Histories of Witches – Historias de Brujos
From Cuentos Populares en Chile (Chilean Folktales) – by Ramón A. Laval
Part 2 – Myths, Traditions, Things (Mitos, Tradiciones, Casos)
071. The Gentleman Who Turned Himself Into a Horse And Later a Turkey (El Caballero Que Fue Transformado En Caballo Y Despues En Pavo)
(Told in Peñaflor in 1922 by the master carpenter Tránsito González, a native of Choapa, 57 years of age.)
An employee of the administration of the estate of Panquehue referred [me] in 1910 to a group of workers, among whom was the master carpenter Tránsito, who, on one occasion when he went to Talagante [footnote], some friends of his invited him to enjoy himself in a house where lived some good-looking girls. He got close with one of them and pretended to be in love with her, but as he didn’t manage to get what he wanted on the first night, he stayed in the house for some more days until he got his way by deceiving the girl with a promise of marriage.
[footnote K] (Pueblecito del departamento de Victoria, provincia de Santiago, en el cual es fama que ha habido muchos brujos, y, según algunas personas, todavía los hay. Literally: a small town in the department of Victoria, province in Santiago, which is famous for having had many witches, and, according to some people, there are still some around today.)
When I returned -he said- extremely satisfied of my feat, on crossing a small forest I suddenly found myself transformed into a horse. Jeez! -I said to myself- what am I going to do now? What bad luck awaits me if I continue being in this horse form! And I went into the little forest where I spent the rest of that day and all night that night.
Early the next morning, some workers who were threshing [grains] with mares in a nearby field bumped into me, and one of them said: -Wow, what a beautiful horse! Let’s take it back? And another one replied: -Yes, let’s take it back. And they took me with them.
I worked the best I can, friends, so that they would not flog me nor drive the spurs into me, and everyone looked at me with mouths wide open upon seeing how good a job I have done. At this point the threshing foreman stopped by and asked: -“Whose horse is this?” -We found it in the middle of the patch of boldos up there -replied one of them. Let it go, -said the foreman- lest its owner come and accuse us of working someone else’s horse. -But it’s not branded, señor. -It doesn’t matter, release it. And with great contentment on my part they released me and l, in a slow manner, returned to the little patch of boldos, as the laborers used to say of that little forest, and because I was not used to the work that they had forced me to do, I was feeling very tired.
I had barely entered the forest when the girl that I had been having fun with appeared in front of me, and throwing me a bundle of fodder, she said: “Take this, hopefully you have learned to not take advantage of other women, or else I’ll turn you back into a horse; eat this fodder and you’ll transform back into human form.
I ate the fodder and as soon as I swallowed the last bite, I became a man once more.
It was already dark and I hurriedly ran to town and at the first ranch with light that I saw, I knocked on the door and a woman, not all bad looking and of about 25 years of age, came out to open it.
Ma’am, -I said to her-, please give me lodging for the night because I don’t know anywhere else to go, and I feel very tired; I have lost my horse and I don’t even know in what part of the country I’m in now.
It is at the entrance to Talagante, señor, and as far as lodging is concerned, there is nothing else at this ranch except for this room and I have no other bed than the one you see” -and she showed me a straw mattress on top of a cot;- furthermore, my husband is not at home, as he has gone out on some errands and won’t return until tomorrow.
-Ma’am, allow me to stay in a corner, any corner, for all I want is to have a roof over my head, and you won’t have to worry a thing about me.
-It’s not as tricky as I thought, come in, then, señor.
The woman undressed herself and went to bed, and right away she said to me:
You already know that there are no other bed than this, so if you’d like, come and lay down by my side.
But, ma’am, where I am is fine and I don’t want to bother you, for it is enough for me to not sleep like a watchman does [e.g. out in the elements].
Don’t be a fool and come lie down by my side.
And if your husband suddenly comes back and catches me?
Don’t be a fool, I tell you; my husband is in Malloco and he won’t arrive until tomorrow when the sun is high above.
What the hell! the woman was not ugly, and it is better to sleep on a bed of straw than being curled up in a corner. I undressed myself and laid down next to the woman.
Very early the next day, before the sun comes up, we felt someone approaching the ranch singing.
-That’s my husband, -said the woman- how could he have come back so soon? But it doesn’t matter, quickly dress yourself and get under the cot.
Barely had I hidden myself in the place where the woman pointed to me that the husband entered and the woman said to him:
Go fetch some firewood, Manuel, so we can make a casserole a bit later, because I just woke up with a strong craving [for this].
And while Manuel went to look for firewood, the woman chanted some words that I did not understand and turned me into a turkey, then she put me in a coop where there were [also] many other birds in it. I climbed up as best I could and placed myself alongside the other birds when I heard Manuel asking his wife:
And that big, fat turkey?
It’s from our neighbor and must have stopped by yesterday in the evening.
Let’s kill it so it won’t intrude on our other birds and we’ll have turkey casserole with chochoca, how does that sound to you, Juana?
That’s all right -replied the woman, and taking a stick she dealt a ferocious blow to the turkey which was next to me, and it fell flat to the ground.
How can I better tell you of the fright that I went through, because, in truth, I believed that Juana was going to deal me that ferocious blow.
A little later that woman said to Manuel:
Go and ask my friend Mercedes to give me some chochoca, for we have already finished what we have.
Manuel left and Juana took advantage of her husband’s absence to transform me back into human form, and she said to me:
Quickly follow this road, and may everything go well for you.
And here I am, and you surely never would have guessed that I had been [turned into] a horse and a turkey.
You still have traces of that last one, -said a worker down below.
And of the first as well, -another worker said slowly,- because it hasn’t been too long ago that you gave me a kick that hurt me as much as if someone had had horseshoes on; and this [was done] simply because I made a reply to you.
—– VOCABULARY —–
Remoler – (to pulverize) to grind up; (to bug) (El Salvador) (Guatemala) to annoy; (colloquial) (to have fun) (Chile) to live it up
Atracarse – (to gobble) to stuff oneself, to gorge oneself; (colloquial) (to get close) to come up to; (to get jammed) (Peru) (Venezuela) to jam, to get stuck
Atracar – (to assault) to rob, to hold up (a place), to mug (a person); (nautical) to dock; (to annoy) (Latin America) to harass, to pester; (to thrash) (Puerto Rico) to beat; (colloquial) (to put close) (Chile) to shove together; (to block) (Peru) (Venezuela) to jam; (nautical) to berth, to dock; (colloquial) (to kiss) (Chile) to make out, to snog
Hazaña – (achievement) feat, exploit, deed
Trillar – (to thrash) to thresh; (to wear down) to overuse
Yegua – (female horse) mare; (cigar) (Central America) (Mexico) cigar butt; (pejorative) (prostitute) whore; (idiotic) (Costa Rica) stupid
Tropezar con – (to hit by accident) to trip on, to bump into, to stumble over; (to come up against) to run into, to encounterQ233
Tropezarse con – (colloquial) (to come across) to bump into, to run into
Azotar – (to punish with a scourge) to whip, to flog; (to thrash) to spank, to slap; (to pound) to lash, to batter; (to do heavy damage to) to devastate; (to close forcefully) (Mexico) to slam
Capataz – (occupation) foreman (masculine); forewoman (feminine); overseer (on a farm)
Mancha – (splotch) stain, spot, mark, blot; (stigma) blemish, stain; (area) patch, spot; (on an animal) spot, patch; (medicine) shadow; (group of friends) (Peru) gang
Boldo – (botany) boldo; (beverage) boldo tea
Soltar – (to stop holding) to let go of, to drop, to put down, to let out; (to make less tight) to loosen; (to free) to set free, to release; (automobile) to release; (to vocalize) to let out, to let fly; (to radiate) to give off; (to relinquish) to give up; (to supply) to cough up; (to moult) to shed
Hacerse cargo – (to assume responsibility) to take charge, to take over; (to care for) to take care; (to meet the cost) to pay
Ajeno – (belonging to someone else) other people’s, someone else’s; (not connected to) foreign, alien, unconnected, unaffiliated; (not aware) unaware
Peonar – (general) (Southern Cone) to work as a laborer
Atado – (fastened) tied; (package) bundle
Pasto – (place for grazing) pasture, grazing; (green area) lawn, grass; (feed) fodder; (marijuana) (Latin America) pot
Tragar – (to ingest) to swallow; (to absorb) to soak up; (to bear) to stand; (to use up) to guzzle, to be heavy on, to use; (to gulp) to swallow; (to eat) to put away food, to put it away; (to consume gasoline) to guzzle gas, to guzzle petrol; (to agree) to give in; (to bear; used with “con”) to put up with
Mascada – (mouthful) bite; (silk neckerchief) silk handkerchief, silk scarf, scarf
Apretar – (to apply pressure) to press, to pull, to squeeze, to step on (accelerator); (to compress) to squeeze, to clutch, to clench (fist), to grit (teeth), to crush, to grip; (to adjust) to tighten; (to hurry) to quicken; (to pressure) to put pressure on, to push; (to squeeze together) to bunch up; (to increase) to get worse, to intensify; (to crush) to be too tight, to inch one’s feet; (to pressure) to put on the pressure; (to exert oneself) to make an effort; (to go) (Chile)
Pallasa – (furniture) (Chile) straw mattress
Catre – (furniture) cot, camp bed, folding bed (pliable)
Sereno – (peaceful) calm, serene, tranquil; (weather) cloudless, clear, still; (not drunk) sober; (profession) night watchman; (weather) night dew
Acurrucado – curled up; huddled up
Cazuela – (earthenware dish) casserole dish; (metal pan) saucepan, pot; (culinary) stew, casserole; (theater) gods
Antojo – (strong desire) craving; (sudden desire) whim; (mark on skin) birthmark
Dormidero – que hace dormir; sitio donde duerme el ganado; espesura en la que se recogen las aves silvestres para dormir
Chuchoca – (Arg. y Chile) especie de frangollo o maíz cocido y seco, que se usa como condimento
Asestar – (to inflict) to deal, to deliver; (to shoot) to fire
Garrotazo – blow