Don Juan de Los Caminos

Sergio Umbria

Don Juan of the Roads

Emeterio Arquímedes, Don Juan of the Roads, belonging to the court of the Juans and the Chamarrera court. Emeterio Arquímedes, which was his real name, and called by the villagers Don Juan, was born in the state of Guárico in the decade of the Presidency of Cipriano Castro, his parents María Gómez and Pedro Arquímedes

Antepulteño of this town who, due to his hard illness, lung cancer, died at a very young age leaving 14 children orphaned, and a widow immersed in poverty but with the inheritance of great love for her children. From a very young age, Emeterio worked in the fields carrying firewood, and his mother washing clothes at the riverbank, which were paid with morocotas, plantains, or grains

Together with the planting of topochos that they themselves planted, they served as sustenance to feed their children. From a very young age, he had to travel long roads carrying large buckets of water, which, being heavy, overflowed on the way and sometimes he emptied it himself without imagining that when he arrived home, his mother would scold him for the little water in the buckets and he would return again in search of more

But due to his naivety, this arduous work turned into a great journey. When he was a child, he consumed pounded corn with grains or plantains every day, but with all his innocence, he reproached his mother for those foods and why not others, since they never consumed meat and to taste a glass of cow's milk when someone from the village paid him with milk, which he could not imagine

Emeterio's devoted mother gave them everything she had and many nights went to bed without eating so that her children could eat. This situation, upon the death of his mother, Emeterio could not bear to know the truth, that she had died of malnutrition. After this fateful departure of the most beloved being, Emeterio decides to travel the roads from town to town, the rest of his siblings made their lives separately

At that time, there were no roads and Emeterio did not have the resources to buy a mule, so Emeterio set out on his way without understanding that his mission was in the mountains. People moved from one place to another crossing long roads, where they always stumbled upon Emeterio who, due to his knowledge of the roads, guided them and those who were lost

Crying on the road, he took them to their destination since the light of the moon was the only thing that illuminated the paths, so the villagers thanked his presence on the roads, and many commented that there was no road where they always found him and he always had an answer to help them

His feet were full of blisters, he wore espadrilles, a light brown sack, and patched beige pants, a cocuiza hat, a cane, and a backpack, which only contained a candle wick and a rag to make the wick, which when the sun rose, he collected what was left of it, he was always very clean, which is why they called him Don Juan of the Roads

Helping others was his mission, like every man he had his experiences and many children, but his destiny was in the mountains, he always prayed for those roads so that no animal would come out, once he had a scare, a tiger came out, upon such an impression he entrusted himself to Joseph, Mary, and Jesus who were the three divine persons

When the lighter went out in the early morning, he stayed in the dark and many times in the open air of the rain but he never faded to the obstacles of nature, his faith, his love for others, and his humility led him to what he is today, a spirit of high light belonging to the Chamarrera court opening the roads to all those who seek his help

He departed from this world within some bushes when his heart stopped, his body, his soul, and his spirit vanished in the mountains and was never found by the villagers who deduced that he had gotten lost in other towns, but his fixed light illuminated the place where he had his last breaths and many villagers observing it said and still deduce that the spirit of Don Juan of the Roads illuminates the Savannah
His birthday is on March 13

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