025. The Thief’s Bride (La Novia Del Ladrón)
There was a rich man who had three beloved daughters. The rich man and his wife had to be away for some time to attend to matters concerning some land that they owned in a nearby valley, and they decided to leave the house in the care of their three daughters to see how they would conduct themselves while they were away. And so that they would not be sad, the father told them before leaving:
My daughters, upon my return I will bring three dresses: one [made] from the sun, another [made] from the moon, and the last made of velvet.
[Nguyen: I’m not sure what the first two dresses are like…. The wordings are a bit cryptic.]
So they left, and soon after a woman with a large belly, who was about to give birth, arrived at the house and asked for permission to stay there until the child was born. And the three daughters did not know it, but the woman was [in fact] a man in disguise. The youngest girl did not want [to let] the woman enter the house, because her parents had instructed her to not let anyone stay in the house in their absence, but the two older girls laughed at the youngest girl’s fears and permitted the woman to stay for at least that night.
The woman made herself comfortable next to the fireplace where there was a large fire, and as she did not want the girls to get too close to her and see that she was a man, she threw grains of salt into the fireplace from time to time, which crackled as if lice were falling into it when the woman shook herself.
So night fell upon them and they went to sleep. The eldest and the middle daughters fell asleep at once, but the youngest did not sleep because she was watching the house, as her parents had commended her to do. At midnight, the man disguised as a woman took a candle, lighted it and approached the girls to put a drop of wax in their eyes. He did this to all three, but the youngest girl immediately wiped her eyes without allowing the drops to coagulate. The other two, on the other hand, as they slept, had the wax solidified in their eyes.
After a while, the man [who] disguised as a woman thought that everyone was asleep and went to a window, opened it, and was ready to make a whistle [call] as the signal for his companions, for they were all thieves, to come to the house to rob it. But the youngest daughter was awake because she had removed the wax from her eyes, and she came up behind the man and, grabbing him by his legs, she threw him out the window and the whistle remained inside [with her].
Then the man said to her from below:
Give me my whistle [back]!
And the girl told him:
Put your hand through the cat hole [cat flap] and I will give it to you.
He did not trust her and insisted:
Give me the whistle!
And she [continued]:
Put your hand through the cat hole.
The man, as he needed the whistle to sound the signal because it was what was agreed upon with his companions, insisted again:
Give me the whistle and I’ll leave!
And she:
Well, put your hand through the cat hole.
So the man had no choice but to put his hand through the cat hole, and as he did so, the girl took an ax and cut [chopped] it off. And she was left with the hand and the whistle, and he escaped howling in pain and unable to steal [anything] from the house.
The next morning the parents arrived with the dresses that they had promised them; and to see how they were to be distributed, they asked:
Who has taken the best care of the house?
And the youngest daughter told them:
I have been, for you can see what my sisters are like [right now].
And they went to see her sisters and saw that they were sleeping with their eyes covered with waxed.
Then the youngest daughter told them the story about the man disguising as a woman, and the parents said to her:
Very well, the most beautiful dress, which is that [made] from the sun, would be for you and the others are for your sisters.
Time passed by and the girls became young women, all three being very pretty but the youngest was the prettiest of them all. And around this time the man whose hand the girl had cut off stopped by the area; and he was still a thief, but the parents did not know this and as he was very well dressed and had excellent demeanor, [so that] they thought highly of him; and then [it so happened that] he asked for the hand of the youngest daughter, but the girl did recognize him from his severed hand, yet she did not say anything. And one day the father went to speak to her and he said:
My daughter, this man, who is handsome and a good person, had asked me for your hand and I want you to marry him.
And the girl replied:
Father, I will not marry him.
And the father, unaware of the girl’s reasons, insisted to her that she should marry him, but she replied each time:
Father, no, I will not marry that man.
So [this happened] again and again, day after day. And the father insisted so much and in such a manner that the girl [eventually] had no other recourse than to agree to marry that suitor. And she said to him:
Well, I will marry him if you want me to, but you have to gift [give] me three little doves (pigeons).
Well, they are yours!
said the father, surprised that she did not ask him for something [anything] else.
So the wedding took place with great pomp and the delight of the people and, as soon as it was over, he [the thief] hurriedly departed and she [the girl] had no choice but to follow him. She took the three doves, left one at her parents’ house, and took the other two along with her.
And the two of them went on the road and as soon as her house was out of sight, the man showed her his severed hand and said:
Look what you once did to me. Well, I will do this and much more to you in revenge.
When the girl heard this, she sent one of her two doves to join the other at her parents’ house; and the dove carried a message in which she informed them to come to her help because of what was about to happen to her. And they continued riding for a long time until, at last, they saw a castle, which was where this man lived. And in the castle she saw many other bad-looking men who were watching over large pots of boiling oil, and these were the [same] thieves who waited for the man disguised as a pregnant woman that night. And when she saw the pots of boiling oil, she felt like dying, thinking that they were there to burn her [alive].
The spouse, then, took her to his room and ordered her to take off her clothes.
And she said to him:
First, let me take off my expensive new shoes, which my father gave to me when I married you.
And while she was taking off her shoes, she asked the third dove, which was perching on the window:
Little dove of mine,
Have you seen the people
Riding on horseback arrived?
And the dove answered her:
I don’t see anyone.
Then her husband ordered her to continue to undress herself, and she said:
Let me take off my expensive new stockings, which my father gave to me when I married you.
