013. Juan The Fool (Juan Bobo)
There was a boy called Juan Bobo. As he did not like to be called Juan Bobo, one day he killed an ox to invite [treat] everyone to a feast and as a result they called him Juan Bobazo.
[Nguyen: “bobo” means foolish, silly, dumb, innocent, naive, etc. And “bobazo” means very foolish, often used as an endearing expression.]
In view of this, Juan Bobo took the [ox’s] skin and went to sell it in Madrid. When he arrived at Madrid, it was so hot that he laid down at the foot of a tree and covered himself with the skin. And it happened that a crow came to peck at the skin while he was taking his nap, and Juan Bobo caught it and kept it with him. Then he went and sold the skin for seven duros. And after all this, he went to an inn and ordered food for two.
Then Juan Bobo went and hid three duros by the main door, and he did the same at the stairs with two other duros, and the same again at the bottom of the stairs. Having done this, he sat down at the table and waited to be served; but they did not come to serve him because they thought that he was [still] waiting for his companion.
At last, he got tired of waiting and said:
Are they not going to bring me food?
And they responded that they were waiting for his companion to arrive, then they would serve him. And he said:
My companion is this crow.
The innkeepers were intrigued, and they asked him:
And what is the animal’s occupation?
It is a fortune teller – said Juan Bobo -and he can foresee anything that you want to know.
Then they asked him to foretell something and Juan Bobo ran his hand over its body from head to tail and the crow said: “Graó!”
What did it say? -said the innkeeper.
It said – replied Juan Bobo – that there are three duros at the main door.
The innkeeper went and searched around the door until she found the three duros and, amazed [by what had happened], she returned and said to Juan Bobo:
[Please] Sell me your crow.
But Juan Bobo, without replying, again ran his hand over the [crow’s] body, and it said: “Graó!”
And now? – asked the innkeeper – What is it saying now?
It said – replied Juan Bobo – that there are two duros on the landing of the stairs.
So the innkeeper went there and found them right away. And she returned immediately, even more amazed, and told him that he had to sell her the crow. But Juan Bobo, without saying anything, again ran his hand over the animal and it said once more: “Graó!”
The innkeeper wanted to know what it had said this time, and Juan Bobo answered that it wanted to say at the bottom of the stairs were two more duros. And as she went and found them, the innkeeper said to him:
Well, you have to sell me this crow! I will give you whatever you want for it.
Juan Bobo told her that he would sell it to her for five thousand pesetas; and this was said and done: he put these in his bag, left the crow there and went back to his village. So he arrived at the village and sent word for everyone, and when they were present, he called for his wife and told her to spread out her apron and in it he put the five thousand pesetas, saying that he had received them from selling the ox’s skin in Madrid.
On hearing this, all the neighbors killed their oxen, took their skins and went to Madrid to sell them; and it turned out that, after having sold them, they were paid barely enough for the trip [back]. And they all returned to the village infuriated, saying that they were going to kill Juan Bobo. [Well, it turned out that] they didn’t kill him, but they entered his house and defecated everywhere from top to bottom.
The next day, Juan Bobo went and gathered all the poops in a bag and went to Madrid to sell it. He arrived and left the sack in the courtyard of an establishment while he went on another errand and, meanwhile, a herd of pigs entered the courtyard and ate all the poops. When Juan Bobo returned, he said to the owners of the pigs that they had eaten everything in the sack and that this was worth a lot; and they were going to escalate [the matter] when, through mediation, he agreed to accept five thousand pesetas for what he lost in the sack, and returned to the village.
So he arrived at the village and had the bells rung so that all the villagers would come, and when they were all present, he again called for his wife and put in her apron five thousand pesetas, saying that he had received them in Madrid for his sack of poops.
On seeing this, all the neighbors gathered all the poops that they could find, loaded them in sacks and went to Madrid to sell them. And they went through the streets [hawking their goods] asking if anyone would like to buy poops until some guards stopped them and gave them a good beating. And everyone returned to the village swearing [to take] revenge on Juan Bobo.
Juan Bobo hid himself so they could not find him, and the neighbors decided to burn down his house. But Juan Bobo [then] collected the ashes and announced that he was going to sell them in Madrid. As soon as he arrived, he went to a jeweler to buy some jewelry and put them in the sack, mixed [together] with the ashes, and sat down on a bench; at this moment a man passed by and said to him:
What is it that you’re carrying in that sack?
And Juan Bobo told him that he was carrying many jewelry pieces mixed in ashes so that he wouldn’t lose them [e.g. someone else would steal them]. And the man bought the sack from him for five thousand pesetas.
So he then went back to the village, gathered everyone and put another five thousand pesetas in the apron of his wife, saying that they had given him [this money] for the ashes in Madrid. Then the neighbors went and burned down their houses and headed for Madrid to sell the ashes; and as they did not [manage to] sell anything, they all went back saying that they’d kill Juan Bobo this time.
