From Cuentos Populares en Chile (Chilean Folktales) – by Ramón A. Laval
Part 2 – Myths, Traditions, Things (Mitos, Tradiciones, Casos)
055. The Taguatagua Lagoon (La Laguna de Taguatagua)
(Told by the dentist D. Luis Barahona Novoa in 1910.)
When don Javier Errázuriz was draining the Taguatagua lagoon (about 60 years ago, more or less), the inhabitants of the ranch said that at nap time the Devil would appear in the form of a bull with golden horns. The steward of the ranch roped it one day but the bull cut through the lasso. Then he had another stronger one made out of steer hide, which the bull could not cut through, but it [managed to] drag the steward [away] even when he was riding on a very strong horse. When the steward was near the lagoon, which was still not fully dry, he took out his blade and cut off the lasso so as not to drown.
The bull cared for a little girl who, every evening after the sun went down, appeared on the shore of this very lagoon and sat on a rock to comb her blond hair with a golden comb. The people would hear her sing from afar, with a melodious voice accompanied by the sounds of a harp which she played beautifully. If someone approached her, she’d hastily run away and dive into the water, and would not appear again until the following evening.
—– VOCABULARY —–
Astas – (pole) flagpole, mast; (handgrip) handle (for paintbrushes); (shank) shaft (of lance or spear); (zoology) horn (of a bull), antler (of a deer)
Fundo – (rural property) (Chile) (Peru) country estate, farm
Cuero – (material) leather; (untanned animal pelt) hide, skin; (leather canteen) wineskin; (whip) (Latin America) whip; (hardware) washer; (sports) ball; (prostitute) hooker, whore; (attractive person) (Mexico) hottie, babe; (insolence) nerve; (percussion instrument) drum; (skin of a drum) head
Novillo – (young domestic bovine) young bull, bullock, steer, heifer; (culinary) veal
Corvo – (arched) curved, bent; (aquiline) hooked
Precipitadamente – rashly, in a hurry
Zambullir – (to submerge in water) to dip, to duck
Zambullirse – (to jump into water) to dive; (to submerge oneself) to duck; (to engross oneself) to submerge oneself, to immerse oneself