105. The Tailor And The Cobbler (El Sastre y El Zapatero)
One day, two men who were going in the same direction met on a road. One was a tailor and the other a cobbler, and both had decided to travel the world to earn a better living. In view of this, after greeting each other and getting to know one another, they went on their way together.
The tailor was short, cheerful and very good-humored. The cobbler was tall and grumpy. The tailor, with his good humor, played jokes on the cobbler, and the cobbler [in turn] was not amused and still seemed to be[come] even more sour-faced. On seeing this, the tailor offered him wine from his wineskin to cheer him up and lift his spirit, and the cobbler drank [the wine], but he remained in his own [sour] way. Anyway, with one laughing and the other growling, they arrived at an important city.
The tailor, in addition to being a good person, was a good tailor, so he settled in and immediately began to earn good money. After a short time, the tailor decided for new scenery and went on the road again at the same time as the cobbler. The tailor told the cobbler [about] how well he had done and the money he had earned, and the cobbler, who did not work nor earned any money, said to him:
– You scoundrels have all the luck.
The tailor was not offended by this treatment [slight] and shared what he had with his traveling companion. And it happened that, after several days of traveling stopping here and there, [during which] the tailor was always treating the cobbler, they arrived at a dense forest where the road leading to the city that they were heading [to] forked [into two]. One of the roads would take seven days, and the other no more than two.
As they did not know which was one and which was the other, they sat down under an oak tree and discussed which they would take, and also, how much [food and] drinks they need to carry.
– We will buy bread for seven days – said the cobbler -. That way we’re sure of not going hungry, no matter how long the journey may last.
– No my man – replied the tailor -. Why go with such a heavy load? We will only buy enough food for two days; and we have money, if we have chosen the longer route, we’ll find some shepherd who would sell us milk and cheese, and who knows if he’ll also sell us a little goat. And if we have chosen the shorter route, in two days we’ll be in the city having lightly traveled without so much baggage.
So the cobbler insisted and bought his food for seven days and the confident and spirited tailor only for two, but they bought everything with the tailor’s money. They drew lots for which route they’d take, and they went on the one which came out.
After two days of walking, they saw that they had chosen the long route and the tailor was running out of provisions. As they did not encounter a soul on the way, they couldn’t buy more food and by the evening the poor tailor was starving to death. The next day he could no longer resist watching the cobbler quietly eating and he asked him, out of charity, even if it was [only for] a piece of bread. The cobbler, as he was a bad person, [and] instead of taking pity on him and gave him bread, he said:
– It seems that you are no longer very cheerful nor having desire for festivities.
And he did not give him even a crumb.
The next day the tailor could not get up nor speak due to his hunger. The bad cobbler then told him:
– I will give you a crumb of bread, but you must first remove an eye of yours.
As the poor tailor was very weak and [nearly] starving to death, he accepted. He cried with both eyes for one last time and the cobbler removed the eye from him and gave him something to eat. Later, when the pain had passed, they continued onward and the poor tailor, resigned, said [to himself]:
– You can also see with only one eye.
Another two days passed and the tailor was once again starving to death. He again asked the cobbler for some bread, because he was unable to walk, and the cobbler told him that he would give him a piece of bread, but first he’d have to remove his other eye.
– That is a crime – said the poor tailor -, and some day God will punish you for the evil you are doing to me. When I had money, I shared it with you, which thanks to that you had been able to buy the food you are [currently] carrying. I need both eyes to work, and as I am now blind I wouldn’t be able to make a living, [so] I beg you to not leave me in this state and give me some bread, because I’m starving to death [here].
But the cobbler, whose heart was harder than stone, ignored the tailor’s pleas, removed his other eye and then gave him a piece of bread.
The poor tailor, blind as he was, followed his companion and felt the ground with a stick. At last they arrived at the other side of the forest where the cobbler saw a gallows from which two executed men were hung. He then ran off and left the tailor behind, saying that he would come back for him [at a later time].
The tailor went to sleep, and when the [new] day dawned on him, he realized that his companion had abandoned him.
At this moment two crows came to perch atop the heads of the two executed men, and they began to say to one another:
– Do you not know that the dew which had fallen last night from the gallows to the ground restores the sight of blind men by rubbing it in their eyes?
The tailor, on hearing this, went over to the corpses, gathered some of the dew, rubbed it in his eyes and regained his eyesight.
The first thing he did was to look in the direction of the city that they were searching for, and as soon as he saw their high towers, he headed there with much content.
On the way he encountered a chestnut foal and was getting ready to mount it to get to the city sooner, but the foal told him:
– Set me free, as I still have very little strength. Allow me to grow and some day I will serve you well.
As the tailor had a good heart, he let him go. But he felt hungry and he told himself that he would eat the first animal he ran into. After a short while he found a stork and grabbed it by its leg; and the stork told him:
– Don’t you know that I am who announces [the arrival of] spring? Let me live, and some day I will serve you.
The tailor let it go. And the same happened with two ducklings he encountered later and whose mother begged him to let them live, as they were still very young.
At last he arrived at the city and in a few days, in view of his ability, the king named him as the royal tailor. Then he learned that his wicked companion had also been named as the royal cobbler.
The tailor was very happy to have his sight restored that he decided to forget the cobbler’s offenses, but the cobbler was perplexed and fearful, believing that the tailor intended to seek vengeance on him. Then he went to see the king and told him that the tailor was a braggart and a bad person, and that he had said that he was capable of finding the golden crown which the king had lost.
The king called for the tailor and told him:
– If you don’t bring me the golden crown, you will be banished from the city forever.
