Route 3: Sant Iscle de Vallalta - Sant Cebrià de Vallalta - Sant Pol de Mar

LES DONES D’AIGUA (WATER WOMEN)

A long time ago, when fantastic beings such as centaurs, faunas, satyrs, Oreads, Dryads and nymphs lived in Montnegre, some of them stood out for their beauty: the water ladies.

About 3 km from the village square, towards the North-West on the way to Vallgorguina, at Can Maresme valley and following the stream there is a spot where the water formed a pool and a cavern where its leafy terrain and thick vegetation gives it an esoteric appearance. In daylight, only a small ray of sunshine can filter through so much darkness, it is a charming place.

This is the place where legend says these nymphs used to live and on full moon nights, they washed their ethereal clothes, spreading them on the grass while singing softly and dancing subtly.

Once, a strapping young shepherd decided to take a rest near the cool stream, but suddenly woke up attracted by the sweetest of voices. Enchanted, he, little by little and without making noise, got closer to the place to spy over a scene he had never seen before: beautiful women dancing, with bare feet and legs, long hair and wrapped in ethereal veils that shook to the beat of a strange and enchanting music.

Out of all of them, he felt attracted by one, who saw him, but without saying anything continued her dance, even more ecstatically. The shepherd thought it was all a dream, but on the next full moon he returned to the same place to find the truth: he heard those harmonious voices again and also saw the woman he liked. After getting to know each other, the couple escaped to live in the forest.

After a while, the nymph was expecting a son. It was the first time that a nymph was pregnant by a mortal and therefore, when the child was born, the nymphs did not know how to help their fellow nymph. They were shouting desperately around the pool, when an old lady who lived in Can Patiràs, the nearest house, listened well to the prayers of those exotic women. They went down into the stream and one of them, holding a rod in her hands, opened up the waters of the pond: there underneath everything was light, as if the sun, the moon and all the stars had all come out at the same time.

The woman from Can Patiràs helped the young woman in childbirth and so her companions, to express their gratitude, filled her apron with something they told her not to look at until she got home. On her way back, the woman was feeling her skirt wondering a thousand times what it might be that the nymphs gave her. Finally, she could not control her curiosity and before arriving home, she took a look at it: it was just a pile of bran! Disenchanted and angry, she threw it all away because she had plenty at home! But when she arrived, her family was marvelled at her grandmother's apron: all the brans crumbs left in the apron's creases had turned into pure gold. Enraged, the grandmother went back to pick up what she had thrown away, but she could not find anything. She stumbled down to the stream, where out of despair, jumped into the water. She was then swallowed in punishment for her curiosity.

The young shepherd who threatened the tranquillity of the divinities from the forest was condemned to wander through the mountains of Montnegre forever and ever, and even now, on full-moon nights it is said that one can hear the sad wails of the young man looking for his beloved and the woman who drowned by the stream in greed.