048. Juan Of Calaís (Juan De Calaís)
This was a man who had a small store in a [certain] town, a store that sold fabrics and this sort of things. Being a good merchant that he was, he had the habit of traveling often to the surrounding towns to sell his goods. One day, he came to one of these towns and as he was going to leave his horse in the stable, he encountered a dead man lying in a dunghill with the dogs feasting on him. And the man said:
Oh my God! How is this allowed, [with him] lying there in the middle of the [heap of] dung?
And they [the people] told him:
You see, here we are so poor that those who die are not buried but thrown to the dunghill.
And the man said:
This is inhumane, this [just] cannot be. Well, let them bury him at this moment, for I will pay for the burial and we will say nothing more of this [matter].
And so this was done.
It turned out that this good man was in love with the daughter of a marquis. And as the girl also loved him, they [decided to get] married even though he was beneath her [in status]. And this girl had a first cousin who wanted to marry her but was left disappointed.
[Nguyen: primo carnal – first cousin, close relative?]
On that same day of the wedding, the couple embarked on a ship that would have taken them by sea to the palace of the marques, as the girl wanted them to meet her husband. And on the ship, among other relatives, was the cousin who was in love with her. And they were already at sea when this cousin said to the man, whose name was Juan:
Eh, Juan, come and see how rough the waves are.
Juan leaned out trustingly and [it was then that] the cousin, taking advantage of everyone being distracted [at the time], gave him a push and threw him into sea.
As soon as he saw that he was lost at sea, the man fought for his life and, swimming, swimming, he found a board to cling to and there he held on to it until the sea delivered him to a deserted island.
There on the island he had to survive on whatever he could find and sleep high up on the trees for fear of the wild beasts. And he grew a large beard and very long hair, in which one or two years passed by where he no longer knew [the exact length] as he had lost track of the days.
And it happened that, after some time, and on seeing that Juan was nowhere to be seen, the girl agreed to marry her first cousin.
The wedding was about to take place when Juan, who was still on the deserted island, suddenly heard a voice which said:
Juan Of Calaííís!
He began to look from one side to another without seeing anyone and so thought that he had gone mad; but the voice continued:
Juan Of Calaííís!
So now he had the courage to say:
Here I am.
And the voice said:
I have come to warn you that in three days your wife will marry her cousin, he who threw you into the sea. Don’t you want to return to where they are [now] and stop the wedding?
The man answered yes and the voice then said to him:
Well, I can take you there, but it has to be on one condition.
All right… -said the man.
The condition is this -said the voice-: you must give me half of the first child that you [will] have.
That is impossible! -the man protested indignantly.
Think about it carefully and tomorrow I will return once more -said the voice.
The man was meditating on the seashore the next day when he heard a voice which called for him:
Juan Of Calaííís!
Here I am -he said.
Have you thought about what I told you yesterday? -asked the voice.
Yes, I have thought about it, but it is impossible [for me to agree] -he replied.
Well, think about it again, for I’ll be back tomorrow. And tomorrow is when your wife will marry [her cousin]! -said the voice.
The next day, the voice again called for him:
Juan Of Calaííís!
And he replied:
Here I am.
The voice said:
Well, have you thought it over?
The man replied:
Yes, I have thought about it and I accept the pact.
And the voice said:
Then listen to me well: close your eyes. When you open them again you’ll find yourself at the gate of the marques’ palace. [At that time] you must go to the room hosting the poor, where there is a meal for them. Your wife’s cousin, whose name is Maria, and whom you know, will [then] enter. When she comes to give you food, you’ll reach out your hand to feel your beard; and as you feel your beard, she would recognize you by the your wedding ring [on your finger]. And then what needs to occur will occur.
Juan [then] said:
Got it! -and closed his eyes.
When he opened them, he was at the gate of the palace and immediately went to the room hosting the poor. He waited for them to serve the food and when it was his turn, he put his hand on his beard and the cousin Maria, who [was there and] saw this, hurriedly left the room. And she went in haste to look for her cousin, Juan’s wife, and said to her at once:
Do you know who is down there?
She said:
Well, who is it?
Her cousin said:
Your husband.
And she:
That is impossible.
And cousin Maria insisted [on it being so]:
I tell you that it is him and he is in the room for the poor, for I have recognized him by the ring that he wears [on his finger].
And she then said:
Have him come here at once.
Cousin Maria did as she was told, went to get the man, brought him to his wife’s room and once they were with him and she, too, recognized him, Juan then told his story and what had happened after the cousin threw him overboard. And once she heard the story, his wife said:
Good. Well, now you are going to have a bath, shave, and dress with dignity, for [you’ll get to witness] the other person being severely punished for what he had done to you, and also to me.
