The story of the prodigious ointment is set in times when Moors and Christians fought fiercely and the lands of Alava were bloody battlefields. You could see hundreds of corpses on the ground, in a state of putrefaction.
The prodigious ointment
There was a moment during this time when, mysteriously, the Arabs who had fallen, died, near the cities, rose to life. This had the effect of unbalancing the opposing forces to the detriment of Christians who, when they died, were dead.
The leaders of the Christian troops went to great lengths to try to understand this strange phenomenon. What bad luck! To see the dead resurrected who, moreover, were on the opposing side. The rout was thus played out in advance.
What everyone did not know was that this massive resurrection of the Moors was the work of an old witch, with a grim look and a feline silhouette, who, every evening, roamed the battlefields carrying a pot under her armpit. It contained an ointment of his manufacture. By putting her fingers in it she coated the wounds of the corpses with this potion which stood up, safe and sound, as if they were coming out of a light sleep. And so day after day.
One evening, following a violent battle that had caused many deaths, the Christian leaders were lamenting, very concerned about the turn things were taking.
– What use is this triumph to us if, without a doubt, the dead are raised this very night?
When they least expected, a young soldier came to them and offered to guard the battlefield on his own that night. Since they couldn't find out about the phenomenon, the chiefs granted him permission with a secret hope.
So the soldier hid among the Moorish corpses and watched patiently. Around midnight appeared an old woman with a pot walking very quietly and surely. Without losing a single detail, the youngster observed how the unknown woman, dipping two fingers into the container, coated the bodies. Immediately the dead man opened his eyes, got up and left, fleetingly thanking the old woman.
Without wasting a moment, the youth seized his spear approached the revived Moor and pierced him. He did the same with the old woman, certain that she was a dangerous witch.
For a moment the young gazed at the contents of the pot very intrigued, noting that it was a sticky and thick ointment, with a strange and unpleasant smell. Imitating the old woman, dipped two fingers in the product and applied it to the wound on the old woman's chest. Barely touched, this starving old woman got up as if she had never been dead.
Very frightened, she begged him to save her life, promising that she would show him how to obtain this preparation. But the young man pierced his ribs again without mercy.
When the soldier returned to his encampment, he recounted his success but few gave him credit.
How can you be sure of this fantastic story? Showing the pot to his superiors, the young soldier asked that they kill him and then apply this ointment to his wound.
He had to face the mockery of his companions and facing the disbelief of his superiors, they ended up killing him by reminding them that he alone would be responsible for his fate.
Finally a stab in the chest from a companion put an end to his life. Without wasting time, still very skeptical, someone joined two fingers that he dipped in the pot and applied the ointment to the wounds of the young man who had fallen to the ground, who immediately got up in front of the perplexity of the people present.
Thanks to the ointment, at daybreak, the Christian soldiers won other battles over the Moors who, in addition, had no one left to raise their dead to them.
On the contrary, and until the end of the war, when a Christian died he immediately came back to life for the happiness of all.
