We were in a cleared field that was about to be sowed. This was a plot, which included a few mounds, possibly ignored ruins. Night was falling and with it fell the song of solitude. We took shelter in a limestone cave, into which we lowered ourselves with the aid of a rope tied to a thick wooden pole driven into the cave’s floor.
We shared the food we had. The reader may ask himself what was I there for. I intended to personally witness what thousands of eyes fogged by fantasy had supposedly seen. My purpose was to see those mythical beings that, according to legends, inhabit ruin mounds and sown lands: the ALUXES.
My companion was an old peasant, whose last name was May. Well into the night, May said: “I may even get to harvest this corn field I’m sowing…”. “Why wouldn’t you?” I asked.
--Because these plots belong to the aluxes. They’re always seen around here.
--Are you sure they will come tonight?
--“I’m sure they will”, he answered.
--“How much do I want to know these marvelous beings, who exert so great an influence on your people! Tell me, Señor May, have you seen them? Please, describe them to me, what do they look like?, what do they do?”.
Striking a pose of importance, the old man said:
--At nights, when everybody sleeps, they leave their hideouts and walk around the fields. They’re short beings, like little children, very little children, and they go up and down, throwing rocks, being naughty, stealing the fire and annoying people with their steps and games. When humans wake up and try to get out and see what it’s all about, the aluxes run away, sometimes in pairs, sometimes all together in a mad rush. But when the fire is high and sparks, they dance around it, the slightest noise scaring them off into hiding, only to come out a bit later and make more of a racket. They’re not evil beings. If you treat them well, they oblige.
--How so?
--They drive away evil winds and chase off pests. But if you treat them badly, they’ll take revenge and your cornfield won’t yield at all, because they’ll steal the seed you sowed that very morning or because they’ll dance on the seedlings as soon as they sprout. We’re fond of them, so we bring them food and cigarettes. But let’s be quiet now, and see if you get to spot them…
The old man went out, holding on to the rope, and I came out behind him. He then stocked up the fire, served honey and pozole in gourd bowls and placed some cigarettes next to them, before returning to the cave. I cozily curled up at the back. The full moon night was splendid. A few hours later, just as I began to fall asleep, a noise startled me. It was the murmur of steps on the cave’s floor. Then, the rattle of stone blows, running and jumping grew clearer in the silence of the night.
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