Nov 22 2009
The Zipes
Another character known to the farmers of our land is the
mischievous zipe (zee-pay). These curious dwarfs have the characteristic of having their feet sideways, being pot-bellied and crazy lovers of girls and beautiful women from the villages. People say that zipes surround cornfields plotting ways to steal women and then leave them stranded in the jungle after having achieved their purpose.
Rural women also claim that zipes steal unbaptized babies, and lose them on purpose as Wilfredo Alvarez mentioned in his interesting story of the origin of Loma del Zipe in Chinandega (link in Spanish). People say that men like to trap these dwarfs because once they do, they can force them to do labor while they rest. However, catching zipes is not as easy as it sounds. According to previous men who have tried to catch them, zipes are very sly and deceptive. Once they are under the service of a new captor, one must be very observant because if the zipe is neglected, he will disappear along with the captor’s wife.
Translated to English by Roberto, 15 years-old son of nicaraguan immigrant mother.
