Spanish Legends: Monte de las Ánimas & More
El Monte de las Ánimas
On the night of All Saints’, a cousin tells his cousin Beatrice the story of the Monte de las Ánimas. The mountain was where the king sent half-warrior, half-monk soldiers to defend against the Arabs, insulting the Castilian knights. The knights ambushed and massacred the soldiers on the mountain, burying them in the chapel. Since then, on the Day of the Dead at midnight, their souls appear, wrapped in shrouds.
Beatrice’s cousin, Alonso, offers her a jeweled feather from his hat. She promises him a blue ribbon, which she drops on the mountain. He reluctantly retrieves it for her. Later, Beatrice hears footsteps and can’t sleep. In the morning, she finds the ribbon stained with blood. Alonso has been devoured by wolves. Beatrice dies of horror.
A hunter who spent the night on the mountain witnessed skeletons of soldiers chasing a woman who resembled Beatrice, hovering over Alonso’s grave.
Rayo de Luna
Manrique, a young poet, is fascinated by monasteries, forests, and the stars. One midsummer night, near a Templar monastery, he sees a woman in white. He follows her across a river and tracks her to a house with a lit balcony. He waits all night. In the morning, a squire tells him that no woman lives there, only the ill Alonso de Valdecuellos.
Maese Pérez el Organista
A blind organist, Maese Pérez, is beloved by his Seville parishioners. The Archbishop invites him to play at the cathedral. Maese Pérez, gravely ill, plays one last time at his own church on Christmas Eve and dies. His replacement, though skilled, lacks Maese Pérez’s virtuous spirit. The following Christmas Eve, the replacement plays poorly at the cathedral, while an angelic melody fills Maese Pérez’s empty church. It is believed to be the spirit of the blind organist.
La Corza Blanca
Don Dinis, an Aragonese nobleman, has a daughter, Constance, and her servant, Garcés. A young man, Esteban, tells them about a white doe leading a herd of deer. Garcés, in love with Constance, believes that if he catches the white doe, he can win her love. He ventures into the mountains, never to return.