098. News From Heaven (Noticias del Cielo)
A woman who had twice married was approached one day by a lame beggar asking her to give him something. The woman, who was eager to talk, asked him where he was from. The beggar, being encouraged to see what he could get from that house, told her:
– I come from heaven, with the permission of God, to see if I could pick up a few things here to make my life more tolerable up above.
– Oh my! – said the surprised woman – But is it [true] that those of you who are in heaven also have needs?
And the beggar replied:
– Of course! Even there we are not equals. There, he who has much, well, is better off than he who has little.
The woman remained thoughtful for a few moments and then said to the lame beggar:
– My first husband must be walking around up there and may be you have heard talks about him.
The beggar replied:
– Well, I don’t know. What is your husband’s name?
– Pello Bidegain – she said.
– Yes, how could I not know him! He’s a close friend of mine!
– And how is he? – the woman asked.
– Well more bad than good, to tell you the truth – replied the beggar, shaking his head -; very restricted, very poorly dressed and with little money.
Poor thing! – said the woman sympathetically -. Wouldn’t you bring him something for me?
– With much pleasure – said the beggar.
The woman entered the house and returned laden with things.
– Here, I bring you shoes and clothes that he left behind before going to heaven, and also stockings and pants and [his] beret.
The beggar said:
– And nothing to eat?
– Here are the bacon, chorizo [sausage], corn… Do you have a wineskin?
[Note: “borona” – which I translate as “corn” here to match Spanishdict. Google Translate has the translation as “curd”, and DeepL has it as “bacon”.]
– No, ma’am – replied the beggar -, but even if it’s in bottles I can well carry the wine.
The woman handed him the bottles. And the beggar said:
– Have you no money to send him?
– I will give you a fifty-peseta coin for him; and tell him that I loved him even more than [how much] I love Mikel now, who is my [current] second husband.
So the messenger went away loaded to the brim and as happy as a sandboy.
[Note: Spanish original text is “más contento que unas castañuelas”.]
Some time later the husband arrived home and his wife said to him:
– Aye, Mikel, I have had news from my deceased Pello! They said that he’s in heaven, yes, but not [doing] as well as we here think.
The wary husband asked her:
– And who had given you this news?
– A lame beggar who, with the permission of God, had come down from heaven and I gave him clothing, food, and fifty pesetas so that he could take them back to my deceased Pello in heaven.
The husband took the mare, mounted her and, carrying a large walking cane in his hands, left in pursuit of the beggar. He told his wife that he, too, would like to give him something as soon as he reached him.
“God forbid should I catch up to him…”, he kept saying this to himself.
The messenger from heaven walked apprehensively and, from time to time, he looked behind to see if anyone was following him. And seeing from afar that someone riding on a mare was coming at a gallop, he hid everything he was carrying between some brambles and sat down by the side of the road.
When he [who] rode on the mare came up to him, he stopped and asked:
– Listen, friend, have you seen a lame beggar going this way?
– Yes, señor – replied the other – I have seen him and have even noticed that he was fearful of someone, because he looked back and ran; and the more he looked [back], the more he ran. He had ended up in that [bush of] calla lily over there, so he can’t be very far away.
– And how can I follow him there, if the mare cannot pass? – said Mikel.
– The mare! – said the other -. Well, while you go search for him, I can look after the mare myself.
As soon as Mikel went into the calla lily bushes, the beggar gathered all the things that he had hidden, loaded them onto the mare and ran off congratulating himself on his good luck.
Mikel returned home sad and embarrassed, but he pretended to be happy so his wife wouldn’t scold him. When she saw him, she asked immediately:
– Have you had a chance to talk to him?
– Yes, that I have – he said.
– And what did you give him? – she wanted to know.
And Mikel told her:
– The mare, so that he could reach heaven faster.
—– VOCABULARY —–
A lo mejor – maybe
Bastón – (staff used for walking) cane, walking stick; (sports) ski poles
Boina – (clothing) beret
Borona – corn, maize; (small grain cereal) millet; corn bread
Bota – (footwear) boot; (container for wine) wineskin
Calzón – boxers, briefs, pants
Chorizo – (culinary) sausage, chorizo
Cojo – (unable to walk) lame
Corrido – (old-fashioned) (ashamed) (Spain) embarrassed
De vez en cuando – once in a while
Difunto – (dead) deceased, late; (dead person) deceased
En pos de – (in search of) in pursuit of
Escamado – (cautious) wary, suspicious; (anatomy) scales
Fingir – (to simulate) to pretend, to feign, to fake
Jaro – (botany) arum lily
Ligero – (fast) swift
Llevadero – bearable, tolerable
Media – stocking, stock; medias – pantyhose, tights
Menear – (to move to and fro) to shake, to move back and forth, to swing, to swag
Meneado la cabeza – wiggle your head
Mendigo – (vagabond) beggar
Ni siquiera – not even
Recadero – (occupation) (Spain) messenger; errand boy/girl
Reducido – (tiny) small; (restricted) limited; (lowered) reduced
Reñir – (to reprimand) to tell off, to scold, to chew out; (to fight) to wage; (to disagree) to argue
Sacar – (to receive) to get; (to draw out) to extract;
Suponer – (to think) to suppose; to assume; to imagine; suponerse – (to think) to imagine
Temeroso – fearful, frightened, afraid
Tener ganas de – to feel like
Tocino – (culinary) bacon, fat, bacon fat
Vera – (border) side, edge; (geography) bank (of a river), shore (of a lake or ocean)
Yegua – (female horse) mare
Zarza – (botany) blackberry bush