043. Young Maria And The Lizard Prince (La Joven María Y El Príncipe Lagarto)
Once upon a time there was a king and a queen who couldn’t have any offspring. This worried them greatly and the queen, in a fit of anger because God did not give them a son, once asked God to grant them a son even if he was [to be] a lizard. And God, to punish her, granted her a lizard son.
When their lizard son was born, they searched for a wet nurse for him, but it happened that in a few [short] days the lizard had eaten her breasts, so they searched for a second one, and the same thing happened to her as to the first one. The news spread throughout the kingdom and no one wanted to rear [be the nurse for] the lizard child.
There was a girl called Maria who lived with her two older sisters and this girl offered to nurse the lizard child. And she had two iron breasts built for her and had them filled with milk [carried] from [behind] her back. And in this way she raised the lizard.
When the lizard got older, he told his mother, the queen, that he wanted to get married. The queen decided to consult with Maria to find him a bride, and it turned out that Maria’s oldest sister said that she would marry him. The queen was very happy [on hearing that], and the next day they were married. At night of that [same] day, the lizard told the older sister to go to bed first and to wait for him until twelve o’clock, that she must not sleep and should stay wide awake so that she could remove the spell placed on him. The bride went to bed and waited and waited, but after a while she grew bored and fell asleep, and it was in this state that the lizard found her. And when he lay on top of her, he killed her.
Soon after that, the lizard again spoke to his mother and told her that he wanted to remarry. The queen then asked Maria’s second sister if she would agree to marry her lizard son and she said yes [to her proposition]. So they got married, and on going to bed that night the lizard explained the same thing as he did to her older sister: he told her not to fall asleep and that she should wait for him until midnight; but the sister, who must not have slept in such a nice bed before in her [entire] life, lay down on it and fell asleep. And when the lizard came to look for her, he found her asleep. And when he lay upon her, he killed her.
Some more time passed by and the lizard wanted to get married for the third time. The thing was that everyone in the whole kingdom knew what had happened to the two sisters and no one wanted to marry the lizard. Then the lizard said to the queen that the one he wanted to marry was Maria, she who had raised him. The queen went to see Maria to tell her what her son wanted, but Maria told her to not speak about it for she would not marry him [under any circumstances]. The queen insisted and insisted and told her that her son was cursed, and that only the woman who would marry him could lift this curse from him; and the queen also said to her that she would help her on the night of the wedding; to sum up, with one reason or another she got Maria to agree to marry her son.
They got married, and when night came the lizard said to Maria to retire to bed first, [and] to stay awake until twelve o’clock when he would arrive [to meet her], and to take good care to not fall asleep. Maria went and lay down in bed and rubbed her eyes with some chili peppers that the queen had given her, and her eyes stung so much that she ended up not being able to fall asleep. And at twelve o’clock, the lizard appeared and found her wide awake.
Then he removed his layer of lizard skin and a handsome prince appeared in his place, who [then proceeded to] slept with his wife. He left the lizard skin on a chair and warned Maria to not touch it, because if she did so he would not manage to get disenchanted [from the curse].
The next morning, the prince put on the lizard skin and left the room transformed into a lizard [as before]. The queen, when she saw this, and that the bride was alive, went to her at once to ask what it was like to see her son not under the guise of a lizard, and to leave the bedroom’s door ajar that night so she could get a glimpse of him [as well].
The same thing happened that next night as it had on the previous. The bride had left the door ajar for the queen. The queen came [in] and approached the bed where they were sleeping and could see her son in human form. Then she noticed a piece of lizard skin hanging on the chair, which she took and burned.
When he got up the next day, the prince saw that his lizard suit was gone and he told Maria that his curse was now stronger than before, and that he must travel to the castle of Go And No Return; and she, in order to break the curse, would have to search for him there and would not be able to find him until she had worn out a pair of iron shoes. And the same thing for the child which she was carrying in her womb.
