La leyenda en inglés ("La leyenda de las Fuentes del Marqués") con motivo del proyecto Erasmus + (2017-19).

1. THE LEGEND:
"THE LEGEND OF LAS FUENTES DEL MARQUES"
A freshwater springs source called “Las Fuentes del Marqués”
There is a place of great beauty near the city of Caravaca. As you get deeper into
pine trees, poplars, oaks, maple trees and other trees and shrubs and accompanied by the
gentle flow of its waters that come from deep within the earth, you can breathe a sweet and
serene environment that transports you to other times, to other sensations and other
feelings. That place is a freshwater springs source within a beautiful forest called the
Fuentes del Marqués, surrounded by centuries-old olive trees and the mountains called
Montes de Mayrena, the Seven Peñones, the Peña Rubia and the Cerro Gordo that protect
and guard us like giants sitting on the grass.
My father would take me for a walk there and study the flow of its waters, under the
rays of sun that pierce the branches of those trees so high that they seem to want to touch
the sky. One spring afternoon, when I was a girl like you, my father told me a story that his
grandfather had told him and that now I will tell you:
"This is a legend, which tells the story of love between a Muslim princess named
Hayla and Jorge, a Templar knight and why the waters of the Fuentes, which were
temperate and mild, became cold.
By the end of the Middle Ages, the Christian lands had been recently reconquered
by the Catholic Monarchs. There were still some Muslim Nasrids in our town and they were
not willing to part with their property. One of the riches of Caravaca were its fountains and
springs, which were occupied and in the possession of an Arabian king who had built a
beautiful house in the most beautiful spot of all the springs. He built it so that his daughter,
weak in health but with incomparable beauty, could enjoy the Arabic-style baths in the
temperate waters of those springs. Hayla suffered from loneliness, only accompanied by
the chirping of birds, the flowing water and the music produced by branches and leaves
when the wind moved them.
At the other end of the city stood the Sanctuary with its´ cross, guarded by a group of
Templar knights. In the patio of the sanctuary, there was a reservoir container as it still
exists today which communicated with the Fuentes springs by means of an underground
stream through which hot springs flowed.
A young man named Jorge was happy because he had been knighted by the Order
of the Temple. His classmates wanted to play a joke on him since he was the rookie. The
test consisted of spending a whole night locked in the well of the sanctuary. That summer
night the adventure began. Jorge, lit a torch and, alone, went inside. No one guessed what
would happen later...
As he descended, humidity and heat increased. He continued down and discovered
a source of hot springs. Shortly after, he discovered a stone that came off the wall and
guided by his curiosity, he found a large tunnel behind it. He entered it, in a mysterious and
complicated way, advancing without knowing that this tunnel would change his life forever.
Using a torch, he came to a door covered with vegetation that he carefully removed, for he
was scratching himself with the brambles. When he managed to cross it, he thought he was
dreaming. Never had his eyes seen so much natural beauty. It was a magical, dreamlike
place, with beautiful trees and a river surrounding the landscape through which crystalline,
transparent and divine waters flowed like the sun that illuminates them at dawn. There is no
telling how long he walked around this beautiful place. Suddenly, there sitting on a stone
bench next to the main spring and surrounded by flowers of all colors, there reading and

2. dreaming, was Hayla. Their eyes crossed and Cupid's arrows touched their hearts. Love
was born to stay in the hearts of 2 young people forever.
Jorge returned that morning and kept the secret, and so did Hayla. For a while
Jorge kept going back, hiding it from everyone, to this wonderful place and into the arms of
his beloved.
Jorge's friends saw him tired and distracted. They asked him what was happening
to him, and he told them that he was tired because he did not sleep well. He never told
them the truth.
But one of his Templar companions followed him one night and found out the
secret and told everything to his captain.
And just like that, the days went by. One dark night, the beautiful princess of the
springs returned once again to approach the source of the great spring. Her dress was
white, a veil hid her face and when she reached the fountain, she sat on the rock and
waited there for her beloved knight.
The soldiers and the Templar captain had followed him through the secret tunnel,
unleashing all his fury on Jorge with the intention of apprehending him and asking for
explanations. The Templars were well armed with the intention of attacking all the Muslim
inhabitants of the place.
Hayla waited patiently in the usual place and when she saw Jorge her face lit up
because she arrived more beautiful than ever. He kissed her hard, making sure that his
beloved did not notice the trembling of his arms and the paleness of his face. That night,
while crossing the underground labyrinth, he sensed that something would not go well. The
day arrived and Jorge had to leave, but he could not leave his beloved. But that was a short
- lived pleasure because suddenly, behind him, was the armed Templar army with
intentions of war. And as in all wars, tragedy, destruction, evil and hatred came over them,
causing blood and death. The Nazari Muslim King responded furiously to that threat. In the
middle of all this were Jorge and Hayla. A spear pierced the princess's chest. Jorge took
her in his arms to get her out of there when an Arab arrow pierced his shoulder. The two fell
into the water, disappearing ... No one ever saw them again. The waters, from that precise
moment, froze forever.
Some say that the lovers died there and others, who escaped through the secret
tunnel whose end was not in the springs, but in another mysterious place called the
Mayrena Fountain of another town called Nerpio, say that in this place is where the lovers
lived happily ever after. "
(Legend told through many generations in the Salcedo family, including the last one,
with Dante Meneses Salcedo - Infant Education, 5 years -) .