094. The Demon Helps The Sharecropper (El Demonio Ayuda Al Casero)
[Note 1: the Spanish word used in this story is “Casero”, which translates to “landlord”. In my opinion, however, a better substitute would be “caretaker”, or “sharecropper”.]
[Note 2: the Spanish word used in this story is “cavar”, which is to dig, but I think a better alternative is “to plow/plough”]
Once upon a time there was a very rich man, owner of a great number of [plots of] land, who had a very poor sharecropper who barely earned enough to eat. One year, the sharecropper went to see the man and asked him for permission to plow and cultivate a part of the hill which was the property of the man. The landowner said yes, that he could plow what he wanted, and the sharecropper asked him for his conditions. And the man said to him:
– Well the more a person plows, the more prepared he is.
So the sharecropper went away and began to plow [the land] everyday without skipping a single one. He plowed without ceasing, thinking that the landowner would appear any day and plow the rest of the hill to cultivate it himself, but it was the case that he never went there and that the sharecropper, with much effort, ended up plowing the entire hill.
When summer came, the sharecropper went to see the landowner one more time and told him that he had plowed the entire hill, that it is now ready for cultivation and that he was coming to see how they would agree [to proceed].
– Very good – the landowner said-, he who prepares the most, sows the most.
The sharecropper went back and prepared all the land for sowing without the landowner showing up there to sow [cultivate] or do anything else.
Autumn came and the sharecropper did not dare to sow without an agreement with the landowner, so he went to see him again to tell him that it was already sowing time and [asked] what they were going to do. The landlord replied, as always, that whoever sowed the most would reap the most. So the sharecropper went to the hill and began to sow without stopping and, as the landowner never appeared, he sowed the entire hill [by himself].
Time went by and the harvest season came about and, as he did not dare to harvest without consulting with the landowner, the sharecropper went back to [see] the landowner and told him that it was already harvest time and how they should agree [to proceed]. The landowner said to him:
– Well, how is it going to be? The same as always: he who reaps the most, gets the most.
The sharecropper went back to the hill, and thinking that the landowner would not be in a hurry to make harvest, as he had done those other times, he made an agreement with his neighbors to help him harvest the hill. Everyone gave him their word and the man went away happily, thinking that when the landowner wanted to harvest, he would have reaped everything and would have gathered everything. But it [so] happened that the landlord went to see all the neighbors right after the sharecropper [did].
So the day of harvest came and the sharecropper got up as early as he could and, without waiting for the neighbors, went to the hill and began to harvest on one side. And when he had reaped a few furrows, he saw the landowner appeared, accompanying by all the neighbors who began to harvest on the other side of the hill.
The poor sharecropper was all sad when he saw this, and as he could do nothing compared to the effort of the others, he returned home very dejected. And it happened that he met a demon on his way home, who asked him why he was so sad. The sharecropper told it what had happened and the demon then told him that it would take care of harvesting all the wheat [for him] if, in exchange, he would give it the first thing that was born in his house.
The sharecropper began to think, because he had a wife, a sow and a cat to give birth at more or less about the same time. He did his calculations and, as he deduced that the first one to give birth would be the cat, he accepted the deal with the demon.
He took the demon and [together they] went to the mountain and, going from furrow above to furrow below, it began to reap at such speed that it harvested much more than the landowner and those neighbors together. Then the neighbors, seeing how the demon worked, said that the best thing to do was to go to it and give it a good kick in the butt to get it off the land. So a boy came out and said that he would go [do this]. He went to where the demon was and gave a kick with all his might, but he kicked it so hard that his foot was stuck in the demon’s butt; and the demon, as if nothing happened, kept on harvesting [while] dragging the poor youth all over the furrows, [where] the cries of the wretch could be heard. When the neighbors saw this, they became so fearful that they rushed back to their homes leaving everything strewn [on the ground] and dared not return to the hill. The only one who dared to do so was the sharecropper, who calmly dedicated himself to collecting all the wheat that the demon had reaped and carried it little by little [back] to his house.
After this, the days went by and the cat did not give birth, so that the sharecropper was beside himself.
[Note: Spanish text is “Después de esto, fueron pasando los días y la gata no paría, con lo que el casero no las tenía todas consigo.”]
Until that day came when the first one was born and it was his own son. The poor sharecropper was very sad considering that, at the least expected moment, the demon would come for the child. The wife, on seeing how sad he was, asked him for the cause of his sadness, as she thought that he did not like the child, and the sharecropper, then, told her about his sorrow.
When she found out, the wife told him not to suffer for that, that the child was also hers and that when the demon came to claim him, he must ask it to come in and talk to her, and she would take care of it.
Well, the demon finally arrived and found the sharecropper sitting at the door to his house. And it said on seeing him:
– I’ve come here for what was promised me!
The man told it to head inside, because he had it on the bed. The demon entered to search for it and the wife, who was waiting [for it], said as soon as she saw it:
– I already know what my husband promised you, but the child is also mine, so that you’ll need my permission [as well]. I will only give you my permission if you are able to straighten this [strand of] hair which I’m giving you.
And without further ado, she pulled out a hair from her armpit and gave it to the demon.
[Nguyen: hahaha, uhmm, I’m at a loss for words…]
The demon put the hair on the palm of one of its hands and with the other it twirled the hair around to untwist it and make it straight; but, the more the demon twirled it around, the more it twisted the hair, until after a while, [being] fed up with much twirling, and as it suspected that the wife was mocking it, the demon became angry, kicked the ground and disappeared in a blaze leaving a sulfuric smell that lasted for at least a month.
So the boy remained with his parents thanks to the wife’s quick wit and the three of them together were left with the granary well stocked with grain and knowing that they would not go hungry again for a long time.
—– VOCABULARY —–
Abatido – (crestfallen) dejected, depressed, downhearted, despondent, dispirited
Arrastrar – (to move along the ground) to drag, to sweep (clothing); (to pull) to sweep away (river)
Arrear – (to incite to move) to spur on, to urge on, to drive; (to rush) to hurry along; (to plunder) to loot
Astucia – (sagacity) astuteness, cleverness; (slyness) cunning, guile; (wile) ruse, trick
Axila – (anatomy) armpit, underarm, axilla (technical); (botany) axil
Azufre – sulfur
Burlarse de – (to ridicule) to mock, to tease, to make fun of; (to scorn) to flout
Culo – (anatomy) butt, bottom
Dale que te pego – on and on; back and forth
Deducir – (to infer) to deduce; (to subtract) to deduct
De estampía – suddenly; without warning; unexpectedly
Desenroscar – to unscrew
Entenderse – (to communicate well) to understand each other; (to be friends; used with “con”) to get along with; (to cheat on someone; used with “con”) to have an affair with
Granero – (building) barn, granary; (grain-producing region) granary
Grano – (particle) grain; (culinary) grain (salt, sugar, cereals), bean (coffee), seed (mustard); (acne) pimple, spot
Harto de – (annoyed with) fed up with, tired of
Infeliz – (sad) unhappy (person or life), miserable (life), wretched (life); failed (unhappy)
Labrar – (to farm) to work, to cultivate, to plow (with a plow)
Llamarada – (sudden flame) sudden blaze, flare-up, blaze; (literary) reddening, blush; (literary) fit, outburst
Madrugar – to get up early
Ocuparse de – (to tackle) to deal with; (to look after) to take care of
Parir – (to birth) to give birth
Patada – (thrust of the foot) to kick
Pegar – (to make forceful contact with) to hit; (to attach) to paste (with glue); (to mistreat) to beat
Ponerse a – to start, to begin, to get down to
Rapaz – (hunting) predatory, of prey; (avaricious) greedy, rapacious
Reclamar – (to ask for) to claim, to demand; (to have need of) to require, to demand, to need
Segar – (agriculture) to reap (corn); to cut (corn, grass); to mow (grass); (to sever) to cut off
Sembrar – (agriculture) to plant, to sow; (figurative) (to sprinkle) to scatter, to strew
Siega – (time) harvest, harvest time; (act of reaping) reaping, harvesting
Siembra – (act of sowing) sowing; (period of time) sowing time; (land) farmland, cropland
Surco – (agriculture) furrow; (rift in a surface) track, groove
Terreno – (geography) land, soil, terrain, ground; (parcel of land) land, lot