062. The Dead Man’s Organs (La Asadura Del Muerto)
[Nguyen: technically speaking, “asadura” translates to “offal”, which is also called variety meats, pluck or organ meats, and is the organs of a butchered animal. I chose to keep it as “organs” in this story.]
Once upon a time there was a little girl who lived with her widowed mother, and they were so poor that they were starving most of the time. They were so starved that the little girl, at night, could only dream of servants dressed in white carrying trays full of food, and in the morning she would wake up hungrier than she had been when she went to bed.
One day her mother sent her to the store to buy some offal (e.g. innards and / or organs of animals), but she did not give her any money for they did not have any. The little girl went to the store and was not able to buy anything, as the butcher did not want to sell the food to her on credit.
She left the store very sad, thinking that she would not be able to bring anything home. And at this moment she passed by a cemetery, and the thought of entering it occurred to her. There she stood pondering [about her next act], and after a while, decided to remove the organs of a corpse which had been interred the day before, thinking that they no longer had any use for him and, on the other hand, to her and her mother they could help them satisfy their hunger. And so that was what she did.
When she got home, her mother was very happy [for having food to eat], took the organs, cleaned them, divided them up and cooked them for dinner. Once they had eaten, [fully] satisfied as they were, they went to bed and fell asleep.
They were asleep when a sinister noise woke them up and they heard a voice saying:
Return my organs, which you took from my grave.
And the girl cried out [in turn]:
Aye! My dear mother, who could that be?
And the mother answered her:
Be quiet, my daughter, for he will go away.
And the voice said:
I’m not going away, as I’m on the first step of the staircase.
And the little girl, even more frightened, cried out again:
Aye, my dear mother, who could that be?
Be quiet, my daughter, for he will go away.
And the voice said this time:
I am not going away, as I am on the second step of the staircase.
And the little girl, even more frightened now:
Aye, my dear mother, who could that be? I’m afraid and I don’t want to close my eyes.
Be quiet, my daughter, for he will go away.
And the voice spoke again:
I am not going away, as I am on the third step of the staircase.
And the little girl implored:
Aye, my dear mother, who could it be? I have not done any wrong and they want to take me away.
Be quiet, my daughter, for he will go away.
And then the voice said:
I am not going away, as I am [now] entering through the door of your room.
And the little girl cried out:
Aye, my dear mother, who could that person be who is at the foot of my bed and whom I don’t want to look at?
Be quiet, my daughter, for he will go away.
And the voice, already full of furor, shouted forth:
I am not going away, for I already got hold of your hair!
And grabbing the girl, the corpse took her to the cemetery, killed her, took out her organs, put them back in his body and buried himself once more.
—– VOCABULARY —–
Acostarse – to go to bed
Agarrarse – (to clutch) to hold on, to grip; (to become adhered to) to stick
Asadura – (culinary) offal – Offal, also called variety meats, pluck or organ meats, is the organs of a butchered animal.
Bandeja – (platter) tray
Delante – in front
Despertarse – to wake up
Escalón – (stair) step
Fiar – (to give on trust) to sell on credit
Tenebroso – (evil) sinister, shady; (murky) gloomy, dark
Viuda – (woman whose partner is deceased) widow