051. Bellaflor (literally Beautiful Flower)
A father had two sons. The older became a soldier, set out and was in America for many years. When he got tired of being a soldier, he went back to Spain and showed up at his house. On arriving, he discovered that his father had died and that his other brother was now the one who occupied the house and the lands and had become very rich. He presented himself to the brother, who did not recognize him, and said:
Do you not know me?
The brother answered him curtly:
I don’t know you nor do I want to [know you].
Then the older brother told him who he was and where he came from, and the other brother then said to him:
Well, you can go to the barn, for there is a large chest there, which is all that our father had left you!
and without further ado, he turned around and went back to his business.
The older brother went to the barn and, sure enough, found a very old chest. And he said to himself:
What do I want to do with this old chest?
and as it was cold, he decided to turn it into firewood to warm himself. So he put it on his shoulder, went to the place where he was lodging and began to chop it into pieces with an ax. But lo and behold, he was still at this task when a secret drawer in the chest popped out and the man saw that it was the receipt for a large sum of money owed to his father. He immediately went to collect [the debt], was given the money by the debtors and found himself rich [overnight].
A few days later, the man was walking down the street and encountered a woman who was weeping bitterly. Feeling pity for her, he asked her why she was crying and she explained that her husband was very sick, that they had no money to cure him and that a creditor was going to put her in jail if she could not pay back what was owed.
The man, on seeing this, said to her:
Well, don’t you worry, for I can take care of your debt and also of your husband’s treatment; and if he dies afterward, then I will also help with his burial.
And this he did. Only when he had finished paying everything, including the burial, that he realized he no longer had a cent on him.
And he thought: “Now I have to learn how to make a living [for myself]”.
And so he went to serve the king in the palace, for if he had been a soldier previously, he might as well be a servant now. And he became a servant in the palace; and he conducted himself so well and with such diligence and discretion that he gained the king’s confidence and rose through the ranks until the king made him a gentleman [gentilhombre, e.g. knight?].
Meanwhile, his brother had begun to lose his fortune and had barely enough to feed himself, so that he wrote to the older brother asking for help; as he was kindhearted, the older brother recommended him to the king and found him a job in the palace.
The brother came and, instead of feeling grateful, he was filled with envy on seeing how the king honored the older brother and decided that he would seek out the occasion to get rid of him and take over his place. One day, he learned that the king was in love with a princess named Bellaflor (lit. Beautiful Flower); but it turned out that the king was already very old and Bellaflor did not like him at all as a husband, so she hid herself in a secluded house in a faraway forest so that no one would manage to find it. Then he went to see the king and told him that his older brother knew where Bellaflor was hiding and that, moreover, he was trying to get her for himself. The king became truly furious and immediately sent for the older brother and ordered him to leave without delay to search for Bellaflor and to bring her back to the palace within a week, or else he would cut off his head.
[Nguyen: the original text is “le cortaría el cuello”, so technically it should be translated to “he would cut / slit his neck”.]
The older brother had no choice but to set out on his journey, wondering how he could find Bellaflor if he did not know her whereabouts. So he went to the stable [all] sad and pensive when he suddenly noticed a white horse, thin and old, who, [upon] seeing him entering, said to him:
Mount on me and do not worry about anything else.
The older brother was surprised on hearing this, but he did not hesitate and mounted the nag and went on his way. After a while, the nag said to him:
Didn’t you bring any bread in your bag? Well, give it to those ants toiling in that anthill [over there] for they [really] need it.
And he said:
And what will I eat if I don’t have my bread?
And the horse said:
Give it to them, for one should never miss the opportunity to do good deeds.
[So] he gave them the bread and continued on his way. Further ahead they saw an eagle who had fallen into the nets of a hunter and was struggling in them, becoming more and more entangled [over time]. And the nag said:
Come, get off me and [go] free the poor animal from those nets.
And he said:
We don’t have time to involve ourselves in that.
And the nag said:
You will set her free, for one should never miss the opportunity to do good deeds.
That he did, and they continued on their way. And this time they found a fish that had been stranded on the shore and, no matter how hard it tried, it couldn’t get back in the water.
