all in black. He wears a thick black, shiny belt and black shiny boots that click when he walks. On his head, he wears a large black sombrero hat.

He often has a horse and will braid its mane and tail. His favorite occupation is to court young ladies who have large dark eyes and long black hair which he likes to braid for her. He will serenade and play his guitar for her but will also place soil on her plate and she will have problems eating and sleeping.

His favorite time to appear is at dusk when he can sometimes be seen leading a line of four mules around the city or its urban districts. When a girl responds favorably to his advances he will tie his mules to her house and begin to serenade her by singing and playing his guitar. Sometimes he will dance for her. It is said by some residents of Parroquia Vieja and La Recolección districts in La Antigua, Guatemala, that when there is a full moon he can still be seen at times wandering through the streets.

Susana

One legend of El Sombrerón tells how an attractive young woman named Susana from La Recolección was troubled by this strange, amorous spirit. Susana was the daughter of a woman who was the owner of a local store. She was very pretty with long dark hair and big hazel eyes. One pleasant summer night she was sat out on her balcony watching the stars come out when she was approached by a rather short man dressed all in black wearing a large black sombrero hat. He was carrying a silver guitar slung over his back.

He stood below her balcony looking up to her and he sang and strummed his guitar and she fell under his spell. Luckily her mother looked out and called her inside but from that moment on Susana could not get the strange man out of her mind. In fact, he would appear out of nowhere either in the house or outside and begin playing his guitar and singing to her. Sometimes he would begin to braid her long dark hair while she appeared helpless to stop him. Strangely each time she was given a plate of food it was found to be contaminated with soil. It made no difference who prepared it or who served it to her it still became contaminated preventing her from eating properly and her health began to suffer. Eventually, her worried mother cut her hair and took it to the church and asked the priest to soak it with holy water and to pray over it. The priest did as he was asked and after a few days, the strange little man stopped bothering her.

Another Victim

Another legend tells how one village girl went out one night to sit on her balcony and enjoy the light of the full moon. She was surprised to hear the sound of a guitar playing and a soothing voice singing a beautiful serenade. Looking over the balcony she saw a strange, dark, squat figure in a large sombrero hat playing a silver guitar while singing up to her. Struck by the music and singing she listened but was disturbed by her mother who heard and knew who was out there and came out and called her in quickly. However, it was too late for she had fallen under his spell and every night the strange man in the big hat would appear and serenade her keeping her awake all night long.

One night he climbed the balcony and entered her room and began to braid her hair as she sat spellbound. Tradition says that once he finishes the first braid she would become his bride for eternity but that never happened in this case. Although she was under his spell El Sombrerón likes to keep moving from one girl to the next and he grew bored with her and moved on to another victim. Although he has them under his spell rather than marry them he prefers to throw stones and dirt in their food so that they cannot eat and slowly starve and die of a broken heart. That is what happened to this poor girl.

Warning

The legend of El Sombrerón is a warning to young girls that moonlight and music can easily be used by men of bad intentions as a means of seduction and to remember and uphold the traditional family values and the standards of society. It reminds them that courtship has certain rituals and rules that should be obeyed and followed rather than fall for the charms of mysterious strangers on dark nights under the moonlight.