Myths and legends: The Chullachaqui

The Chullachaqui is a dwarf or a rainforest demon whose name comes from the Quechua terms for "dissimilar" (Chulla) and "pie" (Chaqui), this is "dissimilar feet." According to the legend of the jungle of Peru, this The forest dwarf has the ability to transform himself into any other person he wishes to deceive visitors or local people living in the jungle. He can appear as a member of the family or a friend, leading them to wrong paths, going deeper and deeper into the jungle and then leaving them there, lost. For a child, the Chullachaqui will often appear as another child or another playmate. In this disguise, the evil Chullachaqui will try to trick the child into the forest until the child is disoriented and lost. The only way to discover the true identity of Chullachaqui is to look at his feet, as one of his feet is deformed. Consequently, he will try to hide his feet. Being discovered, the Chullachaqui will escape in the jungle.

According to this legend, a boy went with his parents to the jungle to collect firewood. The parents left the child alone for a moment to collect some firewood and he played in an open space when he saw what appeared to be another child of the same age in a distant tree. The boy in the tree beckoned him to come, but the boy did not leave the open space, paying attention to his parents' warning not to wander outside in the forest. When the child's parents returned, the child told his parents about the child in the tree. The parents knew that no one lived in the area and went looking for the child in the tree, but found nothing, just the strange tracks that seemed to have been made by a dwarf with a deformed foot.