Go – the nag said to him-, take that poor fish and return it to the river.
And he said:
But are we going to stop all the time [for these trivial matters]? I have limited time to return with the princess to the palace.
And the nag said:
You will throw it into the water, for one should never miss the opportunity to do good deeds.
And so they continued on to a shady and dense forest where the nag entered without any hesitation; and soon they came to a beautiful house where Bellaflor was busy feeding the farm animals that she had there. Then the nag said:
Now I will begin to jump and rear and that will please Bellaflor so much that she will want to ride me. When she mounts me, I will start kicking and neighing and she will be frightened; then you appear and tell her that your horse is only used to be ridden by its owner, and only then will it calm down; and when she gives consent for you to mount, you will get on me and I will begin running and will not stop until we have reached the king’s palace.
So this happened [as the nag had said] and Bellaflor understood that they had abducted her; then she dropped from her apron to the ground a corn (cob? eye?) that she was feeding to her fowls and said to the young man to stop so she could pick it up.
And he replied her:
Worry not, for there is plenty of corn wherever we go.
Further on, as they passed under a tree, she threw her handkerchief in the air, which got caught in the highest branches, and she said to the young man to let her get off for a moment so she could retrieve it.
And he replied her:
Worry not, for there are plenty of handkerchiefs wherever we go.
Further on they came to a river and she dropped a ring in it, then she asked the young man to jump into the water to retrieve it.
And he replied her:
Worry not, for there are plenty of rings wherever we go.
Finally they spotted the king’s palace just when the deadline which he had given the older brother to return with Bellaflor was reached; and the king was very happy and decided to celebrate with a large welcome party [for Bellaflor].
But Bellaflor, as soon as she set foot in the palace, ran to the bedroom that had been set aside for her and locked herself in there without wanting to see anyone, not even the king, who begged her to open the door. She only said that she would not open the door until they had brought her the three things that she had lost in her travel.
The king immediately sent for the older brother and told him to go and search for those three things, and that if he returned empty handed, he would have his throat slit.
Greatly distressed, the older brother went to see the white horse (nag), who became [even] thinner and older after the trip, and told it what had happened; and the nag said to him:
Don’t you worry, mount on me and we will go search for them.
They went on the road ahead and came to the anthill from before. And the nag said:
Do you want to have the corn?
And he said:
How do I not want it if I have come for it?
Well call for the ants -said the nag- and tell them to bring it to you.
And that was how the ants, being grateful to him [for his past deed], brought him the corn, which he put in a bag.
Then they arrived at the tree where the handkerchief was stuck in its high branches. And the nag said:
Do you want to get the handkerchief?
And he said:
How do I not want it if I have come for it?
Then call for the eagle that you freed from the hunter’s nets -said the nag- and asked it to bring it to you.
And this happened and they went on their way. At last they came to the river where Bellaflor dropped her ring, and this time the man was devastated, saying:
How can I get the ring from the bottom [of the river] with that strong current, and [moreover] I don’t even remember where she lost it?
Well, call the fish that you saved from dying -said the nag- and ask it to fetch the ring out from the bottom of the river.
And the little fish, on hearing what the man wanted, dove to the bottom and reappeared with the ring in its mouth.
So the older brother, full of joy at the outcome of his good deeds, returned to the palace with the three things that Bellaflor had asked for. They were taken away and then she said that she would not leave her room until they fried in oil the person who dared to kidnap her from her house in the forest. The king, upon learning of her wish, promised her that this would be done and ordered the fire and oil cauldron to be prepared.
The man, being very distressed, went to see the horse to bid it farewell, and to tell it what the king had ordered. And the nag said to him:
Don’t you worry. Mount on me and I will gallop away until I am covered in sweat; when this happens, smear your body with my sweat and lie down confidently in the cauldron, and no harm will come to you.
So he did this and, to the surprise of all, he came out from the cauldron just as he had entered it. And on seeing him being so confident, which one would say that the oil had made him more attractive, Bellaflor fell in love with him.
Then the king, who was old and ugly, seeing what had happened with the older brother, thought that the same would happen to him and, without thinking about it twice, he jumped into the cauldron where he was burned to death. And as the king did not have any descendants, his subjects nominated the older brother [as king] when afterwards he got married to the princess.
