She was, without a doubt, the most terrible witch in the entire Aramaio valley. And don't think we're talking about an imaginary character from the dawn of time. Juanakala was, so to speak, a witch of today, of flesh and blood. Halfway through the last century we still remember an old, very old woman, an inveterate drunkard who lived by begging.
Juanakala
When Juanakala needed money for her main vice, and certainly the only one, which was none other than drinking, she stood in front of the first peasant she came across, threatening him like this:
– Surely you don’t want to see your favorite cow sick? not true ? Just like, I'm sure you don't want to have an accident in the mountains? not true ? Or being a widower before his time? not true ?
Of course sometimes some resisted the witch's persuasive sentences but it was always a pointless persistence. Because, then, Juanakala reviewed the latest disgraces that had taken place in the valley: death of livestock, calamities, epidemics, crimes, illnesses, adulteries, disappearances, bad weather and even wars so that we could change direction. notice.
So that Juanakala always got a few coins to go to the Poliko tavern and satisfy his insatiable need for Rioja wine, and good stuff. If she didn't have enough money, as sometimes happened, she would go so far as to threaten Poliko, with the tavern owner himself suggesting things like:
- Eh ! that you wouldn't want to see your wine turn into vinegar?
And Poliko, like everyone else, fearing old Juanakala, even more than a toothache, served her Franco's wine, exclaiming, despite himself:
– Drink, dear old lady, today it’s the house tour!
So one afternoon, the Juanakala was well, in the tavern, her favorite place in this world, buying wine when, seeing her, a rather reckless young man found nothing better than to joke with her, asking boastfully:
- What ? juanakala, we will go to akelarre this night? (literally: heath of the goat)
She looked at him with penetrating, sparkling and very mischievous eyes, and questioned him in turn:
– Maybe you would be able to do what you tell me?
The young boy looked around him wounded in his self-esteem and, realizing that there were several parishioners who had heard the witch's question, wounded in his pride, replied without thinking the slightest thing:
– Capable as he who can, what did you think?
And without giving him time to change his mind, old Juanakala added with a perverse smile:
– In that case, go at midnight sharp to the crossroads of such and such a place and wait for me at the top of the beech tree there!
Saying this, the old woman was about to leave the tavern with a defiant look, and the young man could add nothing to these words. But he realized that he had just done something stupid and abandoned his boasting, drank the wine from the glass in his hand and rushed out of the tavern. Unlike the witch who took the path to the mountain as witnesses noted, he, the now frightened young mocker, took the direction of the church.
There, the young man confessed to the priest, telling him about the episode in the tavern and the latter, after having absolved him, blessed him and gave him a blessed rosary and a pile of small medals, prints and many other blessed things, recommended to him :
– I know what your fear is, but now you must not fail. So, go to this crossroads and wait for his coming on the tree, protected with all this!.
The young man, still fearful and with a wavering step, left the church to go to the place in question, looking out of the corner of his eye at the priest praying and making the signs of the cross in his direction. Climbing the tree, our young man waited and waited until the church bells began to ring announcing midnight.
Just at the last shot, the twelfth, they arrived at the tree where there was a herd of enormous and very fat pigs, a herd, which, in endless line, passed under the tree for long minutes. Where hours??? Until finally, bringing up the rear, a sow of extraordinary size planted itself at the foot of the beech tree, opened its enormous gullet and shouted sharply towards the frightened young man:
– You were right to wear sacred things, it’s ingenious because otherwise you would have been cursed!
With that, the sow disappeared like the rest of the herd into the darkness of the night and the youngster fell from the tree, frightened like he could never have imagined.
Certainly, he returned home on his own, on foot, safe and sound. Certainly, thinking of the fall on that tree, he had no injury to any part of the body. Certainly, his pride suffered, and it was a lot, he did not reach any stage of madness, depression or anger in any way. But, certainly, the young man in this adventure fell very seriously ill without doctors, pharmacists or healers finding logical physical causes and he was never the same again.
Finally, he never again began to mock, challenge, or say a word to the famous and terrible Juanakala. He was no longer able to pass her on his way. For this, when he saw her outside, he turned around and walked away from her like a demon.
