050. The Little Butterfly (La Mariposita)
This was a little butterfly who was happily sweeping the door of her house when she found a penny.
And she began to think: “What will I spend it on? What will I spend it on? On sweets? No, no, [for] they’ll call me a sweet-toothed. On almonds? No, no, for they’ll call me a glutton.”
And so she went on until she suddenly said:
I know! I’ll buy myself a little bow for my hair, and I’ll be pretty and beautiful.
She bought the little bow, put in on her hair and, [being] pretty and beautiful, she stood at the door to see if she could find a boyfriend. Then a dog arrived and said to her:
Hey, little butterfly, how pretty you are!
That I’ve done myself well, for you played no role in it -she replied.
Little butterfly, will you marry me?
And when we have children, what will you call them?
Woof, woof -the dog barked.
Aye, no, then no, you’ll [just] bite them [to death].
The dog left and shortly after came a cat, and it said to her:
Hey, little butterfly, how pretty you are.
That I’ve done myself well, for you played no role in it -she replied.
Little butterfly, will you marry me?
And when we have children, what will you call them?
Meow, meow -the cat meowed.
Aye, no, then no, you’ll [just] scratch them [to death].
The cat left, and then a mouse came along and said to her:
Hey, little butterfly, how pretty you are.
That I’ve done myself well, for you played no role in it.
Little butterfly, will you marry me?
And when we have children, what will you call them?
Iii, iii -the mouse squeaked softly.
Aye, yes, because that’s how you will lull them to sleep.
And so the little butterfly and the mouse got married, she was dressed in white and he in a gray frock coat. As they were married on Saturday, the following morning, which was Sunday, the little butterfly left the mouse in bed and said to him:
I’m going to mass. Don’t get up, lest the cat eat you; and don’t you look in the pot, lest you fall in it.
The little butterfly went away and the mouse stayed behind. And he was [being] very comfortable in bed, but then he thought: “I’m going to watch the pot, lest the food burn.”
He got to the pot, climbed up on it, opened the lid and zas! fell in it. The little butterfly returned from mass and couldn’t find her little mouse [anywhere].
Little mouse Pérez, where are you?
But there was nothing, as he did not appear. At last she got tired of searching for him and went to eat and, of course, when she opened the pot, there was the cooked little mouse [in it]. And the little butterfly went to the door of her house and cried [aloud].
Aye, my little mousy-mouse fell into the pot and his little butterfly is moaning and mourning him.
A little bird flew by and asked her:
Why are you crying, little butterfly?
Because my little mouse fell into the pot and his little butterfly is moaning and mourning him.
And the bird said:
Well I, as a little bird, will cut off my little beak.
And it went flying away without a beak and a dove saw it and asked:
Little bird, how come you’re here without a beak?
Because the little mouse fell into the pot, the little butterfly is moaning and mourning him, and I, as a little bird, cut off my little beak.
And the dove said:
Well I, as a little dove, will cut off my little tail.
So the dove went flying away to the dovecote. And the dovecote said:
Little dove, how come you’re here without your little tail?
Because the little mouse fell into the pot, the little butterfly was moaning and mourning him, the little bird cut off its little beak, and I, as a little dove, cut off my little tail.
Well I, as the dovecote, will roll [myself] over [and over again].
It rolled itself over and over and over and doing so much so that it got to the river; and the river said:
Dovecote, how come you’re here being rolled over so much?
Because the little mouse fell into the pot, the little butterfly was moaning and mourning him, the little bird cut off its little beak, the little dove cut off its little tail, and I, as the dovecote, started to roll [myself around].
Well I, as the river, will dry myself and will not grow [my water level].
So that it dried up and did not grow. Then the king’s maids arrived at the [river]bank with their little pitchers to fetch water from the river. And they said:
River, how come you don’t bring water [here anymore]?
Because the little mouse fell into the pot, the little butterfly was moaning and mourning him, the little bird cut of its little beak, the little dove cut off its little tail, the dovecote rolled itself over, and I, as the river, dried myself up and will not grow [my water level].
Well we, as little maids, will break our little pitchers.
Wham. They broke their little pitchers and returned to the palace without them. And the king, when he saw this, said to them:
Little maids, why don’t you bring back the little pitchers?
Because the little mouse fell into the pot, the little butterfly was moaning and mourning him, the little bird cut of its little beak, the little dove cut off its little tail, the dovecote rolled itself over, the river dried up and won’t grow [the water level], and we, as little maids, broke our little pitchers.
Well I, as king, will begin to run [away].
He began to run and ran and ran and ran and at last came to a friar, who said to him:
King, what got you running here so fast?
Because the little mouse fell into the pot, the little butterfly was moaning and mourning him, the little bird cut of its little beak, the little dove cut off its little tail, the dovecote rolled itself over, the river dried up and won’t grow [the water level], my little maids broke their little pitchers, and I, as king, began to run [and run and run].
And the friar said:
Well I, as friar, will take my castanets and go to the dance.
[Nguyen: I’m not sure what’s the point of this story, but that was the end….]
—– VOCABULARY —–
Almendra – almond
Arañar – to scratch, to graze
Arrullarse – (to say beautiful words) to whisper sweet nothings; arrullar – to lull / sing to sleep
Bajito – shortish
Barrer – to sweep
Cantaritas – little songs (?), little singing (?)
Caramelo – candy, sweet
Castañuela – castanet (Castanets, also known as clackers or palillos, are a percussion instrument, used in Spanish, Kalo, Moorish, Ottoman, Italian, Sephardic, Swiss, and Portuguese music.)
Céntimo – cent, pence
Chillar – to scream (in pain or fear), to shriek; to screech (bird), to squeal (pig), to squeak (mouse)
Cola – tail; colita – little tail
De pronto – suddenly
Encaramar – (to raise) to lift up; encaramarse – (to go up) to climb up onto; to perch on
Fraile – friar
Gastar – (to expend) to spend, to use
Gemir – (to express suffering) to groan, to moan
Goloso/a – have a sweet tooth; (desirable) appealing, attractive
Gris – gray, grey; overcast, gloomy
Guapo/a – handsome, beautiful, good-looking (reguapa – ???)
Lacito – bow tie
Ladrar – to bark
Levita – frock coat
Maullar – to meow, to mew
Morder – to bite; to eat into, to corrode
Olla – pot
Pajaril – birdlike
Pájaro – bird
Palomar – dovecote, pigeon loft
Pico – bill, beak; piquito – small beak
Ponerse – to dress oneself in, to put on, to wear
Quemarse – to burn oneself; to get burnt
Tan a gusto – so comfortable
Tapa – lid, top
Tragón – (prone to eating a lot) gluttonous
Vigilar – to watch, to guard
Zas – bang! Wham!