A few months after he left, Maria gave birth to a baby boy. She waited until he was old enough to walk reasonably well, and when this happened, she bought a pair of iron shoes for her and another for her son, and they set out traveling the world in search of the castle of Go And No Return.
They walked and walked and the[ir] shoes were wearing out little by little and, eventually, after a very long time, they noticed that the shoes had worn out completely. Then they saw a castle in the distance and decided to approach it to see what it was. As they approached it, a little old lady came up to them and gifted Maria three walnuts and told her to crack them open should she find herself in a difficult situation. [Then] They arrived at the castle and knocked on the door. And out came a magnificent eagle who asked them what they wanted.
We are looking for the castle of Go And Not Return, and perhaps you can show us the way [there].
And the eagle answered her:
This is the castle of the eagles. Wait here for the royal eagle to come back, for she flies the highest and farthest [among all of us], and perhaps she could tell you where it is that you’re searching for.
They waited for a long while, and took this opportunity to rest a little. At last the royal eagle came back, and it said to them:
Ah, the castle of Go And Not Return! I have just come back from there, as we were celebrating the cursed prince’s wedding in the castle! Climb on my wings and I’ll take you there.
And just as [soon as] it said [this], it placed them at the castle gate.
Maria saw that their shoes had completely worn out and knew that this was the castle of Go And Not Return. Then she cracked open one of the walnuts which was given to her by the little old lady, and out of it came a distaff as beautiful as any that had ever been seen. A maid of the bride saw her and ran to tell her lady.
Milady, if you would only take a look at that [beautiful] distaff belonging to a pauper [standing] there at the gate!
The bride went to see the distaff accompanied by the maid, and on seeing it she exclaimed:
What a marvel this distaff is! How much do you want for it, ma’am?
And Maria replied:
I don’t want anything, milady. Only let me sleep with the groom for tonight.
And the bride replied:
What are you saying, ma’am! How can I let you sleep with my husband when I am married to him [just] now?
But the maid said to her mistress in a low voice:
Come, let her have it, for there is no distaff more beautiful than that one. We will give the prince some [opium] poppies and nothing will come out of it.
[Nguyen: I guess the opium poppies will make him sleep/hallucinate without being able to wake up.]
The bride consented [to this] and they led the groom to the bed[room], but before that they had fed him some poppies mixed in with the dinner. The prince fell asleep as soon as he retired to bed, and when Maria went with her child and lay down next to the prince, she said to him:
I am Maria, your wife, whom you love very much and who loves you very much, and I bring you your son [here] as well.
She repeated to him again and again, but the prince slept so soundly that he did not hear anything. And the next morning, Maria left with her son.
The next day, Maria again stood at the castle gate, cracked open the second walnut and out came from it a spindle, which formed a pair with the distaff and was as beautiful as that other one. And the bride’s maid, who was prowling about [in that area], saw the spindle and came running back to her mistress and said:
Aye, if you could [only] see the spindle that the pauper brings this time [around]!
The bride came [by to check it out] and said:
Wow, what a beautiful spindle! How much do you want for it?
And Maria replied:
I don’t want [any] money, ma’am. I will give it to you if you would let me sleep with your husband tonight.
And the bride protested:
That cannot be! Every night you want to sleep with my husband! Well, when am I going to get to sleep with him?
And the maid again said to her in a low voice:
Come, let her be, for we’ll do as we did the last time. We’ll give the prince some poppies and nothing will happen, and you can [then] keep the spindle.
The bride again consented and the prince and Maria went to bed once more. And Maria began to tell him:
Look, I am Maria, your wife, whom you love so much and who loves you dearly, and I bring your son [here] to you as well.
The prince was sound asleep due to the poppies that they had given him and he did not hear anything. And the following morning Maria went away with her son.
She returned to stand at the castle’s gate and cracked open the third walnut which the old, little woman had given her. Out of this nut came a magnificent ball of threads made of the purest gold. The maid saw this and ran back once more to her mistress to tell her:
Aye, if you could only see the golden ball that the pauper has!
