006. The Girl With Three Husbands (La Niña De Los Tres Maridos)
A father had a very beautiful, but stubborn and determined, daughter. This did not [at all] seem bad to him, but one day three young men showed up, with all being very handsome, and the three of them asked for the hand of his daughter; the father, after he had spoken to them, said that the three had his approval and that, as a consequence, it was [would be] up to his daughter to decide with whom she wanted to marry.
So he asked the girl and she replied that she would marry all three of them.
My daughter – said the good man -, [you have to] understand that this is impossible. No woman can have three husbands.
Well, I chose all three
, replied the girl calmly.
The father insisted again:
My daughter, come to your senses and don’t give me more headaches. Which one of them do you want to give your hand to?
I have already told you, to all three
, replied the girl. And there was no way to convince her otherwise.
The father kept returning to the problem over and over in his head, which was truly a [difficult] problem, and by dint of thinking, he found no better solution than to ask the three young men to travel the world to search for something that was unique for its kind; and he who brought [back] the best and rarest item would [get to] marry his daughter.
The three young men set out into the world to search [for such an item] and they decided to meet a year later to see what each had found. But no matter how much they searched, none of them could find something that would satisfy the father’s requirement, so that by the end of the year they set out for the place where they had met, empty-handed.
The first one to arrive sat down to wait for the other two; and while he was waiting, a little old man came up to him and asked if he wanted to buy a small mirror.
[As] It was a crude and ordinary mirror, the young man said no – why would he want that mirror?
Then the little old man told him that while it was true that the mirror was small and modest, it had a magical power, and it was that in it its owner could see the person who he desired to see. The young man tried it, and on seeing that what the little old man said was true, he bought it without complaining about the amount [price] he was asked for.
The second one who arrived to the meeting place also had the little old man came up to him and asked him if he would like to buy a small bottle of balm.
Why would I want some balm – said the young man – if I have not found what I was searching for in the whole world?
And the little old man said to him:
Ah, but this balm has a magical power, and that is to resurrect the dead.
At that moment a funeral [procession] was passing by and the young man, without thinking twice, went to the box [casket] they were carrying, poured a drop of balm in the mouth of the deceased and the latter, as soon as he had it on his lips, stood up calmly, threw the coffin on [over?] his shoulder and invited all who were in mourning to a snack at his house. Having seen this, the young man bought the balm from the little old man for the amount he asked for.
The third suitor, meanwhile, was strolling pensively along the seashore, convinced that the others would have found something whereas he had not. Then he saw a boat atop the waves coming to the shoreline and from which numerous people disembarked. And the last of those people was a little old man, who approached and asked him if he would like to buy that boat.
And what do I want that boat for – said the young man – when it is so old and that it’s only good to serve as firewood?
Well, you are wrong – said the little old man -, because this boat possesses a rare magical power and it is that it can take its owner and those who accompanied him to any place in the world where they wish to go in a very short time. And if not, you can ask those passengers who had come here with me, who only half an hour ago were in Rome.
The young man spoke to the passengers and found this to to be true, so he bought the boat from the little old man for the amount the latter asked.
So at last the three of them met at the place they agreed on, all being very satisfied, and the first told that he brought a mirror in which its owner could see [any] person he wished to see; and to prove this, he asked to see the girl with whom the three were in love, but it was to their great surprise when they saw the girl lying dead in a coffin.
Then the second said:
I bring here [with me] a balm which is capable of resuscitating the dead, but by the time we get there she will already be, besides being dead, eaten by maggots.
And the third said:
Well, I bring [with me] a boat which, in a flash, will take us to our beloved’s house.
The three of them ran [to the boat] to embark and, indeed, in a short time they set foot on land very close to the girl’s village and went in search of her.
There, everything was ready for her burial and the father, heartbroken, still had not decided to close the coffin and given [the] order to bury her.
Then the three young men arrived and went to where the girl was laying; and he who had the balm approached her and poured a few drops in her mouth. And as soon as she had them on her lips, the girl rose up, happy and radiant [as before].
