063. The Goddaughter of Saint Peter (La Ahijada De San Pedro)
There was an old couple who did not have any children and were always begging Saint Peter to give them a daughter. At last, the compassionate [, Almighty] God gave them a daughter and Saint Peter came down to see them and they made him the child’s godfather. And they named her Peter, just like her godfather.
When the girl grew up, the father died and she had to become a servant [to support the family]. The mother did not know how to dress her: she was not dressed as a woman since it did not match the name that they had given her. So that, in the end, she was dressed as a man and went away to work as a servant.
Soon after leaving her house, Saint Peter met her and accompanied her to a palace, where he left her at the door. She then knocked at the door and a maid came out to open it. Peter asked if they needed a servant and the maid took her up to where the queen was. And as the queen liked her, they took her in as a servant.
Some time passed by when the king had to leave for war. While the king was at war, the queen fell in love with Peter, believing that she was a man. One night, she went thrice to Peter’s bed to search for her, but Peter told her that this could not be, because she was the queen while Peter was only a servant. Then the queen sent words to the king to return promptly, for she was in need of a man. The king came at once and she [then] said to him:
You must kill Peter. Three times he came to my bed and you have to kill him [for this insolent act].
So the king sent for Peter and told her that he had condemned her to death. But, as he disliked to carry this out because he liked the young man (e.g. the king and queen believed that Peter was a man), he announced that he would pardon her if she could bring back a ring that had fallen into the sea when he was on his way back [to the palace]. Peter was heartbroken [when she heard this], because she knew it was impossible to complete the task, but at this moment Saint Peter appeared and asked her why she was so gloom and doom. Peter then told him [what had happened] and her godfather said to her:
Take this whistle that I [now] give to you, go to the seashore, blow it three times and a fish will bring you the ring in its mouth.
Peter did this and immediately a fish appeared with the ring in its mouth. Then she came running back to the palace and gave the ring to the king. But the queen insisted that she had to be killed, and the king then said to her:
If you don’t want me to have you killed, you have to bring back a mute daughter of mine who was [previously] kidnapped by some thieves.
Gloomy Peter once more went away in search of Saint Peter. He came out to meet her and asked her why she was [so] gloomy [yet] again. Peter told him what had happened and her godfather then said to her:
Don’t you worry about that. Go to the thieves’ hideout and stand at the door. When it is twelve o’clock, the doors will open and close at the sound of the strikes. You enter, take the king’s mute daughter and get out before the repetition [of the clock sound].
So Peter did this. She stood at the door, waited for the coming hour, entered through an escape, grabbed the mute princess and left just before the next hour strike. And when the doors closed the princess screamed aloud, on the way back she screamed once more, and on entering the palace, a third time.
Peter came back with the mute princess and handed her to the queen, but the queen said that they still had to kill her. The king thought it over and then said that if that [very] night the young man was able to separate three bushels of wheat, three of barley and three of rye, which were all mixed together in the same room, then he would spare his life.
This time Peter burst into tears seeing that the task was impossible [to do]. When Saint Peter returned and saw her like that, he asked her the reason why she was crying. Peter explained it to him and Saint Peter said:
Ask them to give you an armchair in the room where you will be locked in, then lie down and sleep without any worry.
So Peter did this. She asked for the armchair and carried it to the room where they were going to lock her up with three bushels of wheat, three of barley and three of rye. And as soon as they locked her in, she lie down and slept.
The queen, who didn’t get everything her way, took a peep at one in the morning to see what Peter was doing and was very happy because she saw that she had not yet begun [sieving the grains]. She returned at three and was even happier because she saw Peter sleeping in the armchair. And when it was six o’clock she came with the king to the room and saw with great astonishment that all the grains were already separated and Peter was sitting in the armchair waiting for them.
But the queen, who was maddeningly furious [at all this], said that it cannot be, that they must kill her at once and that he himself [e.g. the king] must put the noose around her neck to hang her.
Peter climbed up the gallows and, on having the noose on her neck, she saw that Saint Peter was at her side and said to him:
Godfather, this time you cannot save me [anymore].
And Saint Peter said to her:
Fear not, for nothing will happen to you.
So the executioner stood on one side and the king and the queen with the mute princess on the other, and Peter requested to be allowed to ask three questions before she died. The king consented and Peter said to the mute princess:
Say, Ana, why did you let out a cry upon leaving the house where those thieves held you?
Everyone was left in suspense and Ana, the mute princess, said:
Because my mother thrice came down to your bed.
And Peter asked again:
Say, Ana, why did you give out a cry in the middle of the road?
The mute princess replied:
Because Saint Peter is your godfather.
And Peter asked for the third time:
Say, Ana, why did you give yet another cry upon entering the palace?
The mute princess replied:
Because you are a woman and not a man.
And everyone there was speechless and astonished at what they had just witnessed. And after the astonishment [e.g. initial shock], the king ordered the arrest of the queen and banished her to a faraway castle. And later he married Peter, who was a very beautiful woman who made him very happy.
And they all continued to live there, and I was sent here to tell you all about this story.
—– VOCABULARY —–
Acabar de – (used to express immediate action) just; (to complete) to finish
Ahijado/a – godson/god-daughter; protegé;
Aguardar – to wait for, to await, to expect
Ahorcar – (to dangle) to hang
Apurarse – (to be distressed) to worry oneself
Asomarse – (to check) to look; (to peep out) to lean out
Cebada – barley
Centeno – rye
Compadecer – (to feel sad for) to pity
Condenar – to condemn, to sentence
Fanega – bushel
Grano – grain
Guardar – (to place) to put away, to put
Horca – gallows, gibbet
Pegar con – (to complement) to match
Presenciar – to view, to witness
Rabioso – (infected with rabies) rabid; (angry) furious; (excessive) terrible, extreme
Rogar – to implore, to beg
Salir al encuentro – to meet; going out to meet; reach out to the
Silbato – whistle
Sillón – armchair, rocking chair
Soga – (cord) rope
Suspenso – (anxious expectancy) suspense
Trigo – (grain) wheat
Varón – male, man
Verdugo – executioner