Devil with No Ass • Origin of the sarapós

Paintings by Feliciano Lana

Text based on narratives by
Feliciano Lana, Desana from São João
Guilherme Pimentel Tenório, Tuyuka from São Pedro
Higino Pimentel Tenório, Tuyuka from São Pedro
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There was a being called Wasu. He was the cousin of the Devil with No Ass. He was a bachelor who could never get a woman to stay with him. He used to live in the Serra do Traíra area.
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He travelled through all the villages in that area looking for a woman. He travelled in the river. Going downstream, he reached the Traíra River.
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Going up the Traíra River, Wasu reached the Jacamim falls. It was the trumpeters village, the House of the Birds. There were women there, but none of them wanted him.
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He was sad, as he was getting close to his village, and no woman. Passing the waterfalls, he found a harbor. A canoe was there.
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Wasu docked the canoe at the Devil with No Ass Range harbor to see who lived in that place. He saw a house where a man lived alone. The man recognized from afar that it was his cousin.
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There was a moment when Wasu needed to defecate, he went to the field. There he found something like a beiju curadá, very warm. As he was hungry, he ate the beiju.
The beiju was, in fact, feces from the Devil with No Ass.
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One day, the Devil with No Ass was invited by the people from another village to have some caxiri with them. Only his cousin Wasu stayed. At dawn, Wasu heard a noise and something moving at the top of the house. He opened the trunk, and a beautiful woman appeared.
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One day the Devil with No Ass saw that Wasu defecated differently. Curious, he wanted to know what he did to defecate like that.
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“Would it be possible for you to pierce me, so I could defecate from behind?” the Devil with No Ass asked. As Wasu wished to kill the Devil with No Ass to be with his woman, he forcefully shoved a stick all the way to the throat of the Devil with No Ass, who died on the spot.
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After the death of the Devil with No Ass, Wasu pulled out the stick, extracting his bowels. These entrails originated sarapós fish species: sarapó-cunuri, sarapó-comprido, sarapó-grande, and sarapó-das-folhas.

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The complete story

Wasu was a bachelor, he could never get a woman. He lived in the Serra do Traíra area (next to the border between Brazil and Colombia, north of the Japurá River). He travelled through all the villages in that area looking for a woman to marry. He travelled in the river. Going downstream, he arrived at the Traíra River. There, he got a canoe and went up to the Jacamim waterfall. There were a few women there, but none of them wanted him.

Continuing his trip, Wasu arrived at the Lua waterfall, currently called Andorinhas waterfall. Many swallows would gather there. There were women there too, but none wanted him. He was sad, as he was getting close to his town, and no woman. Passing the waterfalls, he saw a harbor. There he found a canoe. This place is now called Serra do Diabo sem Cu (Devil with no Ass Range).

He docked the canoe to see who lived there. He saw a house where a man lived alone. The man recognized him from afar. It was the Devil with no ass, his cousin.

The two cousins decided to live together in that place. At some point, Wasu needed to defecate and went to the field. There he found something that looked like a beiju curadá, very warm. As he was hungry, he ate the beiju. The beiju was, in fact, feces belonging to the Devil with no ass. That was the place where he always defecated. A few hours later, the Devil with no ass came to defecate at the same place where Wasu had eaten the beiju. He saw that somebody had eaten his feces. He got very sad and said:

“What is happening now? From my childhood to this day, this has never happened to me. It is the first time. I think it is a bad sign! Am I going to die?”

Going back home, the Devil with no ass told everything to his cousin.

Only the two men lived in that house. However, Wasu noticed that there were some woman’s working utensils there: a grater, a tipiti, a cumatá, a sieve, aturás, baskets, an oven to make beiju, everything! One day, the Devil with no ass was invited by the people from another village to have some caxiri with them. And he left! Only his cousin Wasu stayed to take care of his house. At dawn, Wasu heard a noise and something moving at the top of the house. He wondered what was happening. Suddenly he saw that there was a trunk on the loft. He opened the trunk, and a beautiful woman appeared. She came out of the trunk, went downstairs, got the utensils and started making beiju, manioc flour… When everything was finished, she jumped into the trunk. Seeing that she was beautiful, Wasu started flirting with the wife of the Devil with no ass.

One day, the two cousins went bathing. When they got to the harbor, Wasu said:

“I’m going to defecate!” The Devil with no ass noticed that Wasu defecated differently. Curious, he wanted to know what he did to defecate like that.

“What is this my friend?” the Devil with no ass asked.

“It is nothing, I am only defecating.”

“Through where?” the Devil with no ass wanted to know.

“Through my ass.”

“I wish I were like you, my friend! But my ass is right here below my mouth.”

That was what Wasu wanted…

“Yeah my friend, my ass is in my back. Aren’t you sick? You defecate and smell right there! It must be horrible!”

“So it is!” he agreed. “I wish I were like you. Who fixed you, placing the ass like this?”

“My father. He pierced my ass.”

“How did he do it?”

“With sticks.”

“Did it hurt when he did it?”

“No! It does not hurt at all!” Wasu answered.

“Did you learn how to make an ass from you father?” he asked.

“Yes, I did. I know how to make an ass.”

“Then, my friend, don’t you want to pierce my ass like yours?”

“I will do it in less than a minute,” and they went home talking.

“You stay here toasting ipadu while I go and look for sticks,” Wasu said, and left.

First, he got new arumã, then a bunch of arumã de sapo, fishing sticks, palms with thorns used to make zarabatana, thorny vines (añaupida), and strong sticks. He came back with a bundle.

“My friend, I brought this to make the ass. You are going to defecate well, you will have an ass like mine.”

“Let’s go right now. We will finish the ipadu later.” The Devil with no ass was very excited.

“Let’s go, I want to fix you now. I want you to have the ass ready this afternoon. Crouch down, but don’t look this way. Close your eyes so you don’t feel pain, it hurts just a little,” Wasu said.

He started with the new, soft arumã, easily breakable. He poked hard, the arumã broke.

“Womm… rorõ…”

The Devil with no ass thought it was already going in. Wasu asked if it hurt, and he said no.

“It is already in a little bit,” Wasu lied. “Now I am going to fix it more.”

And he repeated it with another arumã.

“It went in a lot. Did you feel any pain?”

The Devil with no ass answered no again.

“That is it! You won’t feel pain.”

Then, he got the strong stick, the spear-rattle (yukubesugu). He shoved it in full force. At this very instant, the Devil with no ass lost consciousness and dropped dead. Wasu also shoved in the vine with thorns, extracted the bowels, and threw them in the water, originating various species of fish, sarapós (dikea, Gymnotus genus), and ituins (meperoa, Brachyhypopomus sp. and ñiripõra, Sternopygus cf. macrurus). All of them fish that have their anuses very close to their mouth. The hills where they lived are next to the Traíra River; one is called Wasugututu, and the other, Diabo sem cu (Devil with no ass).