Aunt Josefa, the only female of a litter of seven male siblings, was never allowed to run through the bushes, ride a horse, much less wander through groves and guardrails with the machanguería of the village of her own age.

Nor was she able to do so when her mother died during her last childbirth. From that moment on, the orphan was roaming around the houses of her relatives, where the aunts-in-law, each one in her turn, wanted to make her a useful young lady.

Luckily for the future Aunt Justina, she was raised by Luisa and Caridad, two strict aunts with sufficient knowledge of cutting and sewing and who, above all, were the best weavers in the region. She got so excited that she immediately picked up thread and shoelaces and let her fertile imagination run wild.

She began weaving for herself and for her host family. In a few years she wove tablecloths, cloths, rugs, coats and everything else she could think of. Even the marriageable girls of the village entrusted her with part of their trousseau.

So much weaving did nothing to help her get a happy marriage. The troubadour Trujillo, the only suitor she ever met, seems not to have been too impressed by her Aracné’s skills, because, although he promised her villas and castles, one day he kicked the bucket and was never heard from again.