Illusions – Ilusiones
From Cuentos Populares en Chile (Chilean Folktales) – by Ramón A. Laval
Part 2 – Myths, Traditions, Things (Mitos, Tradiciones, Casos)
074. Las Sombras (The Shadows)
(D. Francisco Vásquez, 1911.)
On one moonlit night, a gentleman had to take a trip from Talca to Pelqui, and to reach his destination he had to go through a mountain on horseback. Upon entering it, the horse stopped in fear, because it must have seen, as its rider saw, a corpse lying on the ground, not very far away, with its arms stretching out. The gentleman was also scared and to conquer his fear he spurred the horse on and directed it towards the corpse. On getting close to it, he was able to realize that what had been taken for a corpse was the trunk of a tree that had been brought down by time. With this, all his fear disappeared and he calmly continued on his way.
On traveling a little further he saw something strange passed through the trees, and the horse stopped once more: it was a lion. The traveler took out the blunderbuss that he carried with him, this was the type of gun that they used back in those times, and after firing, he saw what looked like a lion to him was the shadow projected by the summit of a nearby hill.
When he finished crossing the mountain and entered the valley, he ran into a widow on horseback, who followed him by his side on the road. The gentleman spoke to her, but she did not make any reply. After advancing a long distance, in silence, side by side, the widow got down from her horse and with a hop she sat on the haunch of the mount of her companion, who tried to grab her, but did not find anyone there.
The gentleman pressed forward, and after a while he saw that something like a cloud rose from the ground; he turned his attention to it and saw that it was a ghost. Fearful of the danger that this encounter could bring, he fled away at full speed, and the ghost followed after him. Luckily, in his mad dash he ran into a hut, in which he and his horse hid themselves.
At this moment it began to dawn and with the clarity of the daytime all fear dissipated; but the shock (distress) from what had taken place lasted a long time in this gentleman.
—– VOCABULARY —–
Derribar – (to destroy) to demolish; (boxing) to knock down; (to shoot down) to bring down; (to depose) to overthrow; (to make fall down) to make collapse; (to fell) to cut down
Trabuco – (weaponry) blunderbuss; (pejorative) (slang) (transvestite) (Argentina) drag queen
Proyectar – (to scheme) to plan; (to play) to screen, to project, to show; (to release) to cast (shade), to project (light), to shine (light); (to propel) to hurl, to throw; (to outline) to plan, to design; (mathematics) to project; (psychology) to project
A la par de – (together with) next to, along with; (simultaneously with) at the same time as; (at the same level as) on a par with
Avanzar – (to go forward) to advance, to move forward; (to improve) to progress, to make progress; (to continue) to draw on; (to move) to advance, to move forward; (to propose) to put forward
Trecho – (section) stretch; (space) distance
Acarrear – (to transport) to carry, to cart, to lug; (to move using a vehicle) to transport, to carry, to truck, to haul; (to cause) to give rise to, to lead to, to result in; (to stand; used with “con”) to bear
Rienda – (bridle) rein
Desenfrenado – unbridled, uncontrolled, insatiable, frenzied, wild
Desvanecer – (to make disappear) to dispel (doubts or fears), to dissipate (smoke or fog); (to decolor) to fade; (to make indistinct) to blur