Maria Mulambo

Its legend says that Maria Mulambo was born in a golden cradle, surrounded by luxury. Her parents were not kings, but they were part of the court in the small reign. Maria always grew up beautiful and delicate. With her mannerisms, she was always called a little princess, but she wasn't. At age 15, she was proposed by the King to marry his 40-year-old son.

It was a loveless marriage, just for families to come together and fortunes to increase. The years passed and Maria did not get pregnant. The kingdom needed another successor to the throne. Maria was suffering from the pain of, in addition to having a loveless marriage, being called a tree that does not bear fruit; and at that time, every woman who had no children was considered cursed.

Parallel to all this, our Mary was a woman who practiced charity, going to the poor towns of the kingdom herself, helping the sick and needy. On her trips to the poorest places, she met a young man, just two years older than her, who had become a widower and had three young children, whom she took care of with all love. It was love at first sight, on both sides, but neither one had the courage to accept that love. The king died, the prince was crowned, and Mary was declared queen of that small country.

The people loved Maria, but some saw her with a look of envy and criticized Maria for not being able to get pregnant. On the day of the coronation, the poor subjects had nothing to offer Mary, who was so kind to them. So they made a carpet of flowers for Maria to walk over. Our Maria was moved; Her husband, the king, died of envy and upon reaching the castle he locked Maria in the room and gave her the first of the countless beatings he would apply to her. It was enough for him to drink a little and Maria suffered with his verbal aggressions, slaps, punches and kicks. Even injured, our Maria did not stop going to poor towns to practice charity.

On one of these days, Maria's beloved, seeing her with so many marks, decided to declare his love and proposed that they run away, to really live their great love. They combined everything. The boy's parents would take care of their children until the situation calmed down and he could rebuild the family. Mary fled with her love in only the clothes on her back, leaving gold and jewels behind. The king at first sent to look for her, but, as he did not find her, he gave up. Now Maria was not dressed in luxury and riches, now she was wearing humble clothes that were so worn out that they looked like mulambos; only she was happy. And she got pregnant. The news spread throughout the country and reached the king's ears. The king was desperate to learn that he was a tree that does not bear fruit. Madness took hold of him when he learned that he was barren and, as a king, he thought that this could not happen. He had to clear his name and honor.

He ordered his guards to arrest Maria, who from queen came to be called Maria Mulambo, not as a mockery, but because she now belonged to the people. He ordered the guards to tie two stones to Maria's feet and throw her into the deepest part of the river. The people did not know, only the guards; only 7 days after that crime, on the banks of the river, in the place where Maria was killed, flowers that had never been born there began to grow. river fish were only caught in that place, where all they needed to do was jump out of the water. Her beloved became suspicious and dived into the river, looking for Maria's body; and she found him. Even after being immersed in water for so many days, her body was intact; it looked like it was going to come back to life. the mulambos with which Maria was thrown into the river disappeared. Her outfit was like a queen. Jewels covered her body.

They watched over her inert body and, as was customary, performed a ceremony worthy of a queen and cremated her body. The king went mad. And he never married again. Cute doves from this line: Maria Mulambo das Almas, Maria Mulambo do Cemetery, Maria Mulambo da Calunga, Maria Mulambo das Sete Encruzilhadas, Rainha Mulambo among others.