4: The Alligator Man

The alligator man is a legend of the north coast of Colombia. The popular Colombian song "Se va el caimán" by Crescencio Salcedo, also has its origin in this story.

This is the alligator, this is the alligator,

what all the people say

This is the alligator, this is the alligator,

an intelligent alligator.

Yes my friend. This story started right here. And the one who is today the alligator man sat there, where you are now ready to have a glass of rum, a cheese and finally, your plate of coconut rice.

He always looked towards the opposite shore of the river and when he guessed the presence of someone on the other side, he rushed his rice and disappeared into the water. why was he doing that? Do not despair, friend, finish taking your rum and listen, this story just started.

It is a love story, like all of them, with the difference that man was better off than anyone, despite all the adversities. So if you are going to order another drink, do it once, that here I begin my story and I do not stop until the end.

A man, happy and carefree, traveled continuously from Pinillos to Magangué, selling all kinds of foods and beautiful fruits. In great voices and in the middle of the romp between him and the people around here, the man amused everyone with his absurd stories of how he acquired the products, to the point of convincing the buyers that what they were carrying were wonderful objects.

One afternoon, while announcing loudly the sale of some oranges that, according to him, possessed the essences of eternal love, he discovered for his fortune the presence of a beautiful mulatto woman with freshly rinsed hair that walked carefree. The man made conversation with the girl and quickly, both were deeply attracted.

Her name was Roque Lina and she was the daughter of a severe and unapproachable rice merchant. His brothers, who played the secret role of guardians of the girl's footsteps, realizing that Roque Lina was more and more attracted by the man's pompous phrases, gave the alarm to his father.

So, friend, when the man appeared as usual with his screams and his otherworldly products and rushed happily to greet with songs his beloved Roque Lina, he found himself facing the unkind presence of his impossible father-in-law. "Here the one who sells is me," the father said sharply. "And my daughter is not rice. So you can go with your music somewhere else, before we have problems. Or I do not know! " And without adding another word, he took Roque Lina by the arm and dragged her with him.

It was from that moment when the man began to come every day to this store, to ask for the same rum, the same cheese and the same rice with coconut and to look towards the river. Why? I quickly understood it: here men bathe on this shore. Towards the middle of the stream there is a whirlpool and on the other side the women bathe. Also, here people go to the need in the water and they charge a penny for everything. What was happening? For nothing more than the man had agreed with Roque Lina so that when she went to bathe, he would swim across the river and come to visit her.

You will be asking how man would go through that whirlpool, which at first sight is not suitable for human beings. Well, this is where the secret of history lies. The man finished eating the rice, got into the water and little by little, his body was corrugated, his arms were shrinking in little feet, his legs were joined in a fluttering tail and each of the granites of rice that had eaten they were transformed into a row of filudísimos teeth, until being turned into an expert swimmer caiman.

Thus the alligator man nimbly traversed the whirlpool and after violent splashes, managed to get to where Roque Lina, who anxiously awaited him to go to discover with him the secret depths of the river. The man came here daily, drank and ate his eternal ration and launched on his reptilian journey where his beloved Roque Lina. This permanent visit was alerting all fishermen in the area.

One morning, one of Roque Lina's brothers caught a glimpse of the unbridled tail of the alligator man breaking the whirlpool and immediately raised the alarm. All the fishermen of Magangué went hunting for the alligator. But any effort was useless. The more obstinate the men were trying to annihilate the animal, the more agile the man became to reach the shore of Roque Lina.

Take the other little rush, friend, that this story is already rushing to its end and you have to prepare for what follows. Are you following me ...?

The father of Roque Lina, ostentatious man and thirsty to make his own pride, located exactly where the caiman used to swim and organized a fence to catch it.

One morning, a good number of fishermen sailed busily through these places, searching without rest for the alligator, commanded by the father of Roque Lina. While this was happening, the man in our story, sitting where you are, finished his rum, his cheese and his rice and left here. Where would he go if everyone looked for him? Then I knew: the very alive threw himself into the water while everyone was in his search, swam swiftly to the ship of Roque Lina's father and, one, devoured all the rice he found. Then he looked for his beloved who was dozing on the dock. Gently he placed her on his back and without waking her, he left with Roque Lina in silence.

