When Anguera was a pagan he bore this name; he was a tall, strong and brave Indian, but he was sad, gloomy and silent.
When the Jesuit priests came to the mountain wilderness and lost their way, none other than Anguera became their guide and unerringly led them onto the road; when they stopped to rest, he was baptized.
His godfather was the cacique Mborore, the leader of an Indian tribe who became a friend of the Jesuits. And the pagan Anguera was given the Christian name Generoso, which means: “Generous.” So, having parted with his former name, like a snake with its skin, the sad and gloomy Anguera became cheerful and cheerful. He helped lay the foundation of all the churches in the Seven Villages. This is how he lived his life!.. And he always laughed and sang.
One day he called a priest and confessed to him; he anointed him with oil, and Generoso died.
Generoso apparently died happy, because there was a smile on his face; everyone mourned him, for he gained universal respect, being a cheerful and cheerful person.
Since his soul flew away cheerfully, she invisibly visited familiar houses, walked through the rooms and halls and, for fun, made the ceiling beams and floorboards crackle, as well as new furniture and baskets woven from thick willow twigs; if she came across a guitar hanging on the wall, she would make the strings ring in order to delight herself with the memory of the songs that Generoso sang when he was alive.
Sometimes she began to whistle at the doors and windows of these houses, watching their inhabitants; when they gathered around the fire, where the children were drawing or frolicking, the women were sewing or weaving nets, Generoso, or rather his soul, blew softly on the fire, causing it to tremble and waver, causing the shadows cast by objects to begin to move.
And for a long time - right up to the uprising of the ragamuffins - “farraupillas” - when they danced the fandango on the rich estates of Brazilian cattle breeders or the folk dance shimarritu on the poor ranchos, Generoso was invisibly present and tap-danced, the rhythm of which was felt in the chords of the guitar. And when at parties there happened to be a good singer, and with good hearing, he, following Generoso, repeated the verse, which became the anthem of those times:
My home is in Pirapo,
My name is Generoso.
I love to dress up
Dance with the girls
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru