085. The Castle With Seven Towers (El Castillo De Las Siete Torres)
There was once a father who had three daughters. They were very poor that they often had only the peels of potatoes for food. One day the father felt ill and understood that he was going to die very soon. He then gathered his three daughters and gave them a bag full of ashes, and told them that they must leave the house to go search for [their] fortune, and that this bag was all that he could give them as dowry.
– It does not look like much – said the father -, and in truth it is not; but carry it with you wherever you go because it will give you the luck you’d need to be happy.
The next day, the three girls, all crying, threw the bag on their back, agreeing that each would carry it for a distance and left [their home] to search for fortune.
Go where you must, darkness fell upon them when they were in the middle of a thick forest. They had not eaten all day and, not knowing what to do and starving, they opted to climb up the branches of a pine tree to spend the night, lest there were vermin about that [could] attack and eat them. And as they did not know whether the forest was dangerous, once they had climbed up the top of the pine tree, each of them dropped a handful of the ashes on the ground and the ashes were spread around the foot of the tree. The following morning when they got down, they saw there were footprints of a very large giant in the ashes, which gave them fright by just looking at them.
[Note 1: The “Go where you must” was taken from this original Spanish text: “Anda que te andarás, se les echó la oscuridad encima cuando estaban en mitad de un espeso bosque.” I am not sure how to best translate this.]
So that without knowing what to do nor where to go, they resumed their travel with the good grace of God and there they went through forests and more forests and mountains and more mountains without encountering a soul. Once more night fell on them and, as in the night before, they climbed to the top of a pine tree and threw down handfuls of ashes. The following morning, there [below the pine tree] were foot marks of the ferocious giant. Once more they continued on their way, with a hunger that they could no longer bear and with fear put [instilled] in their body due to the [presence of the] giant. And they walked and walked without finding anyone nor any house, [it was] only the three of them in those places in the mountain and forest, [where] they fed themselves with roots and berries. Until the third night, when they were ready to search for a tree that they saw in the far, very far, distance, a small, very small, light, and the three sisters followed that light and hurriedly walked toward it. When they got close, very close, they saw that it was a grand castle, with seven towers so high, very high, that they seemed to touch the sky.
They called on the door, which was also very high, and a very beautiful princess opened it. [She was] all covered in gold and diamonds, and asked them who they were and what they wanted, and the three poor girls asked her to let them sleep there for the night. Barely having heard this, the princess advised them to run away [leave] immediately, because there was a giant in that castle that, by day, he would roam the mountains and forests, and well into the night, he would return to dine and sleep at the castle; if he was to find them there, the princess told them, he would eat them in three bites.
The three girls told her that they would be well-hidden and nothing would happen, but the princess replied that the giant had a fine sense of smell and that, from seven leagues before reaching the castle, he would be capable of sniffing them out and that, once arrived at the castle, he would come with his mouth watering and would find them instantly. To the poor girls this shirt doesn’t fit the body [e.g. they didn’t like what they heard], but they were so exhausted that they insisted on staying despite the danger, because they could not take another step.
[Note 2: the original Spanish text is “Ahora sí que ya no les llegaba la camisa al cuerpo a las pobres muchachas,” which I translated it to “To the poor girls this shirt doesn’t fit the body.”]
The eldest hid herself behind a trough, the middle in a wine cask [container] and the youngest behind the door.
After a while it felt like an earthquake shook the entire mountain, the castle itself creaked and shook, and the seven towers swayed from one side to the other like trees shaking in strong wind [gale]. These were the footsteps and snorts of the giant, who had come [home] to sleep. And from afar he came saying in a voice so loud which deafened the sky:
– Yum, yum, I sense a delicious smell of human flesh; yum, yum, how delicious it must be.
As soon as he entered the castle, he asked what they had brought for dinner, because it smelled of delicious human flesh and he was as hungry as a wolf. It was needless to say of the fear instilled in those poor girls! The princess told him that she had not brought any meat, that it must have been his desire to eat that made him believe he would be having human flesh for dinner. The giant sulked on hearing this and began to walk from one side to the other, grumbling and threatening. Later, once calmer, he grabbed the bread on the table and ate it in four bites; then he went to search for more bread in the kneading trough and saw the eldest of the sisters hidden there.
– Ah! – shouted the giant to the princess – You see how I have my reason [suspicion]? Well now I am going to eat you both: this little girl because I feel like it and you for having fooled me.
The poor elder sister asked him for forgiveness and the giant ignored her, but as he found her to be very thin [emaciated], he said to the princess:
– This girl is so thin that I would only be eating nothing but bones today. So you make sure to fatten her up and I will eat her [on] the first day of the holiday. In the meantime, have her knead the bread [flour].
Then he drank a pitcher of wine in two gulps and went to the wineskin to search for more. As it seemed to him that the wine came out murky, he looked deep and thoroughly inside to see if the wineskin was damaged and, on shaking it, the middle sister, who was holding on to it, fell to the floor. And here he saw her, and the giant said:
– Aha! So there was no human flesh for dinner? You [really] do want me to eat both you and this wretch for food right now.
[Note 3: the original Spanish text is “Ganas me dan de comeros ahora mismo a ti y a esta desdichada.”]
The poor girl cried and begged and, as she was equally thin as her sister, in the end the giant gave her to the princess to fatten her up and, while she’s at it, the girl would help out with the cleaning [around the castle].
[Meanwhile] The little sister was scared to death behind the door. The giant then went to close the door and, naturally, he found her behind it. He wanted to eat her for dessert, but the same thing happened as with the other two: she was too thin and he gave her to the princess to fatten her up and to help [the princess] light the fire daily.
For a whole week the princess fed the girls well, and in a week the three were as fat as they could be. The bad thing was that the more they ate and the better their lives became, the sadder and more afraid they were, because they knew that the giant would eat them without fail. A day before the holiday, the three girls met to see how they could save themselves. They were in agreement that the youngest, when she heated up the tongs to brush the princess’s hair, she would make them burning hot and [in] this way could scald her head and kill her; and the elder, before the giant – who only slept in the bread oven to take advantage of the heat – got up, would stoke the fire until a good one was made, close the door and leave him burnt [baked] inside.
And this was said and done. The little sister burnt the head of the princess, who immediate fell dead, and the elder roasted the giant inside the oven. And with the giant and the princess dead, they became the sole owners and ladies of the castle.
[Note 4: but the princess has not done anything wrong! She had warned the girls not to stay, and would be murdered for being a good Samaritan =( I am very upset with this outcome!!]
The first thing they did was to search for the keys to the rooms and open them all. They discovered that the biggest [room] was full of silk dresses, embroidered with gold and diamonds, of all sizes and for all tastes; if one was beautiful, the other was even more so.
In another room, a little smaller than the previous one, they found thousands upon thousands of pairs of shoes, embroidered with gold and silver thread, covered in diamonds and jewels and with gold buckles; there were also everything for all tastes and sizes. And in another room, smaller than the previous one, they found beautiful jewels, combs, necklaces, bracelets, rings, earrings, charms, and cologne [perfume] of a thousand fragrances, all of the best and finest [quality]. So that they were dressed like marchionesses, each of them dressed in the best [dress] of their size and, now, if one looked rich and beautiful, the other looked even more so, and the truth is that there would not have been enough eyes to admire the three.
And so dressed and spruced up, they went down to the stable and found six horses and three carriages, of which it was hard to decide which was best and most luxurious.
Each hitched up two horses to her carriage and prepared to depart for the city where a king lived. But, suddenly, the little sister remembered the bag of ash that their father had given them as dowry and of which he had told them that it would give them the luck they’d need to be happy. The fact is that each of them was prepared to occupy a different carriage, so that after thinking about it, they decided – just in case they got separated – to divide the ash in three equal parts and each one carried her own.
The three arrived at the city, riding in their carriages, and all the people stopped in the street at their passing or came out on the balconies to gaze at them, because the three maidens were as beautiful as their carriages were striking. Words spread through the city and more and more people came to see them pass by, and the news of their presence reached the palace itself. The king’s three sons were there, and when they found out, they could not suppress their curiosity and they, too, went to see them. Naturally, in less than the time it takes to tell this, they fell in love with the three maidens and went to see their father to tell him that they wanted to marry those beautiful girls that passed through the city’s streets. And this was how the three found their happiness and they still, to this day, keep their share of the ash in a chest under the bed.
