117. The Girl Without Arms (La Niña Sin Brazos)
A widower had a beautiful daughter who was very generous. She had many other virtues, but this was the one that stood out the most: [her] compassion for those in needs. Many beggars and poor folks had the habit of approaching the door to her house and no one would leave without something in their hand, from an egg to a sausage.
The father, who was stealthily observing her, did not allow her to give alms, but she [went ahead] and gave them in secret from her father [anyhow].
One day, an old witch knocked on the door and the girl had nothing left but a piece of bread, and she gave it to her; but the witch, who was evil and ungrateful, became annoyed because she did not give her what she wanted and went to look for the girl’s father in the field. And when she found him, she said:
Your daughter is a gauche and a spendthrift who is harming your well-being, because she goes about giving to the poor what you earn with your hands [hard work]. But, if you want to catch her [in the act], hide [yourself] in the breadbasket at such and such hour, when I would go there and you will see what she does everyday behind your back.
The next day, the father said goodbye to his daughter to go to work, but instead of [doing] that, he lied in wait in the breadbasket. And at the announced hour, the old witch came and as she had something this time [around], the girl gave her eggs, a piece of bread and a slice of sausage. The father saw this and said nothing to her that day, but he [then] told her to get ready to go on a trip with him.
The next morning, as soon as it dawned, the two of them mounted the father’s horse and set out on the road. When they arrived at a mountain, far away from everything, the father got down from his horse and threatened her, and as she crossed her arms to push him back, he first cut off one arm and later the other, and also deprived her of her sight by gouging out her eyes. After all this, he tied her with a rope to the trunk of an oak tree and left her there, crying, [so as] to be eaten by the wolves.
But it turned out that not far from there, in the same forest, was a castle where lived a king and a queen and their son.
And it happened that the king’s dogs came everyday to the tree where the girl was tied to and brought her to eat what they were given at the castle. And from giving the girl their food, the dogs became more and more emaciated. One day the king, on seeing them being so emaciated, said:
How is it that my dogs are getting more emaciated each day? Is it because the servants are not giving them food to eat?
He called the servants and scolded them, but the servants said that being not the case, for they fed them as usual every day. And then the king said:
Then keep close watch on the dogs, and see what is it that they do with the food you give them.
That is what the servants did and they saw that the dogs always rose and carried the food [away] and gave it to a beautiful girl who was tied to a tree. Then they went to tell the king about this incredible turn of event, and he ordered them to untie the girl without arms and took her to the castle.
The girl stayed and lived in the castle and soon [she] won the hearts of everyone, especially the young prince’s, who fell in love with her and announced to his parents that he wished to marry her. Although his parents liked the girl, they told him that it was a disgrace for a prince to marry a woman without arms, who would be unable to raise her children or [do] anything [else]. And the prince told them that it was not important to him that she had no arms, since, having money and servants, everything was [would be] easy.
So the king’s son and the girl without arms got married. And a few months after they were married, the king died, his son succeeded him and the girl without arms became queen. Soon, a matter required the king to be away from the castle for some time. The queen was pregnant and the king ordered that they treated her with great care until he returned.
The queen [then] gave birth to twins, a boy and a girl. Then the king’s mother sent a servant to inform the new father. This servant walked many days to fulfill the order, [where] sometimes it got dark in unpopulated places and he had to sleep in the open. One day, he arrived in a village and stayed at a man’s house. And this gentleman, after dinner, asked him:
What news is there from your land?
And the servant replied:
There is but one news of importance.
The gentleman asked:
And which one is so important?
The servant answered:
Our queen, who is a lady without arms and without eyes, had given birth to twins. And I am in search of my lord, the king, to give him news of the birth, where I have a letter for him.
After the servant went to bed, the gentleman, who was the father of the girl without arms, took the letter from the servant’s pocket and put in its place another in which it said the queen had given birth to two mice.
The next morning, when the servant was ready to leave, the gentleman said to him:
When you are on your way back, stop by here, and I will give you lodging with much pleasure.
The servant continued on his way and finally delivered the letter to the king. And the king replied with another that said: “Well, if my wife has given birth to two mice, let her bring them up until I return.”
