017. The Castle Of No Return (El Castillo De Irás Y No Volverás)
[Nguyen: a more literal translation of this title would be: The Castle Where You’d Go But Will Not Return.]
Once upon a time there was a fisherman who went to sea everyday in a small boat [to search for food] to feed his family, because they only lived on what he could catch [in the sea]. One day he cast his net and after a while he only managed to catch a very small fish, which he tossed to the bottom of the boat. And the fish spoke to him and said:
What are you going to do with me? Don’t you see how small I am? Let me return to the sea and you’ll see how in the coming year, when I will become much larger, you will be able to fetch a good amount for me.
And the fisherman threw it back into the sea.
A year later, the fisherman was casting his net in the same place and he caught the [same] fish again, which was really big this time and [this] gave him [great] joy on seeing it. And the fish said to the fisherman:
Look, I am going to give you an advice: divide me into eight pieces when you get home: two, which will be from the head, give them to your wife; the other two to your dog; another two to your mare; and the last two, which will be from the tail, put them in the garden and bury them.
[Nguyen: this is a very honorable and magnanimous fish!]
The fisherman did this as soon as he returned home and, with time passing by, the dog gave birth to two identical puppies, the mare also had two identical foals, in the garden appeared two identical swords, and the fisherman’s wife had two sons who were twins and they baptized them with the names of Jose and Sejo.
And the day came when the sons became a pair of young men and decided that they wanted to leave [home] and travel the world. The parents, who were now old, wanted one to leave first and, on his return, the other [would go]. But they could not convince them [to do this] in any way and they left together, each one [went away] with his dog, his horse, and his sword. But before they left, their father told them that if they were ever separated and one saw his sword being stained with blood, that would mean the other brother was in danger and he must rush to his aid.
The two brothers traveled here and there on their adventures, being always together. [And] One fine day they got so careless that they lost their way in a very dense forest, and when they realized that they were lost, night had fallen upon them. And not only that, [for] in the darkness they lost sight of one another and although they could still follow each other by their voices, there came a point in time when they ceased to hear each other, and each of them had to go on by himself.
And it turned out that at the first light of the next day, Jose found himself in front of a magnificent palace and decided to knock on the door to ask for lodging there, as he had not slept the previous night. No one came to his calls and he was ready to look for some hole to spend his time in when a woman, who must have been a neighbor of the place, called out to him and said:
Sir, don’t enter, for this is an enchanted palace from which no one leaves once they entered.
But Jose was not a man easily frightened and, without further ado, he forced [through] the door with his sword and went in, [being] followed by his dog. And [in it] there was a princess who was enchanted and who, on seeing him, screamed out in horror:
Don’t go on, wretched young man, for a serpent with seven heads lives here, and it will kill you [if you continue on]!
At this moment the serpent appeared and Jose urged the dog on to fight against it, and while the serpent was fighting against the dog, he went and cut off its seven heads one by one with his sword. Once he had cut them off, he also cut off the seven tongues and put them away. And as the princess was disenchanted when the serpent died, she told him that she wished to marry him. But Jose was still in thirst for adventures, so that he asked her to postpone the wedding until his return, and the princess agreed and returned to her parents’ palace to wait for him.
Meanwhile, words spread that the serpent was dead and a prince, who was the first one who dared to come to the enchanted palace, gathered the seven heads in a sack and presented himself [at the palace] to ask for the princess’s hand for having killed the monster. The king, who had made this promise to whoever [could] kill the serpent, accepted, but the princess said that he was not the one who had freed her.
The king was upset because he wanted to keep his word, so he forced the princess’s hands and they prepared a banquet to announce the betrothal. And at the banquet, the groom took a piece of meat to eat and a dog appeared to snatch it [from him] and ran away. And the princess, who had recognized the dog, shouted:
Follow that dog and bring its owner here!
So this was done, and they brought Jose to the dining room and the princess recognized him at once, but she did not say anything. And the king spoke to Jose:
The princess wants you to attend the banquet that we’re giving in honor of the one who killed the seven-headed serpent.
Jose looked at the groom and said:
This is the one? And how do we prove [know] this?
What more proof do you want – said the king -than the seven heads that he had brought with him?
And Jose replied:
That is not proof. Where have you seen heads without tongues?
Then everyone saw that, indeed, the seven heads had no tongues.
Well, where are the tongues? -asked the king.
And Jose took them out of his pocket and said:
Here they are.
Then the princess said:
Father, this is the man who killed the serpent and disenchanted me, and he is the one I want to marry.