—– VOCABULARY —–
A base de bien – on a good basis
Acicalado – dressed-up, spruce;
Aconsejar – (to suggest) to advise, to recommend; (to give advice to a person) to advise; (to make necessary) to make advisable
Agarrarse – (to clutch) to hold on, to grip; (to become adhered to) to stick
Agitarse – (to move vigorously) to flap, to toss, to shake; (to become unsettled) to become agitated
Alimañas – vermin; pest; scoundrel
Alisar – (to flatten) to smooth; (to brush) to straighten
Amasar – (culinary) to knead; (to prepare) to mix, to mix with water; (to accumulate) to amass
Apetecer – (to want) to feel like, to fancy; (to be appealing) to feel like, to fancy
Arqueta – (small box for valuables) casket, small chest
Artesa – (culinary) kneading trough; (container) trough
Asar – (culinary) to roast, to grill
Atacar – to strike, to attack
Atronar – (to make deaf) to deafen; (to daze) to stun
Avivar – (to fuel) to stoke, to stoke up; (to make brighter) to brighten up; (to sharpen) to rekindle, to arouse, to intensify, to heighten
Balancear – (to move to and fro) to swing, to rock; (to bring into equilibrium) to balance
Baya – berry
Bocado – (act of biting) bite; (portion of food) bite; (light meal) bite, snack;
Bota – (footwear) boot; (container for wine) wineskin
Brazalete – bracelet
Cada vez más – more and more
Calentar – to heat
Candente – (glowing red) red-hot; (much talked about) burning, hot
Carroza – (vehicle) float (of carnival or parade); carriage; hearse (funeral)
Ceniza – dust, ash
Collar – necklace, chain
Colonia – silk ribbon; colognes
Contemplar – (to observe) to gaze at, to contemplate, to study
Crujir – (to make noise) to creak, to rustle, to crackle, to crunch
Cuanto más – the more
Dañar – (to cause harm) to damage, to harm, to hurt; (to ruin) to spoil
Demasiado – too
De paso – (making use of the occasion) while one’s at it
Devorar – to devour (contrast with zamparse)
Dije – charm; locket
Disponerse – (to make ready) to prepare, to get ready
Dote – dowry
Enfurruñarse – to sulk, to get angry, to get cross
Enganchar – (to attach) to hook; (to attach) to hitch up (vehicle); to harness (horse)
Engañar – to deceive, to trick, to fool
En menos de lo que – in less than
Flaco – (slim) thin
Feroz – (savage) fierce, ferocious; (ruthless) violent, vicious, cruel
Fiesta – (celebration) party, fiesta; (day off) holiday
Fogata – bonfire, fire
Ganas de comer – desire to eat
Gruñir – to growl, to snarl (dog), to grunt (pig); (to complain) to grumble, to grouse
Hebilla – (fastener) buckle, clasp
Hermosísima – very pretty, very beautiful
Hermosura – (loveliness) beauty; (beautiful person or thing) beauty, beautiful
Jarra – pitcher, jug
Joya – piece of jewelry
Llamativo – (flashy) bright, showy; (remarkable) striking
Llegar – to be sufficient, to be enough
Marqués – marquess; marchioness
ñam – yum, hmm, yummy
No fuera a ser que – lest; lest there were; would not that be
Olfatear – to sniff
Olfato – (sense) smell, sense of smell; (intuition) nose, instinct
Optar por – to opt for
Par – pair, couple
Paraje – place, spot
Patata – potato
Peladura – (fruit) peel; (injure) graze
Pendiente – (Spain) earring
Pisadas – footsteps; pisar – (to put your foot on) to step on, to step in, to tread on; (to go on) to walk on
Por si acaso – just in case; in case
Postre – (culinary) dessert
Puñado – handful
Raíz – root
Reemprender – to resume
Rendido – (tired out) exhausted, worn-out
Repartir – (to part) to distribute, to divide, to give out; (to hand out) to deliver, to deal (cards)
Reprimir – (to contain) to suppress (a yawn, one’s laughter, an impulse); to hold in (one’s laughter or tears); to control (one’s anger)
Requemar – to burn
Sacudir – to shake
Sin remedio – hopelessly; beyond repair; inevitably; without remedy
Suplicar – to beg
Tambalearse – (to teeter) to stagger, to lurch, to sway, to wobble; (to be unstable) to totter, to waver
Tardar en – to take … to
Tenacillas – tongs
Terremoto – earthquake
Tocar – to touch
Trago – drink, swig, sip, gulp
Tratarse de – (to refer to) to be about; (to amount to) to be a question of, to be a matter of, to be, to do
Trecho – (space) distance; (section) stretch
Turbio – (not clean) cloudy, muddy, turbid, murky
Venga – (expressing a hurried state) hurry up; (expressing encouragement) come on; (expressing disbelief) (Spain) yeah, right
Ventarrón – (weather) strong wind, gale