The modern belief that the corpses of systematically slaughtered Indians provide an essential ingredient in products available only to the ruling elites preserves in folk narrative what was allegedly very close to fact in colonial times.

The nak’aq, as it appears in contemporary Andean folklore, thus constitutes the vivid distillation, in the sharply abbreviated language of legend, of a history that—although now forgotten as such—has nonetheless left its indelible mark on the Andean folk imagination.

Folktales

Legends are narratives believed to be true.  This, in fact, is the primary defining feature of legend.  The folktale, on the other hand, is pure fantasy; the short story, if you will, of oral literature.  Yet even in fantasy, traditional narrative reflects social and cultural reality.  At times folktales may also comment on this reality in the allegorical language of oral literature.  One Andean folktale, “The Lizard,” reveals this graphically.  It was recorded in the province of Lucanamarca (Department of Ayacucho) by the Peruvian folklorist Jose Maria Arguedas.

The Lizard

There was once a wealthy man who married an extraordinarily beautiful woman.  Both desired a child as an heir to their huge wealth.  Several years went by, and still the woman did not conceive.  Finally the man attempted to beget an heir by another woman, but this failed.  The wife also attempted to have a child by other men, to no avail.  In despair, they considered adoption.  Just then the woman suddenly became pregnant.  The expectant parents eagerly looked forward to the heir they had so long desired.  Instead of a human child, however, the woman gave birth to a monster.  It was a lizard with a human face.

The parents treated the lizard as a normal child and gave it a good education.  When the creature reached the age of eighteen it announced that it wished to marry.  Because of their wealth, the parents were able to arrange a marriage.  The wedding feast was celebrated in the priest’s house with all the local notables in attendance.  That evening, after the celebration, the godparents of the bride and groom took the couple to the nuptial chambers, undressed the bride, and laid her in bed.  They then left the room and secured the door with three locks.  Once the lights were out, the creature fell upon its bride and devoured her, eating every single fiber of the poor girl’s flesh.