They detained the imposter groom and in his place they seated Jose and the two young people were engaged and married without further delay. The next morning after the wedding, as they were walking through the palace, Jose looked out of a window and said to the princess:
Princess, what castle is that beautiful one which you see in the distance?
And she replied:
Aye, my love, that is the Castle of You Will Go There and You Will Not Return!
Well, I will go to that castle tomorrow,
said Jose, who still had thirst for adventures.
In vain did the princess try, first with anxiety, then with tears and reproaches, to prevent the young man from going to the castle; but she could not break Jose’s will, and [so] she let him leave.
The young man set out and encountered an old woman [on the way]. And this old woman was a witch.
Where are you going, my good young man?
asked the old woman.
I am going to the Castle of You Will Go There And You Will Not Return.
And the old woman said to him:
Well, take this balm and, before entering the castle, you and your dog and your horse must drink [take, have] a few drops of it.
The young man, when he arrived at the castle, did as the old woman told him, and as soon as he passed through the gate, he and the horse and the dog were transformed into stones (e.g. petrified).
Meanwhile, his brother also managed to leave the forest when, at the same time that Jose was turned into stones, saw that the sword was stained with blood, and he said to himself:
This is my brother, who must be in danger! I need to search for him.
So he went back into the forest in pursuit of his brother, and after a long ride saw a palace where he decided to ask [for his brother’s whereabouts]. And as soon as he knocked on the door he saw that the servants were very happy on seeing him, and they ran off to tell the monarchs and the princess, and the princess kissed him and embraced him with such effusion that it left him all confused, and he resolved to not do anything until he saw what had transpired.
Finally, the princess asked him:
Where were you last night, for you didn’t come to sleep with me?
And Sejo understood that they were confusing him for his brother as they were twins, as we all well know.
Then the princess asked him for news of the castle You Will Go And You Will Not Return and Sejo understood that this was where his brother ran into danger.
At night, the princess took Sejo to her room and went to bed with him. But on lying down with his sister-in-law, Sejo put his sword between the two, as testimony that he would not touch her all night. And the surprised princess said to him:
But, why is it that you put the sword between the two of us, with you being my husband?
To which he replied:
It is a promise that I had made and must fulfill. And do not ask me anymore questions tonight.
And with that the two went to sleep, each on one side of the sword.
The next morning the two went out for a ride on horseback and she was surprised that the dog did not recognize her, but did not say anything. And Sejo asked her, when they saw a castle in the distance:
Is that the Castle of You Will Go And You Will Not Return?
And she:
It is, but wasn’t you there yesterday?
And Sejo didn’t reply [to this] and only said:
Well, now I have to return there.
Once more the princess began her pleas for him to give up [on the idea], but as she thought that he had returned once, she did not insist [on this] much and Sejo took his horse, his sword, and his dog and went on his way. And on the way an old man appeared [before him], and said to him:
Where are you going, my son?
To the Castle of You Will Go And You Will Not Return.
Well, then pay attention to what I’m telling you: when an old woman offers you a balm, you must know that she is a witch and that she is offering it to enchant you. Threaten to kill her if she does not disenchant the one you are searching for; and when she had disenchanted him, kill her.
Sejo continued on his way and encountered the witch that the old man had told him about.
Where is the handsome young man heading to?
asked the witch.
To the Castle of You Will Go And You Will Not Return.
Well, take this balm and, before entering the castle, you and your dog and your horse should drink a few drops of it.
Then Sejo let his dog on her while he drew his sword and broke the bottle of balm, and then said to her:
And now you are going to disenchant my brother or I will cut your head off.
The witch was so frightened that she went to the palace courtyard where Jose was transformed into stone and sprinkled the balm of disenchantment on him, his horse, and his dog. And Sejo, once he saw that they had returned to life, took out his sword and cut off the witch’s head. And the head rolled around on the ground screaming, before dying:
There you have your brother, who comes searching for you after having slept with your wife.
And Jose asked his brother:
Is it true what the head said?
And the brother answered yes. Then Jose, being furious, took his sword and thrust it in his brother’s chest. And there he left him lying dead in the palace courtyard, while he took the balm of disenchantment with him and galloped away.
So [in this way] he got home but said nothing of what had happened, and that night the princess and he went to bed, and she said to him:
Have you already fulfilled your promise, that now you don’t put your sword between us?
On hearing this, Jose understood what had happened between his wife and his brother, and he said to her, full of sorrow:
Aye, curses on me, that I had killed my own brother when he was innocent!
