Uncle Roc and the treasure of Cabeçò d’Or
This magical mountain range in Busot (Alicante, Costa Blanca, Spain) became the obsession of Uncle Roc, a humble peasant whose objective was to find the hidden treasure, centuries ago, by the Moors.
The legend here exposed was collected by the author Joaquim González i Caturla in his book, Rondalles de l’Alacantí, in which can be read several old stories. We expose, next, a shortened version. Like the original, it develops at one of the most amazing mountain in the province of Alicante: the Cabeçò d’Or (literally, the big head of gold).
Elderly people tell that, some time ago, Uncle Roc lived in the Huerta de Alicante (there was a huge orchard in the countryside), a peasant in his forties whom luck seemed to have abandoned him. He had some land, with almond trees and vineyards, but he wanted to have more, and for this he asked for a loan, even mortgaging the farm he already had. He had such bad luck, that no crop prospered that year, neither in his lands nor in those of his neighbors, because in winter there were hard frosts, in spring there was no rain and the summer was scorching, causing the few trees that had resisted to dry up.
Unfortunately, Uncle Roc could not pay his debt and, arrived fall, all his lands were seized. Almost with nothing in his pockets, he decided to look for fortune in Barcelona, for which he embarked in the port of Alicante on a merchant ship. Already in the sea, on his way to his destination, the ship in front of El Campello when a sailor commented with Uncle Roc about the beauty of that mountain, that one known as the mountain of the Man. But the farmer was surprised about it, because he knew it as the Cabeçò d’Or. Then, the sailor made him see the silhouette of the man lying down, from the high seas, affirming that he also knew the other name, and that the mountain range was so called because the Moors had hidden, centuries ago, an important treasure inside, in the caves of Canelobre. At first, Uncle Roc was incredulous, but finally believed the sailor when he told him the story of Moor Ali, who was killed by Christians after hiding his most precious belongings, without revealing the whereabouts.
Already in Barcelona, the humble peasant from Alicante was constantly with that story in his head, going around every time, to become his obsession and, since in the Catalan capital was not doing well, he decided to come back to Alicante. As soon as he disembarked, he went to Busot and bought some tools, with the only purpose of finding Ali’s treasure.
Nobody knows if he found the treasure, although he recovered all his lands and began to dress elegantly and he became friends of wealthy people. To his disgrace, he would soon end up dying from an accidental shot while hunting ducks with a friend, for such a curse had been predicted by Ali’s daughter, Gesamina, for whoever stole the treasure.
Main image of the article: Wikimedia.