The tailor went away thinking how the king would want him to bring the crown if he knew not where it was; but the fact is that he went about the city in search of it. At last he was so tired that he sat down next to a pond and began to cry. On hearing him [crying], two ducklings and their mother jumped ashore and asked him why he was crying. The tailor told them what had happened and the [mother] duck said to him:
– Don’t you worry, for the crown is at the bottom of this pond.
She went in to search with her ten other [duckling] sons, and between them all they searched until they found it, took it away and gave it to the good [-hearted] tailor, who, being very happy, carried it to the king. When he saw it, he was filled with joy and gave the tailor a golden chain, thanking him greatly for having found the crown for him.
When the cobbler found out what had happened, he felt even more hatred for the tailor and began to search for a way to get rid of him. He presented himself to the king and told him that this tailor boasted that he was able to open a well in the palace’s courtyard and that a stream [jet, spurt] of water taller than a man would come out of it.
The king called for the tailor and said to him:
– If [by] tomorrow I don’t have in my courtyard a jet of water higher than you, you will be banished from the city.
The saddened tailor went for a walk without knowing what to do, and while strolling, he found himself in the outskirts of the city. And at this moment the chestnut foal, who was now a strong and beautiful colt, came up to meet him. The tailor told it about what had happened to him, and the chestnut colt said to him:
– Mount on me and [together] we will go to the palace, where I will aid you in making that fountain.
And indeed, the tailor came riding on the colt to the courtyard where they circled it three times, and at the end of the last one a clod of earth shot up and a stream of water reaching the height of a man sprang up.
The king became more and more pleased with the tailor, but the cobbler hated him even more and he went to tell the king that the boastful tailor bragged that he could bring a [young] prince flying through the air to be the heir to the crown. As the king only had daughters, as soon as he heard this he called for the tailor and told him that, if it was true that he could deliver a young prince through the air, he would marry the eldest of his daughters to him as wife.
The tailor went home with a heavy heart. And he was thinking over the matter when he heard knocks on the window and saw that it was the stork. The tailor immediately told it about his predicament and the stork said to him:
– I too am very grateful to you because you took pity on me, so don’t you worry about this. Go to the palace and wait for me at the king’s side, and I will bring [you] the prince that the king desires.
The tailor did this, and when they were all in the great hall of the palace, they saw a stork come flying in and landed on one of the windows; and in its beak he brought a lovely child, [which it then] placed in the king’s hands.
With that, the king kept his words and the tailor married his eldest daughter and [he] never had any more problems. On the other hand, the cobbler, being desperate, ran away from the city and hung himself on a tree in the same forest where he had crossed that day in the company of the tailor.
—– VOCABULARY —–
Aclarar – (to make clear) to clarify, to explain, to make clear, to clear up
Ajusticiar – to execute
Alardear – (to flaunt; often used with “de”) to boast, to brag, to show off
Apuro – (difficulty) predicament, difficult situation, tight spot, fix; (shame) embarrassment
Cabrito – (animal) kid (goat); (contemptible person) (Spain) swine, bastard
Cadena – (joined links) chain; (succession) series, chain
Castaño – (color) brown, chestnut (hair); (botany) chestnut
Chorro – (spurt) stream, jet; (abundance) loads, stream
Ciego – (without sight) blind; (emotional) blind; (obstructed) blocked, blind
Cierto – (real) true; (sure) certain; (particular) certain, one; (undoubtedly) certainly
Cigüeña – (animal) stork; (mechanics) crank, handle;
Dar vueltas al asunto – to visit/revisit the issue/matter over and over
Desoír – to ignore, to disregard, to not listen to
Dure lo que dure – however long it takes; regardless of how long it takes
Entregar – (to hand in or over) to turn in, to submit, to give; (to transport) to deliver
Estanque – (body of water) pond
Fanfarrón – (presumptuous) loudmouthed, boastful; show-off, braggart
Ganas de fiesta – party; in a party mood; want to party; desires for party
Gastar – (to expend) to spend; (to consume) to use, to use up; (to make deteriorate) to wear out
Gruñir – (to make an unfriendly sound) to growl, to snarl (a dog), to grunt (pig)
Horca – (execution device) gallows, gibbet
Malencarado – sour-faced
Malvado – (immoral) evil, wicked; (wicked person) villain, evil man
Mendrugo – (culinary) crust of bread
Patito – duckling
Pender – (to be suspended) to hang; (to loom; used with “sobre”) to hang over;
Por caridad – for charity, charity, of charity, for heaven’s sake
Posarse – (to fall) to settle; (to settle on a surface after flying) to land, to alight, to perch
Potrillo – (animal) foal
Potro – (young horse) colt (male), filly (female);
Pozo – (source of water or oil) well; (tunnel of a mine) shaft
Primavera – (season) spring; (botany) primrose
Recobrar – (to have or take back) to recover, to get back; (to recover a faculty) to recover, to get back, to regain
Refregar – (to touch) to rub; (to clean) to scrub;
Rocío – (weather) dew
Ruego – (request) plea; (religious) prayer
Sastre – (profession) tailor
Señalado – (important) special; (notorious) distinguished
Soltar – (to stop holding) to let go of, to drop, to put down, to let out
Súplica – (appeal) plea, entreaty; (legal) petition
Surtidor – (stream) spout, jet, fountain; (appliance) pump, gas pump
Tardar – (to spend time) to take; (to take too much time) to take too long; (to be a while) to be long
Tentar – (to entice) to tempt; (to examine by touch) to feel; (to test) to try
Terrón – (earth) clod, lump; (cube) lump
Trece – (number) thirteen; thirteenth (in dates)
Tuno – (scoundrel) rascal, rogue;
Zapatero – (profession) cobbler (mender); shoemaker; (furniture) shoes rack