052. The Marble Statue (La Estatua De Mármol)
A woman had a grown son who decided to do nothing in life, and so he remained in his mother’s house, loafing around and wasting his time. The mother insisted to him that he had to learn a trade, but the young man refused to learn any trade proposed to him by his mother, claiming that he did not like any of them. They continued on like this until he, tired of saying no to everything, decided to become a painter. His mother, overjoyed [at this], searched for a teacher who would accept him as an apprentice and it happened that the boy became very fond of painting and devoted many hours to it, both working in the studio with the teacher and practicing on his own when the teacher was not around. And in a short time he became a [very] good painter.
One day, the king’s son sent for the teacher and told him that he had a dream: he had dreamed of the most beautiful girl in the world and wanted the teacher to paint a portrait of this flower of beauty according to the instructions that he would give him. The teacher took good note and returned home so distressed that he could not be any more so. His wife, as soon as she saw him back, noted his tribulation and asked him for the cause [of this anguish]. And the teacher said to her:
Well, the king has commissioned me to paint a portrait of a woman that he has seen in his dream, and whom he says is the flower of beauty (literal translation of “la flor de la hermosura”). And how can I portray someone in a way that would please the king when I have never seen her before?
[Nguyen, note 1: I thought it’s the king’s son who wanted the portrait done.]
[Nguyen, note 2: the original text is “la flor de la hermosura”, which literally translates to “the flower of beauty”. One can take this to mean the woman is the pinnacle of beauty, or the most beautiful among beauties. I’ll keep the literal translation “the flower of beauty” throughout this story.]
The apprentice, who was standing [next to him], said:
Don’t you worry, teacher, provide me with the description of that beauty, and I will paint the portrait. I only need you to leave me with a sack of nuts, two loaves of bread, and a bottle of wine; and with that, I will lock myself in to work tonight and tomorrow you will have [your hands on] the portrait.
The teacher and his wife discussed [the matter] and finally agreed to give the apprentice what he wanted, and the apprentice locked himself in the studio [and began his work].
But the teacher and his wife were beside themselves and they stayed in their bedroom all night with eyes wide open listening to what the apprentice was doing; and the only thing that they could hear was the cracking sound of nuts, so that at last the teacher said to his wife:
It seems to me that all this scoundrel does is just stuffing himself with food at our expense, so I am going to get up to search him out and knock some sense into him.
And the wife, having better common sense than he did, said to him:
If he’s already at it, [then] let him be and see what will happen. We’ll head to bed [now], for I am already about to pass out.
Meanwhile, the apprentice, after having his feast and being greatly animated by the wine that he had drunk, set himself to the task and painted the portrait of a girl who was truly the flower (e.g. pinnacle) of beauty, whether the king had dreamed of her or not. The next morning, the wary teacher went into the studio at dawn and there he had his jaw dropped upon seeing the marvelous portrait that the apprentice had painted. So that he quickly became wide-awake and said:
But, how did you paint this?
And the young man answered:
With wine and nuts; [now] go and take it to the palace and let me [catch up with my] sleep.
The king’s son was stunned for some time on seeing the portrait and said to the teacher:
This is the woman whom I have dreamed about. Now I must go search for her, and you will come with me.
On hearing this, the distraught teacher left the palace and arrived home looking so dismayed that his wife asked him:
What’s wrong with you? Is it because the king’s son did not like the portrait?
Well, it would have been better if he had not liked it, because now he wants me to go with him to search for this flower of beauty. And how are we going to find her, if she only exists in his head?
The apprentice, when he heard this, told the teacher to take him along with him to see the king’s son, and then they would find a way to have him accompany the king’s son so that the teacher could stay at home. And so the teacher introduced the young man as his son and asked that they would let him make the trip with them. And as the king’s son agreed to this [request], the three of them set out [together].
After two days of walking, the teacher was so tired that the apprentice said to the king’s son:
As my father is so tired, he would [just] delay our travel, so that if your highness allows it, I can take charge in guiding [you on] this trip.
And you know where we have to go?
Yes, sir -said the young man.
Well, then let the teacher go back alone to his house and we will continue on our way.
So they did this and the king’s son and the young man continued on without stopping, and by dint of walking they arrived at a house in the middle of the mountain. They entered it and saw no one, but the table was [already] set and, as they were tired and hungry, they began to dine and later searched for a place to lie down to sleep. And there were two beds ready for their use, which seemed to be [specifically] waiting for them. The king’s son immediately laid down on one of them, but the young man, who was a little suspicious of not seeing anyone, said:
It’d be better if one sleeps and the other keeps watch, and we will take turn to do this.
