From Cuentos Populares en Chile (Chilean Folktales) – by Ramón A. Laval
Part 2 – Myths, Traditions, Things (Mitos, Tradiciones, Casos)
043. The Calchona
(Told by the 14-year old child, D. Ramón Fernández G., a student from Santiago, in 1911.)
A man, ignorant of his fiancee’s actions, got married to a witch. By certain events that occurred later, he became suspicious [of her] and from then on he would spy on her, without her noticing it; until one time, at night, he saw her undressing; taking out her eyes, which she left on a plate [filled] with water; smeared her body with a black ointment; wrapped herself in a sheepskin, and went out to the field, where she joined [up] with many other sheep: and as soon as she was with them, he saw that they all began to run away in a frenzy, and he lost sight of them in an instant.
The husband immediately returned to his house and took the eyes that his wife had left on the plate, and together with the ointment, he tossed them into a fast flowing stream.
When the wife returned, she couldn’t find her eyes nor the ointment, so she continued to stay in her sheep form, and from then on she had been seen running along the river bank and over the cutwater. The children gave her the name of Calchona, for she had large locks of wool on the extremes of her legs.
—– VOCABULARY —–
Acechar – (to observe stealthily) to stalk, to watch, to spy on; (to await in expectation) to lie in wait for
Ungüento – (cream) ointment, unguent, salve; (figurative) (balm) salve
Envolverse – (to cover oneself) to wrap oneself up; (to get engaged; used with “en”) to become involved in
Envolver – (to cover) to wrap, to wrap up; (to be all around) to surround, to envelop; to shroud, to cloak; (to express indirectly) to imply, to contain; (to engage; used with “en”) to involve, to get involved in; (to roll) to wind
Cuero – (material) leather; (untanned animal pelt) hide, skin; (leather canteen) wineskin; (whip) (Latin America) whip; (hardware) washer; (sports) ball
Desenfrenado – unbridled, uncontrolled, insatiable, frenzied, wild
Arrojar – (to fling) to throw, to hurl (with force); (to generate) to produce; (to emit) to spew out (lava, ash), to belch out (smoke); (to cast out) to throw out; (to puke) to vomit, to throw up
Acequia – (agriculture) irrigation ditch, irrigation channel; (body of water) stream
Tajamar – (nautical) cutwater; (engineering) cutwater; (barrier across a watercourse) dam, dyke
Mechón – (cluster of hair) lock; (cluster of wool) tuft; (education) (Chile) freshman