But before the wedding was held, the older brother banished his brother from the boundaries of the kingdom with a modest purse of money and ordered him to never return. And then he went to see the old nag to thank it for the help it had given him; and the latter then said to him:
Don’t thank me, for you should know that I am the soul of that wretch whom you spent what you had on you to save him, and whom you later helped bury; and on seeing you were in such needs [e.g. predicament], I asked God for permission to come to your aid and repay your kindness.
—– VOCABULARY —–
Acreedor – creditor
Adeudarse – to get into debt; adeudar – to be in debt, to owe
Afanarse – to labor, to toil; to make an effort
Afligido – heart-broken, grief-stricken
Amansarse – (to get calmed) to calm down; amansar – to tame, to break in (horses)
Amargamente – bitterly
Apearse de – to get off, to get down
Apurado – (in a rush) in a hurry; (hard) difficult
Apurarse – (to be distressed) to worry oneself
Arcón – large chest
Arrogante – arrogant; haughty
Asombro – (astonishment) amazement
Asustarse – to get frightened
Atinar a – to manage to, to succeed in; atinar con – to find; to guess, to come up with
Avistar – to sight; to catch sight of
Calentarse – to warm up, to heat up; calentar – to heat, to warm up
Cárcel – prison
Cobrar – (to demand payment for) to charge for; (to receive payment for) to get paid
Compadecer – to pity, to feel sorry for, to sympathize with
Conque – (thus) so, so then
Consentir – to allow, to permit
Contado – (infrequent) rare; (restricted) limited, numbered (days);
Corral – (animal enclosure) pen
Corveta – salto de caballo; curvet: a prancing leap of a horse in which the hind legs are raised just before the forelegs touch the ground
Debatirse – to struggle
Delantal – apron, smock
De pronto – suddenly
Desolado – (afflicted) devastated; (deserted) desolate
Desterrar – (to deport) to banish
Detener – (to halt) to stop; (to detain) to arrest; (to hold up) to delay
De verdad – seriously, really; genuine, real; truly, honestly, really
Dilación – delay
Diría – I’d say
Embellecer – (to make more beautiful) to embellish, to beautify, to make more attractive
Enredar – to tangle up, to mess up; to complicate
Entretanto – meanwhile
Espeso – thick, dense
Faena – task, job, work
Feo – (unattractive) ugly, unflattering; (disagreeable) unpleasant, foul
Flaco – (slim) thin, skinny
Freír – to fry
Fuera – outside, out, away
Ganas – desire
Gastar – to spend, to use
Granero – barn, granary
Granja – farm; country estate
Hacer cargo de – to take care of, take over, handle
Hete – haber: to have
Hombro – shoulder
Hormiguero – ant’s nest, anthill
Hospedarse – to stay, to lodge
Nombrar – to mention, to name; to appoint, to designate
Otro tanto – likewise, same
Paradero – whereabouts
Pasar – to occur, to happen
Pececillo – little fish
Pedazos – pieces
Penco – nag
Pensativo – thoughtful, pensive
Pierde cuidado – relax; don’t worry
Pisar – to step on, to set foot on
Plazo – (period of time) term, period;
Prestado – (loaned) borrowed; (library) on loan
Qué falta les hace – which you need them
Quehaceres – housework, chores
Recibo – receipt
Reparar – to buck, to rear; to repair, to fix, to mend; reparar en – to become aware; to consider, to think about
Siquiera – (if only) even if; at least; (in negative phrases) even
Sobrar – (to exceed requirements) to not be needed, to be more than enough
Sortija – ring
Súbdito – subject, citizen
Sudor – sweat, perspiration
Tal y como – just as
Trabado – (stuck) jammed; (consistent) coherent; (culinary) thickened
Tratar con – (to have contact with) to deal with; (to behave with) to treat with
Umbría – shady place
Untar – to spread, to smear, to grease
Vacilar – (to doubt) to hesitate, to dither
Varado – aground, stranded, beached
Vete – go away, leave, go, get out of here
Zambullirse – (to jump into water) to dive; (to submerge oneself) to duck