044. El Herrero Jugador (The Gambling Blacksmith)
Once upon a time, Saint Pedro (St. Peter) had to go down to earth for some errands and [there he] met a blacksmith, who was a good-hearted man and who did him numerous favors.
Saint Pedro was so pleased with the blacksmith’s help that he told him that he could request anything from him, and that he would gladly grant this [request].
The blacksmith, who, like all blacksmiths, was a big gambler, [so he] asked Saint Pedro to gift him a deck of cards with which he would never lose. And Saint Pedro, without thinking about it twice, granted him this wish.
So that the blacksmith lived very happily from then on, for every problem that came his way, he would take care of it with a game of cards and, as he always won, everything went well for him.
One day the blacksmith died and the demons used this occasion to obtain his soul and take it to hell. The poor man realized that he would lose his soul forever, and then he remembered that he still carried in his pocket the old deck of cards which Saint Pedro gave him and, without any hesitation, he proposed to play a game with the demons for his soul.
The demons played and lost and the blacksmith won his soul [back] and went straight to heaven. There, Saint Pedro opened the door and, on recognizing him, he said:
Come in, come in, for if I play with you for your soul, with the promise that I made, you would have won against me anyhow.
And so [that was how] the gambling blacksmith entered heaven.
—– VOCABULARY —–
Arreglar – to fix, to repair
Baraja – deck of cards
Gracia – grace, favor
Partida – game