The servant, on his return, again lodged at the gentleman’s house. The latter waited for him to fall asleep and exchanged the letter for another that said: “From the moment this letter is received, my wife must be removed from the castle together with what she had given birth to.”
The king’s mother, on reading the letter, began to cry, as she did not understand her son’s command. [And] When the girl without arms learned of the contents of the letter, she said:
If that is my husband’s will, so be it.
[Note: going forward, I’ll switch from “girl without arms” to “woman without arms” to be consistent with the original Spanish text.]
So the king’s mother had a couple of saddlebags made to carry the children, one in front and the other behind, and they put them on her shoulders and took the woman without arms to the mountain, where they left her alone with her children.
The poor woman, with her teeth, turned the saddlebag over each time so the child on her back could be nursed; but, after a few hours of being in solitude, the mother and the children began to cry from hunger.
The mother was next to a stream and bent down to drink the water to quench her thirst; but, as she bent down, the two children fell into the water. Having no arms to pull them out, the poor mother felt [could see] them drowning and was in despair. And at this moment, she heard a voice from above that said to her:
What is troubling you, child?
And she answered, crying:
That my children have fallen into the stream and are drowning.
And the voice said:
Put a hand in the water and remove the first.
She [then] said:
But I have no hands nor arms.
And the voice said:
Do as I tell you.
In desperation, the woman moved her body in search of her children, and on one side her hand and arm came forth and she rescued the boy. And she did the same with the other side of the body and rescued the girl.
Now – continued the voice -, wet your eyes with both hands.
The woman wet them and regained her sight.
She embraced her children with tears of joy, unable to believe what just happened to her. At this moment a beautiful lady appeared before her and said:
Take this tablecloth that I give you; wherever you are, just say: “Little table, form yourself”, and food will appear before you whenever you need it. But [you must] never stop giving alms to those who come to you out of need.
The woman traveled the world and, wherever she needed to eat or encountered a poor person, she took out the tablecloth and said:
Little table, form yourself.
And at once the tablecloth was filled with food.
The king, meanwhile, returned from his errand and, as soon as he arrived at the castle, asked for his wife and children. Then they told him that they had done to them what they were told in the letter, and the king said:
I did not order you to do such a thing!
Then they understood what had happened; and the king was very glad because he had two children and not two mice, but he was very sad because he had lost his wife and their two children. So [then] he determined to travel the world to search for them.
One day the woman arrived at a village and asked if there was a house there, however poor, where she could stay, for she was tired of going here and there with the two children. And they told her that there was a large and nice one in which no one dared to live because a ghost lived in it that frightened [all] the neighbors.
In spite of this, the woman went to live in that house, which was familiar to her. And at about midnight, she heard a very loud noise, so she left her two children in the bedroom and went to where the noise was. She drew a circle and stepped in it, with a stick in her hand. And at that moment the ghost appeared, and it said:
Remove this cloak from me, for it is burning me [setting me on fire]!
The woman hit the cloak multiple times until it fell to the ground and the ghost disappeared in a large flame. And it [this ghost] was the soul of the woman’s father, who was [being] punished for his sins.
[And] The woman continued living in the house, and her children grew up full of health and happiness.
One day, at the time of saying: “Little table, form yourself”, her daughter went out to see if there were any poor people and encountered a gentleman with his servant, with both looking very tired. The daughter took pity on them and invited them in, and said to her mother:
There are only two people at the door. Let them eat with us, for who knows if our father is not at these hours begging for food while he searches for us.
The mother invited them in and then said to her daughter:
Be quiet, my daughter, don’t you say that, for the last thing your father remembers is us. If he had been fond of us, he wouldn’t have ordered me to the mountain, without eyes and arms, carrying you and your brother in a saddlebag slung from [my] shoulder.
The gentleman listened attentively to what the mother said and asked what she meant by not having eyes nor arms, [whereby] the woman told him her sad story. After he had heard it, the gentleman stepped forward and said:
I am the king, your husband, father of these children. And I have been searching for you since the day I returned to my castle and found out that the content of the letters carried by our servant had been changed [swapped].