They grabbed him and they put him in a sack with the intention of throwing him into the river. And as they had other things to do, they tied the sack to a tree close to the shore thinking that they would return to throw him into the river as soon as they finished their tasks. And there, where he was tied and being inside the sack, Juan Bobo began to shout [aloud]:
I won’t marry her! Even if she was rich and a princess, [no] I won’t marry her!
A shepherd happened to pass by with his flock, and upon hearing Juan Bobo’s voice he told him that he would [like to] marry a beautiful and rich princess, and so Juan Bobo then told him that he was waiting there to be taken to the princess and he proposed to exchange places with him. So that the shepherd untied Juan Bobo and went into the sack, and Juan Bobo left with the sheep.
[Nguyen: this is just cruel! Why not just have him untie you, and leave? The shepherd will die from this =( ]
The neighbors returned and threw the sack into the river. On their way back, they ran into Juan Bobo who came with the [flock of] sheep and they said to him:
Well, well! Didn’t we throw you into the river? Where did you come from, then, with all these sheep?
And Juan Bobo answered them:
The river is full of them. And if you had thrown me to the deeper part, I would have found [even] more sheep.
The neighbors who heard this returned to the river and began to throw themselves into the water, and each time that one gurgled as he drowned, the rest would ask Juan Bobo:
What does he say? What does he say?
And Juan Bobo answered them:
That you should jump in, for there are many more sheep [in the river].
And they all jumped into the river and drowned.
—– VOCABULARY —–
Acertar – (to be able to) to manage to; (to discover) to find; (to identify accurately) to get right, to guess correctly
Adivinador – fortune teller
Ahogarse – to drown; to choke
Alhajas – jewelry
Amo – (proprietor) owner, master of animal; employer
Arriba – up, above;
Atar – (to bind) to tie
Atender – (to care for) to look after, to take care of; to attend to, to serve
Atrapar – to catch, to capture
Avenirse – (to get along) to get on; avenirse a – to agree to, to accept
Avisar – (to inform) to let know, to tell, to notify; (to alert) to warn
Banco – (seat) bench, pew, stool; bank
Bobazo – very foolish, often used as an endearing expression
Cagarse – to defecate; to sh*t oneself
Campana – (instrument) bell
Cenizas – ashes
Cola – tail
Cuervo – raven, crow
Cumplir – (to accomplish) to carry out, to achieve
Delantal – apron, smock
Desatar – (to release) to untie, to undo
Descansillo – landing
Detener – (to halt) to stop
Diligencia – (task) errand; (close attention) diligence
Disimulado – hidden, concealed
Duro(s) – (old Spanish coin) five-peseta coin
Echar – (to propel) to throw, to cast;
Encargar – to order, to commission
Enfadado – angry, mad
Escaleras – stairs, stairway
Esconderse – to hide oneself, to conceal oneself
Extender – (to extend) to spread out, to stretch out; (to unfold) to spread out, to open up
Fonda – cheap restaurant; (Spain) boardinghouse, guesthouse, inn, tavern
Gorgotear – to gurgle
Guardarse – to keep, to save
Guardia – guard, police officer
Hallarse – (to discover oneself) to find oneself
Hondo – (extending a long way down) deep; (intense) profound
Joyero – jeweler, jewelry box
Jurar – to swear, to vow, to promise
Los demas – the rest
Mandar – to order, to tell, to command; (to dispatch) to send
Maravillar – (to delight) to amaze, to astonish; maravillarse – (to be surprised) to be amazed
Mediación – mediation
Metidas – stuck
Mezclar – (to combine) to mix, to blend; (to muddle) to mix up; (to implicate) to involve
Mientras tanto – meanwhile; in the mean time
Mierda – (excrement) sh*t
Oficio – (occupation) trade, job; (purpose) function
Orilla – shore, bank
Oveja – sheep
Paliza – beating, thrashing
Pastor – shepherd; minister
Piara de cerdos – herd of pigs
Picar – to sting, to bite, to peck at
Por encima de – over, above
Posadero – innkeeper
Pregonar – (to declare) to proclaim, to announce; (to make public) to spread around; (to announce products) to hawk
Presentes – (gathered group) those present
Quemarse – to burn oneself, to get burnt
Rebaño – flock, herd
Rebuscar – (to look for) to search; to search through; to rummage in
Recoger – to pick up, to gather
Reunir – (to congregate) to gather
Sacar – (to receive) to get; (to eliminate) to take out; (to expel) to remove
Servir – (culinary) to serve; (to attend to) to serve
Tapar – to cover, to block; to hide; (to close) to put the lid on; taparse – to cover oneself
Tarea – homework; task, job
Tirarse – (to propel oneself) to throw oneself; (to pass time) to spend
Tocar – (to feel) to touch; to play an instrument
Toda de arriba abajo – all from top to bottom
Valer – (to have a value of) to be worth; (to have a price of) to cost
Vengarse – (to take vengeance) to take revenge, to get revenge