The king’s son agreed to this and let the young man go to sleep, as he was in charge of the first watch. At eleven o’clock sharp, when his turn ended, they changed shift and the young man took over the watch. And there he was, letting time passed by, when, at twelve o’clock, he felt a noise as if two people were entering; and although he did not see anyone, he heard two voices talking to one another, and after greeting each other they [then] said:
Do you know with whom the king’s son wants to marry?
No, with whom?
With the flower of beauty.
Aye, how difficult that is, if not [even] impossible to find her!
Then the voices hushed and there was no more, and the young man was left wondering where they could find the flower of beauty. But he said to himself that, if they were to stay there for one more night, perhaps he might be able to find out.
At dawn the king’s son woke up and asked:
Did anything happen last night?
None, Your Highness.
Well, let’s get going [then].
Please wait, Your Highness, for I believe that it’d be good for us to stay here one more day, as there is something strange going on that I want to uncover.
[Nguyen: but I thought he said nothing happened last night… =D]
The king’s son agreed to this and they spent the day walking around the house’s neighborhood without seeing anyone, which seemed unusual to them. They ate lunch and dinner and later went to bed and agreed to take turns [keeping watch] as they had done the night before, so that at eleven o’clock, the king’s son woke up the young man and went to sleep. The young man waited patiently for the clock to strike twelve and then, as was in the previous night, he heard two people entered, whom he did not see, who greeted one another and began to talk.
Do you know that the king’s son has set out to search for the flower of beauty?
Yes, but it is very difficult to find her, because she is on the other side of the sea.
Ah, but it is easy to cross it. If that key-horn hanging over there is thrown into the sea, it would become a silver bridge which leads to the other side.
Once more the voices became quiet and the young man realized that he still did not know enough, so he persuaded the king’s son to spend another day there, and so they did. The young man was keeping watch at midnight, and as on the previous occasions, there were sounds of footsteps from the two invisible figures, and they began to speak:
Do you know that the king’s son is very determined and must be very near here by now?
Maybe he will stop at this house.
Maybe yes, maybe no.
But even if he finds the horn-key and throws it into the sea, he would not be able to obtain the flower of beauty, because a terrible giant and two ferocious lions are guarding her.
And there is no way to rescue her without being seen?
Yes there is, if he could take advantage of when they’re sleeping and cross back across the sea before they wake up, but woe to he should they manage to catch up to him!
Again the voices became silent and, at dawn, the young man took the key-horn and went with the king’s son to the seashore. There he threw the key-horn into the water, which turned into a silver bridge, and passed on to the other side.
Soon they arrived at a large palace in which there was a giant and two lions and all three were asleep. In the middle of them all was a woman so beautiful that they could not believe such a beauty could exist [in this world]. She, as soon as she saw them, said:
Why have you come to this place?
And the king’s son said:
We have come for you.
Woe to you both! -she replied-. As soon as the giant wakes up, he would approach and kill you, and if the lions were to wake up before that, they would devour you without leaving anything [of you] behind.
But they approached the woman, picked her up with great care and, as soon as they saw themselves outside of the palace, they made their escape toward the sea. Soon the giant awoke and, on seeing that the flower of beauty was no longer there, he became infuriated and left to search for her. And he barely looked when he saw she was being carried by the young men towards the silver bridge. Then he began to run and, as he was a giant, he reached the sea in three strides, but at that moment the three escapees finished crossing and raised the bridge. The giant, on seeing that he could no longer reach them, threatened them and said:
Go your way, flower of beauty, for I am too late to recover you, but God willing that on your wedding night you will be eaten by wolves, and if this curse does not come true, then when you have your first child you will be transformed into a marble statue.
The three of them hurried back [to the palace] and, when they felt tired, they remembered the house in the mountain and went there to sleep [for the night]. As on the previous occasions, the young man was keeping watch when it was twelve o’clock [at midnight] and once more he heard footsteps and voices.
Did you know that the king’s son had managed to bring back the flower of beauty?
Is that so?
It is true, but he doesn’t know that he has brought back with him the curse that the giant had put on them.
And what curse is that?
That on her wedding night she will be eaten by wolves.
What a pity, being as beautiful as she is. And there is no way to free her from this curse?
Yes there is, if on the day they marry, the king would surround the city with an army to fight off all the wolves that show up.
The voices became silent and the young man also went to bed, as he had already heard what he wanted to know. The next morning they set out again and at last arrived at the city, where they were received with great joy and all the people were left amazed at the extraordinary loveliness of the flower of beauty.
On the day of the wedding, the king armed his army and they surrounded the city; and when they were ready they saw a great many vicious wolves coming from all directions, and the soldiers were fighting for hours until at last they were able to put an end to them.
