Romãozinho

Romãozinho is a myth known in parts of the Brazilian Midwest and Northeast. It tells the story of a boy who, for committing so many evil deeds, was cursed by his mother. From the curse of his own mother, he becomes a wandering apparition, condemned to roam the country always bringing chaos and inspiring violence wherever he goes. Romãozinho is known for beating dogs, stoning houses and causing fights between families.

Few versions describe the boy's appearance. José Teixeira, when analyzing Goian folklore, says he was a black boy. Some authors are quick to compare Romãozinho to the Saci, but that would be unfair. Saci never did real harm; at most, he exaggerates a little in his pranks. But Romãozinho does what he does for pleasure…

The lunch and the curse

His most famous story is precisely the one that gives rise to his curse. They say that Romãozinho was the son of a very humble peasant family and that, every day, the boy had to take lunch to his father while he was weeding in other people's fields. One day, the boy decided to open the lunchbox, eat half of his father's food and hand it over as if nothing had happened.

Every day, the father would come home complaining about the amount of food. The wife, indignant, would make more the next day. Useless, Romãozinho ate more, just to make his father even more angry. When the situation reached its limit, his mother took drastic measures: she roasted a whole chicken and gave it to the boy to take to his father. What did Romãozinho do?

Exactly. He sat under a tree and, with the greatest calm in the world, ate the whole chicken. In the lunchbox, he returned only the bones. When his father found the empty lunchbox, the wicked boy finished it off: he said it was a joke by his mother. Orchestrated by her and the neighbor, her lover, who laughed themselves silly while preparing the empty plate for the farmer.

Except there was no lover. It was all the boy's creation. And even if there had been, nothing would justify what happened next. The father, driven mad with rage and jealousy, returns home and kills his wife, without giving her a chance to argue. Before dying, however, she looks at her son – who laughs at her tragic fate – and understands everything. It is there that the curse is cast. It is there that the myth of Romãozinho is born.

Other versions and their meanings

This terrible story, full of wickedness, has some variations. In another version, collected by José Teixeira, Romãozinho was a badly behaved boy who only knew how to sing coco and participate in challenges at batuques and pagodes. One day, when his mother reprimanded him, the boy gave her “a beating with slaps and kicks”. The woman then cursed the wicked boy, who became the imp of the myth.

And what happens after the curse? Nobody knows for sure. In Wilson Lins's version, Romãozinho explodes after his mother's curse, leaving behind "a horrible smell of sulfur." ​​What is known is that the boy turned into a "beast" more than 200 years ago, but always maintains the appearance of a child. Cascudo recalls versions that say Romãozinho licked the fire of hell after being cursed, which is why he always appears "extinguishing and lighting a mysterious blue flame." It is the basis of yet another myth linked to the will-o'-the-wisp phenomenon.

The evil deeds committed by Romãozinho also vary. From the most innocent, such as throwing stones at the roof, lifting the skirts of young women, and drinking all the cachaça at parties, to the most serious. There are reports of people who say that Romãozinho takes whips, broom handles, ropes, and uses them to beat the people in the house. Is it really Romãozinho or an excuse to mask domestic violence? It is necessary to be vigilant.