070. The Purest Blood (La Sangre Más Pura)
In ancient times, before the grass, birds, animals and vermin forgot their [spoken] language, there lived a magnanimous king full of [wonderful] traits: he was sincere, kind, and loved his subjects, whom he considered little less than his own children. This king had a son who was [the very] opposite of him in every way: he was lazy, conceited, and unsympathetic. Both seemed to be the head and tail of the same coin. The king, as we have said, loved his subjects; well, the son disdained them as inferior beings. And it was not difficult to imagine, but the people had the highest regard for the father and none for the son.
In any case, the father loved his son, even though he knew what he was like, and as he loved him, he went about day and night thinking of how he could change his heart and turn him into a good person. [And it so happened that] not far from the palace there lived an old woman in her modest hut with no companies other than a few old cats. Many people regarded his woman as a witch.
One day the king went out hunting, as he had always done, and on his return from the hunt he sent his servants ahead with everything that he had gotten that day: hares, foxes, and deer, and he, deliberately delaying [his return], went to look for the woman whom everyone considered to be a witch.
He arrived at her hut, bade her good evening and sat with her by the fire. Then the king explained his predicament to the old woman: that his son’s cruelty worried him greatly and that was why he had come to see her, to see if she could find a remedy that could transform the prince into a good human being.
The old woman, after stroking the back of her old cats, said to the king:
If you wish to heal your son of the evil in his heart, put his own blood before his eyes. If he comes to recognize it, oh king, you will be very miserable; but, if he does not recognize it, your son will be cured and you will be comforted for all that you have suffered. That is all that I can tell you.
Satisfied [with this answer], the king wanted to pay her for her service, but the old woman did not accept any [payment] and so the king left [her hut and headed home].
But when he got back to the palace and began to think about what the old woman had said, he could not find a way to carry out the matter. And he thought it over again and again that he ended up not eating, not sleeping, nor governing. Then he asked himself: “How can I put my son’s blood before his eyes? As much as I love my subjects, I love my son even more. Must I spill the blood of my son to make my subjects happier? No, not under any circumstances.” And he returned to this thought over and over again without reaching any solution.
One day his son came to him and said:
Father, you will be embarrassed by what I’m going to tell you, but you must know that I have been secretly married to a woman for sometime now, and we have a son together.
Is that so? -asked the stunned king.
Well, you have a grandson due to my marriage, [and] although in secret, [it] is legitimate. And if you, who recognize me as your son, recognize my woman as your daughter-in-law and my son as your grandson, tomorrow they will come to live with us in the palace.
And the king said:
If this were any other kind of mother or son, I would give you my blessing at this very moment. But as that woman and that child may, in the future, become queen and king, I must think [carefully] about it. I will give my answer tomorrow.
That very evening, the king summoned the wise men and his counselors and said to them:
Before dawn tomorrow you must have an answer to these two questions that I am asking you now. The first is this: how can I put my son’s blood before his [own] eyes without losing my honor, given that I cannot spill [shed] it? And the second is this: how can I show to my beloved people a woman and a child whom I don’t even know, and to announce to them that they are the wife and child of my son?
The wise men and counselors withdrew to deliberate [on the matter] and, before dawn, they presented themselves to the king again, and one of them represented the others and said to him:
Your Majesty, if you want to put the blood of your son before his eyes without losing your honor, first accept your son’s wife as your daughter-in-law, and their child as your grandson; then take your grandson in your arms and place him before your son; in this way you will have placed his blood before his eyes without betraying your honor.
The king was satisfied with the answer and, after giving them his thanks, he called the wise man who had spoken for all the others to his private chamber and told him:
Since with only one answer you all have skillfully solved my two problems, tell me now how I can turn my son into a kind-hearted person [again], for this is the other matter that causes me [great] pain.
And the wise man answered him:
Your Majesty, I will be here when they bring forth that child, and we will resolve what you had set out to do.
The wise man left the king’s palace and for the next few days he went about searching and looking from house to house throughout the kingdom. And on the agreed upon day, he appeared before the king carrying a child hidden beneath his cloak. They then put the two children, the king’s grandson and he who was brought in by the wise man, in a cradle dressed exactly like one another. And, having done this, they sent for the king’s son; [and] when he came to the cradle, he did not know which child was his. And, seeing him being immersed in such great doubt, the king said to him:
Didn’t you use to say that we are not like the others, and that our subjects are inferior [to us]? Well, then tell us which of these two children is of royal blood?
And if the king himself did not tell him which of the two he was, his arrogant son would not have guessed correctly. And as a result of this he fell ill and a physician was called in to attend to him. This physician said that there was nothing else to do other than to bleed him and, indeed, they drew blood from his veins.
Then the king also had blood drawn from one of his servants, and blood [of his son and the servant] were put in two exact same vials next to one another. Then he said to the physician:
Tell us, master, which among these two is the purer blood.
The physician, after having analyzed in great details the two vials, said, signaling to the servant’s blood:
This is the better, and purer, blood.
And the son, he who had his son and his own blood before his eyes yet could not recognize them, learned his lesson upon hearing this and told them that he had healed. He became a good prince and ended up being loved by his subjects, although he was never loved by them as much as his father was.
—– VOCABULARY —–
Acariciar – to pet, to caress
A dar vueltas – around; spinning
Alimañas – vermin, pest
Amante – loving; lover
Anonadado – stunned, astonished
Anverso – (main side of a coin) head, obverse; (printing) front
Aunque – even though, although
Avergonzar – (to humiliate) to embarrass; (to dishonor) to shame
Bondadoso – kind, kind-hearted
Capa – cape, cloak
Choza – hut, shack
Ciervo – deer, stag, hind
Cuna – cradle, crib
Derramar – to spill, to shed
Despreciar – (to disdain) to despise
Difícil – difficult
Discurrir – (to ponder) to reflect, to think
Escarmentar – (to learn from experience) to learn, to teach someone; (to punish) to teach a lesson to
Extraer – to extract, to draw
Gabinete – (place of business) office; (politics) cabinet
Habilidad – (capability) ability, skill; (legal) competence
Haragán – (slothful) lazy, idle
Liebre – hare
Lomo – back, lower back
Maldad – evil, wickedness
Nuera – daughter-in-law
Orgulloso – proud, arrogant
Que debería hacer – what should I/s/he do? What I should do
Presumido – conceited, vain
Previsto – (anticipated) predicted, planned, expected
Puesto que – since, given that, because, as
Retrasar – (to defer) to postpone, to delay
Sabio – wise man
Siquiera – (in negative phrases) even; at least; (if only) even if
Sordas – deafs (MAY NOT BE THE INTENT OF AUTHOR??)
Súbditos – subjects, citizens
Sueles – soler – to use to (in past tense); to tend to; usually
Sumido – immersed; lost (in thought)
Todo cuanto – everything, all that
Tornar – (to go back) to return
Traicionar – (to be disloyal) to betray; (to reveal) to betray, to give away
Tratarse de – (to amount to) to be a question of, to be a matter of
Vasito – small glass
Vena – vein