075. The Enchanted Forest (La Selva Encantada)
There was once a very happy and well-matched couple; moreover, they had honor, health, and wealth; and as if this was not enough, they also had a daughter so beautiful that all were mesmerized upon seeing her, and would say:
– Oh my God, such a beautiful girl!
Among them, the one who looked at her the most was a handsome young lad, who was captivated by her beauty since the first time he laid eyes on her. She noticed this right away, and as he was a nice young man, the young woman grew fond of him.
The lad came from a poor family, and when the girl’s parents found out about their love, they were irritated by the affair. Due to this, when the lad humbly presented himself in her house to ask for her hand in marriage, her parents said to him:
– Under no circumstances will we consent to our daughter marrying a poor man like yourself!
And when they saw that their daughter was sad, they said to her:
– Before you get to marry him, God will take you to the deepest part of the deepest forest!
What happened? What did not happen? No one explained to him, but the following day they found the girl’s bed to be intact and she had disappeared. And no matter how much her parents searched for her, how much they cried in remorse, the girl did not reappear and her parents were left devastated because now their honor, their health, and their wealth do not serve them in any way, nor could they alleviate them of the sorrow in their heart.
It was then that the lad presented himself and said to them:
– As I love her, I will search for her until the last breath of my life.
Seeing his enthusiasms, they gave him a horse, a sword, and a sack, and they promised him that, if he can find her and bring her back, they would agree to the marriage.
The lad happily accepted and left for the deepest forest. When he found it, he realized that it extended interminably. A palace stood in the depth of this forest, but the maze-like paths leading there were full of danger that no one had been able to get to its doors.
But love conquers sensibility, and the lad, without thinking twice, entered the forest. After wandering around for a short while, he found a clearing where there was a hermit accompanied by a lion, which seemed as if he was a loving little dog. The hermit approached the young lad, who moved his hand on to his sword, and said:
– Fear not, for I was expecting you.
The hermit gave him food to eat and invited him to sleep over in the hermitage that night. As the lad accepted, the hermit said to him:
– I know why you have come and I will aid you as your cause is noble. Tomorrow you will walk in that direction, and when the sun is setting, you will encounter another hermit like myself; do what he tells you, and I promise that he will help you.
The lad was getting ready to leave the following morning when the hermit gave him his blessing, and said to the lion:
– Go and protect him!
They walked all day, and when night fell, they saw a hermitage in another clearing, and a hermit standing by its door; the hermit stepped forward to receive them and the lad saw a tiger accompanying him, which seemed as if he was a loving little dog. And the hermit said to him:
– Fear not, for I was expecting you.
They ate dinner, and before heading to bed, the hermit said to him:
– I know why you have come, and I will help you as your cause is noble. Tomorrow you will walk in that direction, and when the sun sets, you will encounter another hermit like myself; you have to do what he tells you, and I promise you that he, too, will help you.
The following morning, when the lad was about to leave, the hermit gave him his blessing and said to the tiger:
– Go and protect him!
The lad, the lion, and the tiger walked all day until the sun was setting, when they arrived at a clearing where another hermit was waiting for them at the door of his hermitage; and this time it was a bear that accompanied him. And everything happened as in the prior encounters, and upon saying goodbye, the hermit said to the bear:
– Go and protect him!
So they advanced deep into the forest, which became thicker and thicker, until they arrived at a river where the only ford was guarded by a giant taller than the tallest tree, and whose eyes were burning with fire. The lad went forward to meet the giant, and the giant in turn, putting his hand on his mace, said to the lad:
– What do you want here?
– Make way for me.
– You will not pass through here.
– For my love I will go through.
The giant lifted his mace to crush him, but the lad and animals, who were more agile, quickly passed through between his legs and the giant, in his great effort to smite them, hit his own legs with such force that he lost his consciousness, then fell into the river and drowned.
Thus those four continued on their way and soon ran into an old woman knitting at the door of a hut; as soon as she saw them, she said to the lad:
– What do you want here?
– Make way for me.
– You will not pass through here.
– For my love I will go through.
Then the old woman, as she was a witch, gave a terrifying whistle and out came from the forest ten black dogs with bloodshot eyes and spiky hair; but the lion and the tiger attacked them with such ferocity and the bear grabbed the witch with a fatal bear hug that she and the savage dogs were left lifeless.
