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The Gauchito Gil (literally "Little Gaucho Gil") is a legendary character of Argentina's popular culture. His full name was Antonio Mamerto Gil Núñez and he was allegedly born in the area of Pay Ubre, nowadays Mercedes, Corrientes, possibly in the 1840s, and died on 8 January 1878. He is regarded as the most prominent gaucho saint in Argentina, with smaller areas of veneration reported in Paraguay and Brazil. ==Legend== Popular accounts vary, but in broad terms the legend tells that Antonio Gil was born in the 1840s as a farmworker in a ranch and a devout believer in the folk saint San La Muerte. It is said that the owner of the ranch, a wealthy widow named Estrella Diaz Miraflores, fell in love, or had an affair, with him, but when her brothers and the head of the local police (who was also in love with Miraflores) found out about their relationship, they accused him of robbery and tried to kill him. He enlisted in the army to escape from them, fighting against the Paraguayan army. When the war ended, he could come back to his village as a hero. But when he arrived at his village, he was forcibly recruited by the Autonomist Party to return to the army and fight in the Argentine Civil War. It was a brother versus brother war and "Gauchito" Gil was tired of fighting. Therefore, he decided to desert. During this time he became an outlaw and acquired a reputation as a Robin Hood figure, for his efforts to protect and help the needy, the poor and those who suffered in extreme poverty. On January 8, 1878, the local police caught him hiding in a forest after a party and took him about 8 kilometers away from Mercedes. There, they tortured him over a fire and hanged him from his feet on an ''algarrobo'' tree, preparing to execute him. When the head policeman was about to kill him, "Gauchito" Gil said to him: "You are going to kill me now, but you will arrive in Mercedes tonight at the same time as a letter of my pardon. In the letter they will also tell you that your son is dying of a strange illness. If you pray and beg me to save your child, I promise you that he will live. If not, he will die". The head policeman, ignoring his words, responded "I don't care" and killed "Gauchito" Gil by slitting his throat. When the head policemen came back to his village, he returned to find a soldier with a letter of pardon for "Gauchito" Gil and also that his son was very ill and at the brink of dying. Frightened, the policeman prayed to "Gauchito" Gil for his son to be saved. The next day, his son was found to be inexplicably cured, though legend has it that "Gauchito" Gil had healed his murderer's son. Very grateful, the policeman gave Gil's body a proper burial and built a tiny shrine for "Gauchito" in his honor. Moreover, he tried to let everybody know about the miracle. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Gauchito Gil」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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