The carau is a
myth
Myth is a folklore genre consisting of narratives that play a fundamental role in a society, such as foundational tales or origin myths. Since "myth" is widely used to imply that a story is not objectively true, the identification of a narrati ...
, commonly known in northeastern Argentine fables.
Myth
The ''carau'' is further referred to an old and sorrowful legend from the northeast of
Argentina
Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, t ...
, fable about a young man whose mother suffers from a deadly disease. He is sent to go for medicine. Her son, an innocent young boy, while on the way to the village, heard an accordion in the distance. He followed its sound, ran into a ''concurrence'' he forgot his mission.
He began dancing with the prettiest girl of the zone. Later, amidst dancing, a carau's comrade hindered him about a notice, telling: "I beg your pardon Carau, my friend, my condolences... your mother just died..."
Carau responded "It doesn't matter my friend, mum already died, I'll have time to cry later..."
Later in the night when the dawn was coming, he asked the lady to go with her to her house, and she coldly responded: "My house is far away from here, and I won't be visited by one who doesn't care for his own mother…"
Afterwards, saying goodbye, with his heart utterly broke, moving to home imbibed in tears, the young carau was transformed into a bird and ''tupa'' (god) condemned him to bear mourning black feathers and cry forever, just like the bird lament: ''caráu''.
Song
This legend was embedded in a song which was written by Emilio Chamorro, a regional folk writer, and had commonly been sung in ''
chamamé
Chamamé ( Guarani for: party, disorder) is a folk music genre from Northeast Argentina and Argentinian Mesopotamia. In 2020, Chamamé was inscribed in UNESCO's Intangible cultural heritage list after it was nominated by Argentina in 2018.
...
'' style; it gathered widespread through greater northeastern folk singers as Zitto Zegovia and Mario Boffil in their versions of "El Caráu".
See also
*
Argentine culture
The culture of Argentina is as varied as the country's geography and is composed of a mix of ethnic groups. Modern Argentinian culture has been influenced largely by Italian, Spanish, and other European immigration, while there is still a less ...
*
Limpkin
The limpkin (''Aramus guarauna''), also called carrao, courlan, and crying bird, is a large wading bird related to rails and cranes, and the only extant species in the family Aramidae. It is found mostly in wetlands in warm parts of the America ...
References
External links
Leyendas y creencias de la Argentina
Lyrics: “El Carau” by Mario Boffil
Aves de tu Zona, Tigre, Nordelta, Argentina
{{in lang, es
Culture of Argentina
Culture of South America
Argentine legends