They continued walking and the forest became so thick that they could barely take a step as there was hardly any light. And at this moment a clearing appeared and they found themselves in front of a palace. And the lad saw his sweetheart leaning out on one of the balconies, more beautiful than ever.
So they went to the door and the palace guards who came to meet them were armed to the teeth.
– What do you want here?
– Make way for me.
– You will not pass through here.
– For my love I will go through.
And the lad and the three animals were entangled in a mortal fight with the guards. They got to the courtyard, but guards were coming from everywhere for them. Then the lad saw a stairway whereupon the girl was waiting for him at the top. He went up the stairs and in the moment in which he reached out to her with his hand, all commotion, clamors and noise ceased, and the guards, animals, and the palace disappeared. Then the two lovers suddenly found themselves in a field so beautiful and tranquil that their fatigue dissolved away, and there they stayed, sleeping in embrace.
And upon waking up, they found themselves in the girl’s house surrounded by her parents, her friends and servants, all full of happiness and surprise at this wonder of a miracle. And the girl’s parents kept their word and agreed to her marriage with the valiant young man.
—– VOCABULARY —–
Agarrar – (to grasp with the hands) to grab, to take, to take hold of, to seize, to catch
Ahogarse – to drown
Alcanzar – to reach, to get to
Algarabía – (commotion) racket
Aliento – (respiration) breath
Aliviar – (to mitigate) to relieve, to ease, to soothe
Al rato – shortly after
ánimo – moods, spirits; (enthusiasms) energy, spirit
Aplastarse – (to become squashed) to get squashed; aplastar – to smash, to crush
Arrepentimiento – (contrition) regret, remorse, repentence
A sí mismo – to himself; himself
Avenido – (who get along well; used with ‘bien’) well-matched; (who don’t get along; used with ‘mal’) badly, ill-matched
Bolsa – bag, sack
Cabaña – cabin, hut
Cada vez más – more and more
Cariñoso – affectionate, loving warm
Cesar – (to end) to cease
Cordura – (medicine) sanity; (judgment) good sense; sense
Dar con – to find; to track down (a person)
De repente – (all at once) suddenly, all of a sudden; (possibly) maybe, perhaps
Destrozado – ruined, smashed, wrecked
Disgusto – (displeasure or anger) annoyance, irritation, dissatisfaction
Echando mano – using; drawing; making use
Enterarse de – (to discover) to find out; (to know) to hear, to find out
Enzarzarse – (to get entangled); (to become implicated) to get involved, to get embroiled; (to have an argument) to get into a fight
Erizados – spiky; erizar – (to erect) to make stand on end; (to create obstacles) to complicate, to set up traps
Ermita – hermitage, chapel, shrine
Escalera – stairs; ladders
Esfuerzo – (use of force) effort;
Fatiga – tiredness, fatigue
Fiereza – (savagery) ferocity, fierceness; (inhumanity) cruelty
Hechizar – (to hex) to cast a spell on, to bewitch; (to fascinate) to captivate, to enchant
Hondo – (extending a long way down) deep; (intense) profound, deep
Honra – (moral dignity) honor, virtue
Horroroso – (terrifying) dreadful, horrific, horrifying; (very ugly) hideous
Humildemente – (meekly) humbly; (simply) humbly
Interminablemente – endlessly; interminably
Intrincado – (complicated) intricate, involved, complex; (thick) dense
Llevar – (to spend time on) to be, to take
Maza – sledgehammer, club hammer, mallet; mace
Ojos inyectados en sangre – bloodshot eyes
Oso – bear
Pierna – leg
Puede más que – can only; is; cannot but; can only be; can
Prendado – captivated
Prodigio – (something incredible) wonder, prodigy, marvel; (religious) miracle
Salir al paso – meet; to refute
Salvaje – (undomesticated) wild, untamed, feral
Selva – jungle, forest
Sendero – (way) path, trail, track
Sentido – (state of awareness) consciousness;
Silbido – (shrill sound) whistle, whistling; (hum) ringing
Tejer – (to sew with yarn) to knit (with two needles); to crochet (with one needle); to weave
Temerariamente – rashly, recklessly; hastily; boldly
Tendido – (lying down) stretched out
Vado – ford; (access) entrance
Vagar – (to ramble) to wander, to roam; (to do nothing) to laze around, to idle