Then the woman burst into tears of joy on seeing herself by the side of her husband, and the children kept hugging and kissing their father.
As it was already time to eat, she said:
Little table, form yourself.
And the tablecloth was filled with the most exquisite delicacies imaginable and they ate everything to celebrate their chance encounter. Then they returned to the castle, where they lived very happily for many years and continued to help all those in need who came their way.
And my friends, that is how this story ended.
—– VOCABULARY —–
Abrasar – (to blaze) to burn; (to scald) to burn; (to desiccate) to scorch, to dry
Acechar – (to observe stealthily) to stalk, to watch, to spy on; (to await in expectation) to lie in wait for
Alforja – (bag) saddlebag (for mount), knapsack (backpack)
Alumbramiento – (medicine) birth, delivery; (light supply) lighting, illumination;
Atemorizado – frightened, intimidated
Ausentar – (to vanish) to leave out, to make disappear; ausentarse – (to be gone) to be absent, to be away
Brazo – (anatomy) arm; (of an animal) front leg; (nature) branch
Componer – (to form) to make up; (fine arts) to compose, to write; (to mend) to repair, to fix
Cuerda – ((thick cord) rope
Dadivoso – generous, open-handed
Déjale – let him, let her
Dejar de – (to cease) to stop, to quit, to give up;
Derrochador – (squanderer) spendthrift; (financially irresponsible) wasteful
Deshonra – (loss of honor) dishonor, disgrace, shame; (stigma) dishonor
Desmañado – (unskillful person) clumsy, awkward; (unskillful thing) slow
Destacar – (to direct attention to) to emphasize; (to send) to detail, to station, to post, to assign; (to be conspicuous) to stand out
Encinta – pregnant, expecting
Faenar – (to catch fish) to fish; (formal) (to perform a job) to work, to labor
Gemelo – (of the same ovum) twin
Hospedarse – (to abide) to stay, to lodge
Incomodarse – (to be uncomfortable) to feel uncomfortable, to put oneself out; (to be irritated) to get annoyed
Juntamente – (along with, used with “con”) together with
Mantel – (cover) tablecloth; (religious) altar cloth
Mesita – (furniture) bedside table
Mojar – (to cover with liquid) to get wet, to wet, to dampen, to moisten
Oscurecer – (to deprive of light) to darken; (to diminish) to overshadow; (to bewilder) to obscure, to confuse, to cloud
Panera – (basket for serving or transporting bread) bread basket; (container for storing bread) bread box
Parir – (to birth) to give birth, to have a baby, to calve (cow)
Pecado – (immoral act) sin; (offense) sin, crime
Pedazo – (portion) piece
Penar – (legal) to punish; (to visit in the form of a ghost) (Andes) to haunt
Perjudicar – (to jeopardize) to be detrimental to, to damage, to harm; (to speak ill of) to slander, to malign;
Privar – (to dispossess, used with “de”) to deprive of, to take away; (to fire) to dismiss from
Prodigio – (gifted) prodigy; (something incredible) wonder, prodigy, marvel; (religious) miracle
Raso – open (countryside)
Rechazar – (to refuse to accept) to reject, to turn down; (to push back) to repel, to drive back; (to declare untrue) to deny; (medicine) to reject
Recobrar – (to have or take back) to recover, to get back; (to recover a faculty) to get back, to regain
Reñir – (to reprimand) to tell off, to scold, to chew out
Roble – (botany) oak, oak tree
Seco – (lacking moisture) dry, dried (food); (of few words) terse; (ironic) dry
Semejante – (alike) similar; (of such a degree) such; (mathematics) similar; (fellow human) fellow being
Socorrer – (to aid) to help, to come to the aid of
Tener lástima – have pity; pity; about sympathies; to pity; lástima – (sadness) shame, pity; (compassion) pity, sorry
Trazar – to draw, to trace;
Trozo – (a portion) piece, bit, slice (of food)
Vara – (pole) stick, rod; (botany) branch, stick
Viudo – widower, widowed