023. The Black Kid Goat (El Cabrito Negro)
[Note: A “kid” in this context is a young goat under a year of age.]
A young man had been courting a young woman for some time, and had finally given her his words for marriage. The young man thought that the words of marriage would be all that he needed to get from her what no decent girls would have given before marriage [e.g. sex], and he harbored these intentions until one day, taking advantage [of the fact] that it was the eve of a pilgrimage in the village, he proposed to the girl to go together on their own account to the hermitage of the Virgin, which was quite far away.
She accepted his proposal and they agreed to leave at dawn so as to [be able to] arrive during the day; so when it was [in the very] early morning, the young man set out to look for the girl before dawn, but she was already [there] waiting for him, because she was very devoted to the Virgin and was especially pleased to come to the pilgrimage with he who was going to be her husband, as he had given her his words for marriage.
They set out on the road to the mountain where the hermitage was [located] and it [so] happened that, [when they were] halfway there, they ran into an overflowing stream, for it had been raining all day the previous day, and the day before that as well. And seeing that it was overflowing [with water], the girl said to the young man that they would not [be able to] cross over the stream.
But the young man, who did not forget either his desires or his evil intentions, replied:
Climb on my back, and I will carry you on my shoulders over [to the other side].
[Note: original Spanish text is “Súbete a mis espaldas, que yo te paso a carricotas”, where carricotas refers to “to carry sb on sb’s shoulders”, per this source on the web: https://forum.wordreference.com/threads/carricotas.3255644/]
But the girl did not want [to do this] and he kept on insisting and insisting until she became persuaded and, hoisted her up on his back, the young man secured her legs with his arms so that she would not slip in the middle of the crossing, and they began to cross the swollen stream. And they were already half way across, [just at] where the water was striking the strongest and with the greatest danger, when the young man suddenly stopped and proposed to the girl his true intentions.
The girl told him that in no way, not for anything nor for anyone, would she allow another to do freely as they’d wish to her, and the young man, seeing that she would not bend her will, said to her:
Look, if you’re not going to do what I tell you to, I’ll throw you into the water!
She refused, the young man insisted, she again refused and they would have continued [on indefinitely] when the girl understood that he was prepared to let her fall into the water and drown, so she then finally told him that she gave up [on the idea of] going on the pilgrimage, that he [should] return her to the shoreline and there they would do as he had wanted. Because the girl thought that, as soon as she stepped on firm ground, she would start running home.
The young man, who now saw that his desires were [soon to be] realized, returned with her to the river bank, threw her on the ground and, without giving her time to say “Aye!”, lifted up her skirts to her face and it was to his astonishment when he saw that the girl had legs like those of a goat, entirely covered in long, black hairs; and when he pulled down the skirts, he was frightened upon discovering that her head was like that of black kid goat, with greatly twisted horns.
So the young man, beside himself with panic, began running half-mad down the mountain as if all the demons from hell were chasing him.
And that’s how he was when he ran into a cousin of his just at the entrance to the village, with this person being on his way to the pilgrimage and that, on seeing him in such a state, asked him:
What happened to you?
Then the young man told him, explaining as best he could everything that had happened to him as the words were coming to his mouth, and at this moment, the cousin disappeared before his eyes and transformed into the black kid goat that he had left behind on the river bank.
And the kid goat began to jump and skip endlessly around him as it said:
Come to me, my darling, for I am your girl, who is ready to do everything that you want.
And so the young man fainted and could not get up, while the kid goat prayed to all the saints in heaven and turned back into the girl and returned to her house. And soon after, she married an excellent young man, who, as if that was not enough, also happened to be the richest in the village.
—– VOCABULARY —–
Acabar – to complete, to finish; to come to an end
Agradar – (to like) to please; (to be pleasant) to be pleasing
Ahogarse – to drown
Amanecer – dawn, daybreak, sunrise
Apartado/a – remote, isolated
Arrojar – to throw, to hurl
Arroyo – (brook) stream
Asombro – amazement, surprise
Aupar – to hoist up, to help up, to lift up; to raise
Brincar – to jump, to skip
Cabra – goat
Cabrito – (contemptible person) swine, bastard; kid goat
Caerse redondo – faint, crumple
Crecido – big, swollen
Cuerno – horn
Dar saltos – to jump about; to jump up and down
Dejarse convencer – to let oneself be convinced
Desbordar – to run over; to overflow
Deseo – wish, desire
Descubrir – to discover, to find out
Devolver – to return, to turn back
Disponer – to make ready, to get ready
Doblegarse – to yield, to give in; doblegar – to vanquish, to crush
Emprender – to undertake, to start
Encaminarse – to head toward, to set out for
Encomendarse – to entrust oneself to
Escurrirse – (to escape) to slip away
Espalda – (anatomy) back
Espantar – to frighten, to scare
Explicar – to explain
Falda – skirt
Fuera de sí – out of his mind
Largo – long, lengthy
Madrugada – (early morning) dawn
Negar – to deny, to refuse
Parar – to stop, to halt
Pasar – to cross, to go across
Pata – animal leg, claw, foot
Pelos – hair
Pierna – leg
Pisar – to step on, to tread on, to walk on
Plantarse – to plant oneself; to stop suddenly
Ponerse de acuerdo – (to concur) to agree
Porfiar – (to persist) to insist
Por si fuera poco – as if it weren’t enough
Quedar – (to be located) to be; (to get together) to meet; to arrange to meet
Redondo – (shape) round, circular
Resulta que – it turns out that
Retorcido – twisted, contorted
Romería – (religious) pilgrimage; (mass of people) crowd
Semejante – such
Susto – (sudden fear) scare, fright
Topar – to run into
Trabar – to fasten, to secure
Víspera – (previous day) eve, day before