Long before Spaniards came to Chile, there were many ‘williche’ families living near the Osorno and Calbuco volcanoes. Likarayen was their princess. She was the most beautiful and pure young woman, and she loved Kitralpi, a handsome and brave ‘toki’. They planned to get married the next spring.

But Peripillan, an old spirit that lived inside Osorno Volcano, was jealous of Kitralpi. So he wanted to interfere with their happiness. He started throwing fire and smoke from Osorno Volcano, which made the ground shake. All the other volcanoes were burning inside, too. Their craters looked like the entrance to hell. It was very clear at night near the Osorno and Calbuco volcanoes because of the giant flames that came from them. Things looked awful, so the Williche people agreed to have a meeting to figure out how to calm down the pillan.

During their conversation, an old «machi» suddenly appeared. No one had seen him before.

‘You have to kill the most beautiful girl in the community if you want to get to the crater,’ he said. ‘Take her heart, cover it with canelo leaves, and put it on top of Pichi Juan’s hill.’ After that, you’ll see a bird flying through the sky. It will eat the heart. Then take the canelo leaves and drop them inside the pillan’s house.’

After saying these things, he was gone just as quickly as he had come. The ‘logko’ was devastated because her daughter was selected to protect their community from Peripillan’s anger.

‘Don’t cry. I’ll die happily to save our people,’ the young girl told her father. Please do me a favour. I want Kitralpi to prepare my deathbed because he is the owner of my heart and the only person who can touch it.’

As if by magic, the whitest snowflakes began to fall from the sky at that very moment. It seemed like the princess’s clean soul was coming back to earth to find Kitralpi, the man she loved. At that very moment, the young Toki threw himself against his spear, which went through his wide chest and split his heart in two. This way, he could be with his loved one, Likarayen, again. It snowed for days, weeks, months, and even years.

At last, the molten snow went down the mountains, creating giant rivers that swept the sides of Osorno and Calbuco volcanoes and filled the valleys at their base. That’s how the lakes Chapo, Todos los Santos, and Llanquihue were made.