They never heard from them again. But, from that day, all the men around here hide their women early and rush to eat all the rice they have in the pot, before the alligator man comes and makes the woman disappear

It is a love story, like all of them, with the difference that man was better off than anyone, despite all the adversities. So if you are going to order another drink, do it once, that here I begin my story and I do not stop until the end.

A man, happy and carefree, traveled continuously from Pinillos to Magangué, selling all kinds of foods and beautiful fruits. In great voices and in the middle of the romp between him and the people around here, the man amused everyone with his absurd stories of how he acquired the products, to the point of convincing the buyers that what they were carrying were wonderful objects.

One afternoon, while announcing loudly the sale of some oranges that, according to him, possessed the essences of eternal love, he discovered for his fortune the presence of a beautiful mulatto woman with freshly rinsed hair that walked carefree. The man made conversation with the girl and quickly, both were deeply attracted.

Her name was Roque Lina and she was the daughter of a severe and unapproachable rice merchant. His brothers, who played the secret role of guardians of the girl's footsteps, realizing that Roque Lina was more and more attracted by the man's pompous phrases, gave the alarm to his father.

So, friend, when the man appeared as usual with his screams and his otherworldly products and rushed happily to greet with songs his beloved Roque Lina, he found himself facing the unkind presence of his impossible father-in-law. "Here the one who sells is me," the father said sharply. "And my daughter is not rice. So you can go with your music somewhere else, before we have problems. Or I do not know! " And without adding another word, he took Roque Lina by the arm and dragged her with him.

It was from that moment when the man began to come every day to this store, to ask for the same rum, the same cheese and the same rice with coconut and to look towards the river. Why? I quickly understood it: here men bathe on this shore. Towards the middle of the stream there is a whirlpool and on the other side the women bathe. Also, here people go to the need in the water and they charge a penny for everything. What was happening? For nothing more than the man had agreed with Roque Lina so that when she went to bathe, he would swim across the river and come to visit her.

You will be asking how man would go through that whirlpool, which at first sight is not suitable for human beings. Well, this is where the secret of history lies. The man finished eating the rice, got into the water and little by little, his body was corrugated, his arms were shrinking in little feet, his legs were joined in a fluttering tail and each of the granites of rice that had eaten they were transformed into a row of filudísimos teeth, until being turned into an expert swimmer caiman.

Thus the alligator man nimbly traversed the whirlpool and after violent splashes, managed to get to where Roque Lina, who anxiously awaited him to go to discover with him the secret depths of the river. The man came here daily, drank and ate his eternal ration and launched on his reptilian journey where his beloved Roque Lina. This permanent visit was alerting all fishermen in the area.

One morning, one of Roque Lina's brothers caught a glimpse of the unbridled tail of the alligator man breaking the whirlpool and immediately raised the alarm. All the fishermen of Magangué went hunting for the alligator. But any effort was useless. The more obstinate the men were trying to annihilate the animal, the more agile the man became to reach the shore of Roque Lina.

Take the other little rush, friend, that this story is already rushing to its end and you have to prepare for what follows. Are you following me ...?

The father of Roque Lina, ostentatious man and thirsty to make his own pride, located exactly where the caiman used to swim and organized a fence to catch it.

One morning, a good number of fishermen sailed busily through these places, searching without rest for the alligator, commanded by the father of Roque Lina. While this was happening, the man in our story, sitting where you are, finished his rum, his cheese and his rice and left here. Where would he go if everyone looked for him? Then I knew: the very alive threw himself into the water while everyone was in his search, swam swiftly to the ship of Roque Lina's father and, one, devoured all the rice he found. Then he looked for his beloved who was dozing on the dock. Gently he placed her on his back and without waking her, he left with Roque Lina in silence.

They never heard from them again. But, from that day, all the men around here hide their women early and rush to eat all the rice they have in the pot, before the alligator man comes and makes the woman disappear and grains.

This is more or less the story, friend. The good thing is that here, from those days, a merengue is sung that says:

This morning, early,

when I went to bathe,

I saw a very unique alligator

with the face of being human.

You already realize why it is. The only thing I can not give you, my friend, is your plate of coconut rice. These days, I do not know why, it has been scarce around here. But. . . Do not you want me to tell you another story?