A mix of Nasreddin Hoca and the Hairy Leg

This is the story Rabia (my colleague) and i built during one of our Digital Storytelling classes. We had lots of fun while mixing our hometown stories and now we'd like to share out creation with you. Click here if you want to know how we built it.

HAIRY LEG

One day, a security man found a hairy leg under his bed. He thought he was being cheated on, so he mentioned it to his friends. One of his friends was Nasreddin Hoca, who happened to work at the radio station. At that moment, Nasreddin Hoca thought that it would be great if the hairy leg was a real spooky story. After that, he went to station to make his radio show. He started to talk about the leg. He said "I have a story, please, listen carefully! Two days ago, one of my friends told me that he found a hairy leg in his bedroom! And the leg attacked him, can you believe it? Please be careful about that Hairy Leg because it is following us and anyone can be a victim!" And then he screamed. After the radio show, people believed it and they were shocked. They were scared to go out and they even did not want their children to go to school! After that, since people were very scared from the hairy leg, the security guy decided to not to go to work and he went to his room to find the leg. When he tried to fight with the leg, he realized that the leg belonged to Nasreddin Hoca himself!

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The tale of the Hairy Leg

Dear reader,

Recife is a beautiful city for tourists. They call it 'Brazilian Venice' because of the beautiful river that cuts it in seven islands, and its horizon is a well known postcard. But, for some reason, Recife has some weird stories told since long ago, that passed from parents to children and from mouth to books. I am going to share a very special one with you that comes straight from the 70's - the tale of the Hairy Leg.

The scene happens during the night, where a vigilant - after a long shift of work - found a hairy leg under his bed, said bed being the same as the one his wife slept on. For some reason, the vigilant believed his wife was cheating on him, and that that limb was the leg of her lover. He told his friends, who told other friends, who shared the uncommon story with a radio broadcaster - and the man spread the news on his radio show.

What is strange is that the population of Recife did not take it as a cheating case, but as a paranormal happening, and that the leg was actually a creature haunting the night. A few days after the notice on the radio, many people were contacting the broadcaster saying they had, too, seen the hairy leg. They told that leg would appear inside wardrobes, in the middle of the streets, sometimes even hurting people - kicking, kneeing and stepping over whoever passed by. After attacking, the leg would go away with long and high jumps, disappearing from sight rapidly.

The story is so interesting - and rather funny - that it is still used as an important folkloric mark in Recife`s story. Local bands like Chico Science and Nação Zumbi made stuffed hairy legs and threw them at the audience as they play their songs.

Interesting, right?

With love,

Clara.

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