The first ones they told were the marques, who immediately agreed with them. So they prepared a large bonfire at a bend of the road to the chapel where the wedding was to be held, and mounted an enormous cauldron of boiling water on it. Finally, the bride and groom, the godparents, and all the guests left the house and headed for the chapel. And when they reached the bend where there was the bonfire, Juan Of Calaís came out to meet them, all shaved and well-dressed so that they could recognize him. And the cousin was stunned on seeing him, and he said:
Juan of Calaís!
And Juan said:
That I am, and you pushed me into the sea so you can marry my wife. And now it is your turn to be punished.
And several of them then grabbed him and threw him into the cauldron, where he was done for in a [short] moment.
With that, the couple could now live happily together. And after a year the woman gave birth to a son. Juan of Calaís was both happy and desperate at the same time, for he did not dare to tell his wife about the pact that he had made to escape from the island and prevent her marriage to the cousin. And so he spent several days without being able to fall asleep.
One night when he was alone and awake, he suddenly heard a voice which said:
Juan of Calaís!
He was distraught [on hearing it], for he [had] recognized the voice; and he said:
Here I am.
The voice said:
Do you remember what you promised?
And he said:
Yes, I remember.
And the voice said:
Well, I will come for it tomorrow.
Seeing this situation, the man had no choice but to confess to his wife the pact that he had had to make in order to leave the island. And his wife embraced him, saying:
If that was the case, we will have no choice but to give our son to him. But you will have to do it by yourself because I cannot bear to see my son being parted in half.
The next morning, the man prepared a wide and large wooden board upon which he could place the child, then he was sharpening the axe and afterward sent for the child and remained alone with him, then make preparations on the board while waiting for the voice to come and carry out what it had said. And he then heard:
Juan of Calaííís!
He replied:
Here I am.
The voice said:
Do you have the child with you?
He replied:
Yes, I have him here.
The voice said:
Are you going to keep your words?
He replied:
Yes, I’ll fulfill my words
but he said it with such tears that it was painful to watch.
Then he raised the axe over his son’s head and was about to bring it down on the child when he felt an invisible hand stopping him. And he heard it said:
Juan of Calaííís! Stop!
The man stopped.
Do you remember the dead man whom you buried humanely that one day, who was being eaten by the dogs in a dunghill?
Juan of Calaís replied:
Yes, I remember.
Well, I am the soul of that dead man, and I have come to save you from your anguish. Go and live happily with your wife and your son so that you may continue doing good deeds as you did for me.
—– VOCABULARY —–
Afeitar – to shave
Aferrarse – to cling to, to hang onto
Afilar – to sharpen
A menudo – often
Ancho/a – wide, broad, thick
Arrojarse – to throw oneself; to hurl oneself
A solas – alone, on one’s own
Asomarse – to check, to look; (to peep out) to look out, to lean out
Atender – to be attentive, to pay attention
Avisar – to let know, to tell, to notify; to warn
Barba – beard, stubble
Borda – gunwale, rail
Cabello – hair
Capilla – chapel
Carnal – relative, blood
Colocar – (to arrange) to place, to put; to invest
Comerciante – merchant, shopkeeper
Consentir – to allow, to permit
Crecer – to grow
Cuando le tocó a él – when it is his turn
De acuerdo – okay, all right
De modo que – so that
Demudado – distraught
De pronto – suddenly, abruptly
De repente – suddenly; all of a sudden
Dirigirse – to walk toward; to address
Distraído – distracted
En vela – awake
Estiércol – manure, dung
Ganas – desire, wish
Género – (products) merchandise
Hacha – ax
Hervir – to boil
Hoguera – bonfire
Impedir – to stop, to prevent
Lagrimar – to cry
Madera – wood, timber
Muladar – trash heap, garbage dump; (manure heap) dunghill; (dirty place) pigsty
Nadar – to swim
Pasmado – astonished, stunned
Pretender – (to want) to intend, to expect; (to court) to woo
Primo carnal – first cousin
Prisa – rush, hurry
Pues aunque – because although; for while
Revolverse – (meteorological) to turn stormy; to toss and turn, to writhe
Que al que – you; like the one
Recodo – bend
Salir al paso – step out; meet the
Sostenerse – to support oneself, to sustain oneself
Tabla – board (wood), plank
Tela – fabric, cloth, material
Tocar – to be someone’s turn
Válgame – My Goodness! My Gosh!