The bride [again] came by, and as soon as she saw it, she exclaimed:
What a wonderful ball you have there! How much do you want for it?
Milady, I don’t want any money – answered Maria -. Just let me sleep with your husband for tonight and you can keep it yourself.
And the bride said:
Don’t ask for the impossible, ma’am, for you had slept with my husband the past two nights, and I have yet to sleep with him [at all].
And the maid said to her:
You see that nothing happened in those two nights. Let her have him for one more night and you get to keep the ball.
The bride agreed for the last time and Maria went to sleep with the prince.
But the night before, a servant had been listening to what Maria was saying when she was lying next to the prince, and had told him about it. So the prince, on this night, pretended to eat his dinner with the poppies [mixed in it], but he had thrown them aside while no one was paying any attention. Then they arrived at the bedroom to retire for the night, and Maria said to him right at the door should he fall asleep soon after [as in the previous two nights]:
Look, I am Maria, your wife, whom you love very much and who loves you dearly, and I bring your son here as well.
The prince, who was wide awake, heard her words and recognized her [at once]. He embraced her, and then his son, who did not recognize him, and [then he] saw [that] their iron shoes had completely worn out and he told them that now he was forever free from the curse [that was placed on him], and that the next morning they would return home.
The next morning, the three of them rose together and the prince gathered the castle’s people together and said to them:
If you had a key and it was lost to you and you could not find it and made another key, and after some time you found the [original] lost key, which among them would you keep, with the first or the second?
On hearing this, all those present agreed at once and said:
With the first.
And he then told them:
Well, this is what happened to me. I married this woman that you see here and her name is Maria, and with her I have a son that you see here as well. But, due to the curse that was placed on me, I lost her and knew nothing more of her and did not [even] witness the birth of my son. Now I have married another, but the first one has come [for me] and with her I [now] must go.
Then he turned to the father of the bride and said to him:
Here you have your daughter just as you handed her to me, for I have not touched her [in any way].
And without further ado, he returned to his parent’s palace with Maria and their son.
—– VOCABULARY —–
Aburrir – (to weary) to bore, to get tired of, to tire
Adormidera – (botany) poppy; opium poppy
Ama de cría – wet nurse
Amamantar – to nurse, to breastfeed
Ataque de ira – rage attack, fit of anger
Aunque – even though, even if
Castigar – to punish, to chastise
Comprobar – (to notice) to realize; (to demonstrate) to prove; (to verify) to check
Descansar – to take a break, to rest
Despierto/a – (not asleep) awake; (vigilant) alert, sharp
Embarazada – pregnant, pregnant woman
Enterarse – (to know) to hear, to find out; (to discover) to find out
Entreabierto – half-opened, ajar
Entregar – (to transfer) to hand over; (to transport) to deliver; (to hand in or over) to submit, to give
Espalda – back
Frotar – to rub, to scrub
Gastar – (to make deteriorate) to wear out, to wear down
Guindilla – chili, chili pepper
Hacer como que – to pretend
Hallar – to find, to discover
Haremos – we will do; hacer – to do
Hierro – iron
Hilo – (strand) thread, yarn
Huso – spindle
Imponente – imposing, impressive, magnificent
Lagarto – lizard
Lecho – bed
Lograr – to be able to, to achieve
Merodear – to prowl
Mezclar – to mix, to blend
Nuez – nut, walnut
Ovillo – ball
Pareja – pair; partner
Pecho – chest, breast
Picar – (to be hurt by an animal) to sting, to bite; (to irritate) to itch
Quemar – to burn, to set fire to
Que ni siquiera – don’t even
Quizá – maybe, perhaps
Real – real, true; royal
Reparar en – to notice (to become aware)
Rueca – distaff, spinning wheel
Salir al paso – to meet (??)
Sin que – without
Soberbio – (impressive) magnificent, superb, grand; (conceited) arrogant
Volver a ponerse – (to go back) to get back; (to put on again) to wear again