In short, the festivities ended well and everyone was happy, especially the king’s son. As time went by, the flower of beauty gave birth to a boy who was also very handsome. Everyone in the palace was delighted [by the child] and so was the queen, who had longed for a grandchild. And when the prince, after being presented with the child, returned with him to his wife’s bedroom, and there he found her transformed into a marble statue. Needless to say he was in such sorrow on seeing her in this state that not even his son’s presence could cheer him up. And so, he had a large room emptied out and placed in the center, on a large slab [of stone], the statue of his wife, to [admire] mourn her in death as he could no longer have her in life.
The apprentice, who had been living in the palace, thought that he should visit the house in the mountain as soon as possible when he saw the state of his master, so he asked the king’s son to provide him with a horse. He set out one morning and that very same night was [wide] awake waiting for the clock to strike twelve. When this happened, there were sounds of footsteps and immediately voices were heard:
Don’t you know what is happening now?
No, what is it?
That the king’s son has been able to get rid of the giant’s first curse, but not of the second.
[And] what is that?
That on giving birth to a baby she would get transformed into a marble statue.
Aye, what a pity, for she was so beautiful. And is there any way to free her from that curse?
Yes there is, but it’s quite sad, because to give life to the mother, the child has to die.
And how is that?
If they kill the child and pour the blood into a flask and rub the mother’s veins with this blood, she will then come back to life.
The voices became silent and this time the young man could not sleep; as soon as he saw the first light, he left in haste for the palace. And as soon as he arrived, he told the king’s son of how to get rid of the curse. The king’s son was [greatly] distressed and his mother, the queen, opposed to anything that will be done to her grandson. But, finally, the king’s son, with all the pain [sorrow] in his heart, decided that the mother came before the child. And as he trusted the apprentice, he gave order to do as the apprentice had said.
They killed the poor child, collected the blood in a flask and rubbed it on all the veins of the marble statue. As they rubbed it on them, the veins regained color and the limbs movement and, finally, the flower of beauty came back to life at the admiration of all who witnessed the miracle.
And although they were greatly affected by the death of the child, little by little they were consoled with the births of other children until they had nine in all, and the king’s son, who later became king, and the flower of beauty lived in the palace together with the painter’s apprentice until the end of their days.
—– VOCABULARY —–
Aguardar – to wait for, to await, to expect
Alcanzar – to reach, to catch up with
Alegar – to claim, to cite, to allege
A medida que – as
Apesadumbrado – sorrowful, sad, distressed
Aprendiz – apprentice
Apresuradamente – hurriedly, hastily
Arreglo – (fix) repair; (settlement) agreement
A toda prisa – very quickly
Atracarse – to gobble, to stuff oneself, to gorge oneself
Aunque – even though, although
Avenirse a – to agree to, to accept
Averiguar – to find out, to discover
Ay – ow, ouch; oh dear, jeez
Callarse – to be quiet, to shut up
Cascar – to crack, to break
Colocar – to place, to put
Como si – as if
Conque – thus, so, so then
Consternado – dismayed, distraught
Convencer – to convince
Convenir en – to agree on, to agree to
Costal – (container) sack, bag
Cuanto antes – as soon as possbile
Cuerno – horn, antler
Desconfiado – distrustful, mistrustful
Desconsuelo – grief, distress
Discutir – to argue, to quarrel; (to talk about) to discuss; (to question) to challenge, to dispute
Escamado – wary, suspicious
Estatua – (sculpture) statue
Frotar – to rub, to scrub
Gozo – happiness, joy
Guiar – to show the way, to guide
Hartazgo – overeating
Hermosura – (loveliness) beauty
Holgar – to be idle, to dally
Ira – anger, rage, wrath
Lobo – wolf
Lograr – to be able to, to manage to; (to obtain) to achieve, to attain
Losa – (paving stone) slab, flagstone; tombstone, gravestone
Mármol – marble
Nieto – grandson, grandchild
Ni siquiera – even
Paso – (walking movement) step, footstep
Pelear – to fight
Pintor – painter, artist
Placer – to satisfy, to please; satisfaction, pleasure
Prodigio – wonder, marvel
Puente – bridge
Quedar de una pieza – stunned
Recatar – to rescue, to save, to free
Recordar – to remember
Recuperar – to recover, to get back, to reclaim
Redomar – flask
Retrasar – to postpone, to delay
Retratar – to paint a portrait of, to take a picture of
Retrato – portrait
Sanguinario – bloodthirsty, cruel
Señas – (gesture) sign; address, direction
Sinvergüenza – (impudent person) shameless; (despicable person) swine
Soñado – dream
Sueño – dream; sleepy; sleep
Taller – workshop, studio
Tal vez – may be, possibly
Tanto si – whether; if; so much if
Tiento – caution, care
Tribulación – tribulation, a cause of great trouble or suffering
Tunda – beating, thrashing
Uña – nail, fingernail
Velar – to keep vigil over
Vena – vein
Volverse – to become, to grow into
Zancada – stride