Mitos y Leyendas: The Armadillo, the Little Animal that Gave Its Life for Art

• Genny de Bernardo shares the legend of the Armadillo, a music-loving creature that learned to create it.
• The legend of the Armadillo is fantastic and has beautiful elements that enchant both children and adults.
• This is a little animal that fulfilled its dream of learning to sing in the most unexpected way.

An old Armadillo born in Oruro, Bolivia, spent its days and nights admiring the song of the wind on a rocky outcrop.

When it rained, the song of the frogs seemed to it the most beautiful sound, and it always went to enjoy their harmonious concert. The little one was a lover of music from birth.

«How happy I would be if I could sing like that!», exclaimed the little animal. The frogs were not very kind, as they mocked our small protagonist.

«Even if you come to listen to us sing every night, you will never learn to sing like us, ha, ha, ha, ha!». The little animal, humble and kind, did not understand the frogs’ insult, just happily enjoyed their song.

The Armadillo Listens to Birds

One day, while walking, it heard a sound like it had never heard before. It was the song of some canaries. He went crazy with their singing.

The birds were in a cage owned by a man. The little animal followed him, unnoticed, for a long time. It was completely happy listening to the song of the birds.

The frogs said that the birds were their family because of the elegant way they sang. They boasted that such a neat sound was part of their genealogy. Suddenly, they noticed its presence.

They looked at it and said, «Look! Now surely the Armadillo will dream of singing like those birds!», and they mocked it with laughter. It didn’t care and followed the birds, however, it was already tired from walking so much.

Visit to a Sorcerer

The Armadillo exclaimed, «Oh, what a misfortune, I can no longer walk and the musicians are leaving!». Thus, little by little, the canaries disappeared.

It was night when the little one was returning home, but now it had more than ever the will to fulfill its dreams of being able to sing.

On the way home, it decided to visit the sorcerer Sebastián Mamani. Upon entering his hut, it quickly exclaimed, «Compadre, you who can do everything, teach me to sing like the canaries!».

Anyone else would have laughed at the little Armadillo, but Sebastián Mamani proposed something to it. «I can teach you to sing better than the canaries, the frogs, and the crickets… but… there’s a detail».

The Legend of the Armadillo that Learned to Sing

He explained, «for you to learn to sing, you must give me your life», «I accept everything, but please, teach me to sing», «Alright», said the sorcerer, «you will sing from tomorrow, but tonight you will die».

The Armadillo looked at him and said, «How? Will I sing after I’m dead?», and he replied «yes». The next day the little animal awoke singing in the hands of the sorcerer. It was a celestial stringed song.

When the man passed by the puddle where the frogs were, they, hearing the Armadillo, were astonished. «Look, what a beautiful sound and it’s the Armadillo, the quirquincho learned to sing!»

They were unaware that the little animal, like all artists, gave its life for art. Known as quirquincho in Bolivia, the Armadillo’ shell is used to make the charango, a stringed instrument celebrated for its beautiful sound.