The Devil – El Diablo
From Cuentos Populares en Chile (Chilean Folktales) – by Ramón A. Laval
Part 2 – Myths, Traditions, Things (Mitos, Tradiciones, Casos)
079. The Bucktoothed Child (El Niño Dentudo)
(1910.)
A tenant farmer was walking quietly along the edge of a fence when he heard some baby cries coming from a bush; he approached it and between the undergrowth he saw a handsome child who seemed to only be a few months old, whom he took in his arms and petted him; the child smiled, and as he smiled, he opened his mouth half-way, and the farmer could see white, teeth-like things between his gums. Amazed, he said: -“So my little child does have teeth!” – “And big ones!”, the child replied [to his remarks]. And indeed, the man saw huge teeth growing out from the child’s mouth. At this moment he realized that what he had taken for a baby was the Devil himself, and greatly frightened, he ran away while exclaiming “My Pure [Holy?] Ave María!”, and the Devil burst at that very instant, leaving in his place, as if it comes out from a coffin, a dense smoke with a strong sulfurous smell.
—– VOCABULARY —–
Dentudo – (having protruding teeth) toothy, bucktoothed, buck-toothed; (person having protruding teeth) toothy person, bucktoothed person
Yendo – going (ir – to go)
Inquilino – (renter) tenant, lessee; (agriculture) (Chile) tenant farmer
Cerca – (not far) close, near, nearby; (enclosure) fence (of wood or wire), wall (of stone or brick)
Vagido – cry (newborn)
Maleza – (brush) undergrowth; (wild plants) weeds; (wild plant) weed
Entreabrir – to half-open, to open halfway
Encía – (anatomy) gum
Descomunal – (tremendous) colossal, huge, enormous
Reventar – (to break with pressure) to burst; (to explode) to blow up, to shatter (glass); (to cause to fail) to ruin, to spoil, to disrupt, to wreck, to break up (a gathering); (to bother) to annoy, to piss off; (to finish off) to ride into the ground; (to hit) to beat the living daylights out of, to punch; (to exhaust) to wear out, to tire out; (to break) to burst, to blow out; (to crash) to break (wave); (to be full) to burst; (to get angry) to explode; (to be eager to; used with “por”) to be bursting to, to be dying to
Cajón – (furniture) drawer; (big box) crate; (pall) (Latin America) coffin, casket; (geography) (South America) ravine