Etimologias — Chile //top\\

Below, Don Evaristo had added: In the swamp forests of Chiloé, the coihue trees grow roots that drink from two worlds. A traveler once drank from a pool beneath them and forgot his own name for three days. The water looks sweet. It is only truth.

She remembered. She had never told anyone else.

That wave’s last whisper is: chi-chi-chi… le-le-le. etimologias chile

“In Chile,” he said, “the root of a word is the root of a fear. Keep going.”

From Mapudungun: co (water) + weco (demon or place of trouble). Literally: “the water that deceives.” Below, Don Evaristo had added: In the swamp

From Mapudungun: chon (head) + chon (to fly). A sorcerer’s severed head with owl ears. The word’s true root is not anatomical. It is the sound of a secret leaving the body.

Origin unknown. Some say from a Mapudungun word for “where the land ends.” Others from a Quechua word for “cold.” Others from the name of a cacique called Tili. But I, Evaristo, have walked from the desert to the strait. I have listened to the stones of Rapa Nui and the moss of Tiera del Fuego. It is only truth

“Abuelo,” she said. “May I borrow a pen?”