Then he took the balm of disenchantment that he had brought with him, mounted his horse and rode to the Castle of You Will Go And You Will Not Return. Sejo was still there, lying dead on the ground, and Jose began to smear his wound with the balm and in a little while Sejo’s face regained its color, which revived him and he stood up [on his own]. And with great joy the two brothers returned to the palace and presented themselves before the princess.
The princess was astonished to see the two identical young men, with two identical horses, two identical dogs, and two identical swords and she wondered:
Is it this one … or is it this one?
Jose then said:
Look [my love], I am your husband, and this is my brother, who slept with you last night and put the sword between you two so as to not touch you.
And everyone was greatly amazed at what happened, and Sejo went to search for his father, the fisherman, and his mother and brought them to the palace to join his brother, where they lived happily ever after.
—– VOCABULARY —–
Adentro – inside, in
Al rostro – face, to the face
Amenazar – to threaten
Aplazar – to postpone, to delay, to put off
Arrebatar – to snatch
Arredrarse – to be frightened, to be intimidated
Asistir – to attend; to witness
Asombro – amazement, surprise
Asustar – to frighten, to scare, to startle; asustarse – to get frightened
Atender – (to look after) to care for; (to be attentive) to pay attention
Atreverse – (to have the courage) to dare
Aún – still, yet
Azuzar – (to encourage to attack) to set on; (to urge on) to incite
Bautizar – to baptize, to christen
Besar – to kiss
Bolsillo – small pouch, pocket
Cabalgar – to ride horseback
Carecer – to lack
Clarear – to lighten, to make lighter; to dawn
Clarear el dia – first light
Coger – to grab, to take, to pick up, to hold
Cola – tail
Conseguir – to get, to obtain; to achieve, to manage
Consentir – to permit, to allow
Correr la voz – to spread the word, to be rumored
Cumplir – to carry out, to keep; cumplirse – to come true
Cuñada – sister-in-law
Dar cuenta de – (to recount) to give an account of, to report
Dar gusto – to be pleased, to be a pleasure, to be glad
De modo que – so that
Desdichado – wretch, unhappy, unfortunate
Desistir – to give up, to cease
Dilación – delay, procrastination
Disponerse – (to make ready) to prepare, to get ready; disponer – to arrange, to set out
En efecto – indeed, sure enough
En pos de – in pursuit of
Enterrar – to bury
Entretanto – meanwhile
Espada – sword
Esponsales – betrothal
Fondo – bottom
Forzar – to force
Frasco – bottle, jar
Galope – gallop
Gemelo – twin, identical twin
Gota – liquid drop, bead
Gritar – to scream, to shout, to yell
Guardarse – (to place) to put; (to retain) to keep, to save
Hacer – to produce, to make
Horrorizado – terrified, horrified
Hueco – hole, hollow; space, gap
Huerta – produce farm, market garden
Huir – (to escape) to leave, to flee
Impedir – to prevent, to stop
Internarse – to penetrate, to advance deep
Intrincado – intricate, complex
Lengua – tongue; language
Maldito – cursed, damned, wretched
Meterse – to go in
Molesto – (offended) upset; (angry) annoyed
Obligar – (to compel) to force, to make
Par – pair, couple
Patio – courtyard
Pecho – chest
Pedazo(s) – pieces
Pelear – (to brawl) to fight
Perro/a – dog
Por su cuenta – on his own
Posada – lodging, inn
Potrillo – foal (young horses)
Probar – (to demonstrate) to prove; to taste, to try; (to trial) to try, to taste
Prometerse – to get engaged
Prueba – proof
Quebrar – (to smash) to break
Recorrer – to travel around
Rociar – to spray, to sprinkle, to douse
Rodar – (to spin) to roll
Romper – to break
Rumbo – course, direction
Sacar – to receive, to get, to take out
Seguir – (to remain in) to still be in
Serpiente – snake
Siendo – being (ser)
Sigas – seguir – to continue, to carry on, to go on
Sino que – (in addition) but
Soberbio – (impressive) magnificent; (conceited) arrogant
Suplicar – to beg, to plead, to implore
Tanto que – (to such an extent that) so much so that
Tender – (to extend) to stretch out
Tener sed – to be thirsty
Teñir – to dye, to stain
Tocar – to touch, to play an instrument
Traspasar – to go through
Tratar – to treat; to deal with
Untar – to spread, to smear
Vano – vain, futile
Voluntad – desire, will, wish
Yegua – (female horse) mare