Everyone celebrated the suitor’s action with jubilation and the father immediately decided that this was the one who should marry his daughter. But then the other two protested, and the first said:
If it had not been for my mirror, we would not have known what happened and the girl would have been dead and buried.
And said he with the boat:
If it had not been for my boat, neither the mirror nor the balm would have brought her back to life.
So the father, with great displeasure, was left again pondering what the solution would have to be. And the girl, turning to him, said:
Do you see, father, how I needed all three of them?
And friends, that is how this story ended.
[Note: the original Spanish text is “Y colorín, colorete, con este cuento y el siguiente ya irán siete.”]
—– VOCABULARY —–
A fuerza de – as a result of, by dint of
Acercar – to move closer, to approach, to take an interest in
Ahí – there
Alborozo – jubilation, rejoicing, delight
Amado/a – lover, beloved, sweetheart
Apuesto – handsome, good-looking
Ataúd – coffin, casket
Bálsamo – balm, comfort, conditioner
Beneplácito – consent, approval
Botella – bottle
Caja – box, cash register, coffin
Cantidad – amount, quantity
Capaz – able, capable
Cita – appointment, meeting, date,
Conceder – to give, to grant, to award, to admit
Convencer – to convince, to persuade
Convidar – to invite, to buy
Corriente – common, ordinary
Cumplirse – to come true, to be implemented, to expire
Dando vueltas – going round and round; spinning; turning; thinking about
Decidido/a – determine, resolute
Desconsolado – disconsolate, heartbroken
Descubrir – to discover, to uncover
Difunto – deceased
Dirigirse – to address, to walk toward
Disgusto – annoyance, irritation, dissatisfaction
Dispuesto – willing, prepared, ready
Duelo – duel, mourning, grief, sorrow
Dueño – owner, landlord
Elegir – to choose; elijo – I choose
En consecuencia – consequently
En un santiamén – in a flash
Encargar – to order, to commission, to entrust, to task with
Entierro – burial, funeral
Entretanto – meanwhile, in the mean time
Equivocar – to get wrong, equivocarse – to make a mistake
Especie – kind, sort
Espejito – pocket mirror
Exigencia – demand, requirement
Gota – drop, bead, gout (illness)
Gusano(s) – worms, maggots
Hacía falta – needed
Halló – s/he found; hallar – to find, to discover, to meet with
Hombro – shoulder
Hubiese sido – would have been
Hubo – s/he had; haber – to have
Labio – lip
Leña – firewood
Manera – way, manner
Meditabundo – pensive, thoughtful
Merienda – snack, supper
Metida – stuck, lying in
Modo – way, manner, mode, mood; de modo que – so that
Ninguno acabar – none end up
Orilla – shore, bank, edge
Pasear – to go for a walk, to go for a drive
Pondrá – s/he will put; poner – to put
Ponte – put yourself; poner – to put, to add
Presentarse – to turn up, to show up, to introduce oneself, to arise, to come up
Pretendiente – applicant, candidate, suitor
Probar – to try, to test
Prueba – test, examination, quiz,
Pusieron – they put; poner – to put, to send, to go down
Quebradero de cabeza – headache, worry
Rechistar – to complain
Resucitar – to bring back to life, to resurrect, to resuscitate
Reunirse – to meet, to gather
Sacarse – to take out, to leave, to take out
Salió al paso – cornered, lurked, ran out in front
Satisfecho – satisfied
Se quedó – to remain, to stay
Suceso – event, incident
Tan campante – waltzed right in, right away
Terca – stubborn, obstinate
Tranquilo/a – calm, quiet, peaceful
Vaciar – to empty, to hollow out, to drain
Valer – to be worth, to cost, to be useful
Verdadero – true, real
Verter – to pour, to spill
Viejecillo – little old man
Vueltas – difficult, rotation, turn, revolution
Vulgar – crude, coarse, common, ordinary
Yacer – to lie (lay)