And while she took off her stockings, she said to the dove:
Little dove of mine,
Have you seen the people
Riding on horseback arrived?
And the dove:
I don’t see anyone.
The husband, being impatient, ordered her to continue to undress without further delay, and she replied:
Let me take off my expensive new jacket, which my father gave to me when I married you.
And again she said to the dove:
Little dove of mine,
Have you seen the people
Riding on horseback arrived?
And the dove:
I don’t see anyone.
So her heart shrank for no one was coming to her aid, and her husband was hurrying her for he saw that time was fast running out. And she continued saying to him:
Aye, let me take off my expensive new dress, which my father gave to me when I married you.
And while she was taking off her dress, she said again to the dove, now in a whisper:
Little dove of mine,
Have you seen the people
Riding on horseback arrived?
And the dove:
I don’t see anyone.
So she saw that all [hope] was lost, because now she had nothing left to take off but her panties. And her husband urged her to remove them so that she would remain completely naked, and the girl continued saying to him:
Let me take off my expensive new panties, which my father gave to me when I married you.
And to the dove, she said:
Little dove of mine,
Have you seen the people
Riding on horseback arrived?
And the dove then said:
They are arriving, they are arriving
People on horseback are coming!
When the girl heard this, she hastily began to gather her clothes, and at that moment her father arrived, accompanied by all the wedding guests, with everyone being well-armed. And when they saw her barefoot and naked, and that the other people there were thieves, they seized them all, together with the groom as well, and threw them into the pots where they thought they would fry the girl in revenge, so that they all died in those pots. So then the girl returned home with her parents, and a year later she married the richest and most handsome young man in that whole region.
—– VOCABULARY —–
Aceite – oil
Acercarse – (to approach) to get close; to take an interest in
Agarrar – to grab, to seize, to take, to grasp
Al cabo del rato – after a while
Alojarse – (to be lodged) to stay, to be housed; alojar – (to give housing to) to accommodate, to house
Apremiar – to urge, to hurry; (to require immediate attention) to be urgent, to be pressing
Apuesto – attractive, handsome, good-looking
Apurar – to finish; to demand haste, to rush; to compel, to put pressure on
Aquélla – that, that one
Arrojar – (to fling) to throw, to hurl
Atender – to look after, to deal with
Aullar – to howl
Ausentarse – to be absent, to be away
Avisar – (to inform) to let know, to notify; to warn
Bragas – panties
Caballería – cavalry; horse
Cera – wax
Chaqueta – jacket, blazer
Chisporrotear – to crackle, to sizzle, to spark
Comarca – region, district, county
Comportarse – (to act) to behave; comportar – (to imply) to involve
Convenir – to agree on, to agree to
Cuajar – to solidify, to set, to coagulate
Cuestiones – matters
Demasiado – (in excess) too, too much;
Descalzar – to take off somebody’s shoes
Echarse – to commence, to begin; (to recline) to lie down; (to apply) to put
En cambio – instead
Encargar – (to request) to order; to put in charge of, to entrust
Encender – (to illuminate) to light, to ignite
Encoger – (to reduce in size) to shrink; encogerse – (to get afraid) to cringe
Encomendar – (to assign the responsibility of) to entrust, to commend
En cuanto – as soon as
Enseguida – immediately
Estar a punto de – to be about to
Fiarse – to trust, to believe
Freír – to fry
Gatera – cat flap or door
Gota – (of liquid) drop
Grano – (particle) grain
Hervir – to boil
Hilo – (strand) thread, yarn; (small amount of liquid) trickle
Hilo de voz – weak voice, faint voice
Ir – (to have on) to wear, to be dressed in
Irse – to take away, to go away
Limpiar – to clean, to wipe off
Lucir – (to give off light) to shine
Mandar – to order, to tell; to send, to dispatch
Medias – (women’s clothing) stocking, sock
Meter – (to place) to put
Mostrar – to show, to display
Nacer – to be born, to hatch
Palomitas – popcorn; paloma – dove, pigeon
Perol – saucepan, pot
Piojo – louse; lice (plural)
Porte – demeanor
Poseer – to have, to own
Precipitadamente – rashly, in a hurry
Preñada – pregnant woman
Pretendiente – candidate, suitor, applicant
Prisa – rush, hurry, haste
Pues nada – well, okay
Quemar – to scorch, to burn, to set fire to, to scald
Queridas – dear, beloved, ladies, darling, dearest; querida – mistress, lover
Quitar – to eliminate, to remove;
Quitarse – to remove clothing, to take off
Reclamo – birdcall, whistle; attraction, lure
Regocijo – joy, delight
Reír – to laugh
Repartir – to distribute, to give out
Reunirse – to meet
Sacudirse – (to get rid of) to shake off
Seguir – to follow, to resume, to continue, to carry on
Señal – signal, mark
Siendo – (ser) to be
Sonar – (to make a sound) to ring, to beep
Suceso – event, incident
Tapar – to cover, to block
Tardanza – lateness, delay
Temor – fear, dread
Terciopelo – velvet
Terrenos – land, soil, terrain
Tocar – (to feel) to touch; (to play music) to play
Triste – (unhappy) sad, melancholy
Vela – (piece of wax) candle
Venganza – revenge, vengeance
Vigilar – (to guard) to watch, to monitor, to keep an eye on
Zapatos – shoes, footwear