Legend Of The Cactus

Legend Of The Cactus

The legend of the cactus is a Native American legend.

Near the mountains there lived a tribe. The most handsome of the young men of the tribe was Quehualliu. He loved picking flowers for Psancana, the beautiful daughter of the chief, roaming freely over the lovely hills and valleys. Together they played in the most beautiful and enchanting places of the mountain. They spent a lot of time together.

When they were older, they realized they had fallen in love. But the chief had wanted Pasancana to marry another boy in the tribe who was an excellent hunter. He did not allow Quehualliu and Pasancana to be together and did not approve of their union.

The lovers cried as they couldn’t bear to be apart. They hatched a plan. They next night they waited until the first star came out and then fled together into the highest mountains.

The chief was furious when he came to know what the lovers had done. He summoned the best hunters and together they searched the hills for the couple.

Meanwhile, Pasancana and Quehualliu were tired, so they sat down for a few minutes. They were incredibly sleepy. They were drifting off to sleep when the hunting party arrived.

They saw the men by the light of the full moon and begged the goddess Pachamama, the goddess of the land, to hide them.

Goddess Pachamama took pity on the young lovers. She opened a hole deep in the mountain and hid them there. Naturally, the hunting party could not spot the lovers.

‘Don’t worry,’ the chief shouted. ‘They can’t hide forever!’ He and his men camped on the mountain all night, expecting to find their quarry in the morning.

Dawn brought a surprise for the men. A beautiful cactus had sprung up on the mountain over the night. What they did not know was that the cactus had sprung up exactly above the hole where the two lovers were hidden. The lovers had magically transformed, and you can see them in the mountains to this day as a cactus, shaped like Quehualliu protecting Pasancana.