058. The Three Gifts of Peter (Pedro) (Los Tres Prendas De Pedro)
Once upon a time there were two brothers called Pedro and Juan, who decided to travel the world to make a living [for themselves]. They set out on their journey in this way until they saw that the road on which they had been traveling together was splitting into two. Then Pedro said to his brother:
Here we will go our own way. You will travel down one path and I the other, and within a week we’ll meet here again to see how things went.
And this they did.
Pedro walked and walked, and by dint of walking he entered a forest and came out to a mountain, where he ran into a man at the entrance of a cave. The man called for him and said that, if he would serve him as a servant for three days, he would make him rich forever.
This sounded good to Pedro, and the man took him into the cave, showed him a candle which was burning on a rock and told him:
You will remain here until the candle raises up by itself and comes to the bed; then you will follow it and lie down on that bed.
The man disappeared after saying this and Pedro remained there waiting. After a while, the candle moved and he followed it and lie down on the bed. But, shortly after lying down, he began to hear noises and became afraid [of this]. The noises grew louder and louder and Pedro [then] thought to himself: “I’ll leave here as soon as the sun rises, for there’s not a single person who can deal with this.”
So as soon as dawn came and the man appeared, Pedro said to him:
Look, I’m leaving, for this place is truly frightful.
That is fine -said the man-. Take this tortilla and this bottle of wine that I have brought here for you, and then you can go; but if you leave, I will not pay you anything for the night that you spent here.
When Pedro ate the tortilla and drank the wine, he felt so much at eased that he said to himself: “Well, having eaten and drunk and with how quiet everything seems, it is quite possible to stay in this cave [for another night].”
And so he stayed on. Night came and the man left Pedro [alone] with the candle burning on the rock. And the same thing happened as in the first night: the candle went to the bed and Pedro lie down on it. But after a short while the noises and uproars began, and Pedro, being scared to death, said to himself: “This time is the last time. I’m out of here tomorrow as soon as the sun rises.”
The sun went up the next day and the man showed up again with a tortilla and a bottle of wine. And Pedro said to him as soon as he saw him coming:
Look here, this time I’m really leaving, for you don’t know what I had been through last night.
That’s fine -said the man-. But I will not pay you anything for the two nights that you had spent here. Besides, you only have one night left to become rich.
Pedro began to eat and drink and immediately thought that, having eaten and drunk well and with the peace and quietude, he could well remain in that place. So that he resolved to spend the third night there.
Night came and everything happened again as in the previous times, he followed the candle and lie down to sleep. And at that moment there were noises as if chains were being dragged [on the road] and he heard a voice which said over and over again:
Oi, I’m falling! Oi, I’m falling!
He said this so many times that Pedro, being scared to death, replied:
Well, then fall at once already!
And the man’s [arms and] legs fell on the bed. And the voice continued saying:
Oi, I’m falling!
Well, then fall at once already! -Pedro said again.
And a body fell down. And the voice continued saying:
Oi, I’m falling!
Well, then fall at once already! -Pedro repeated.
And the head fell down. And when the head fell, the parts came together and formed a man; and the man stood up and Pedro saw that he was the one who had hired him as a servant. And the man said:
Thank you for having had the courage to spend the three nights here; you have saved me from my curse and, as I promised you, I am going to give you three gifts that would make you rich.
And he gave him a bag from which he could withdraw all the money he [could have] wanted without ever running out; and a sword with which he could always defeat all those who fought against him; and a blanket [rug] with which he would say “Blanket, to such and such a place”, and to that place it would take him.
Pedro left there pleased as punch, and he went on his way to the place where he had agreed to meet with his brother. And there was Juan, who told him that he had found a master [to serve], and Pedro told him:
Well, I, too had found a master, but I left him and brought this instead.
And he showed him the bag; and he [also] gave him so much money that Juan was able to leave the master he had and buy a house and land to live on his own.
After all this, Pedro took to traveling and went from one place to another on the rug, spending money hand over fist. Until, after much going to and fro, a powerful king found out that Pedro had the three gifts and sent for him to his palace. And the king said to him:
If you give me the three gifts (e.g. items) that you have, I will marry my daughter to you as wife.
The king’s daughter was an only child, so Pedro thought that if he married her, he would eventually inherit the three items and they would become his again. So he gave the king the three items; but as soon as the king had them in his hands, he had him thrown out of the palace and would not marry his daughter to him.
Crestfallen, Pedro went away searching for work somewhere where no one knew him, because he was ashamed of having been deceived. And he found work in the house of a gardener.
When the fruits were in season, the gardener, who was happy with Pedro[‘s work], warned him that he could eat whatever fruits that he wanted, but not to try any of the pears nor the apricots. And Pedro, being intrigued by this, said to himself: “Why doesn’t the master want me to eat these pears? Well, I am going to try one!”
He ate it and a horn came out; and on seeing himself like this, he said: “What worse could have happened to me? Well, I’m going to eat an apricot and see what happens.”
He ate the apricot and that removed the horn. Then he thought about what the king had done to him and said: “Now it’s my turn [to get revenge]!”
So he gathered a few pears and apricots, put them in a bag and said goodbye to his master. And with the money that the master gave him, he bought himself a physician’s garb.
He came to the gate of the king’s palace and offered the pears for sale, and as they looked delicious, they were bought right away and were put on the table that very same day. The king, the queen, and the princess ate them for dessert and, as soon as they finished, horrible-looking horns grew out [from their foreheads] and they had to hide away in shame.
They called on all the physicians in the kingdom to see if anyone could remove those things from their heads, but none could find a remedy. Then Pedro put on his physician’s garb and went to the palace, saying that he was committed to curing any illness of any patient who was in that area. They brought him before the king where Pedro examined his head with great care and said:
I can remove these horns if you would give me a bag that you have.
And the king responded:
I will give you whatever you want, but not the bag.
And Pedro said:
Well then you can keep your horns, for I will not remove them for you.
As Pedro was leaving, the queen said to the king:
Are you so attached to money that you would rather look like a deer than lose a bag?
Then the king handed the bag to Pedro, who then asked for a bowl of water and put an apricot in it. He smeared the horns with the water and gave small pieces of the apricot to the king to eat. And soon the king’s horns disappeared.
Then he examined the queen and said:
I can remove these horns if you would give me a sword that the king has.
The king said to not even think about it, for he would not give him the sword, but the queen was indignant and said to him:
Now that you no longer have any horns, do you want me to remain with mine?
The king growled, then gave the sword to Pedro, who did the same thing on the queen as he had on the king and her horns also disappeared. Then the princess appeared in tears and begged Pedro to remove the horns on her, for if not, she would never be able to marry.
Well -said Pedro-, I’ll remove them, but you must lie down on a rug that your father has in the courtyard.
So the princess spread the rug in the courtyard, lie on it and Pedro, without thinking twice about it, put him by her side and shouted:
Rug, to Rome!
And in a flash they were off to Rome. There, Pedro said to the princess that if she would marry him, then he would remove the horns from her. The princess accepted immediately, so Pedro gave her an apricot to eat and her horns also disappeared. After they were married, they went to live in the house and land that Juan had bought with the money that Pedro gave him. And Juan was so intrigued [by the fact] that his brother had married a princess that one day he asked him [about it], out of great curiosity:
How did you manage to steal the king’s daughter?
And Pedro told him of how he had sat on the rug with her and how they escaped from the king’s palace. And Juan, who was a little envious [of his brother], found out where his brother kept the rug, spread it out and stood on it; but, as he did not know the names of [different] places nor where he wanted to go, he began to go from one place to another without stopping until he became so tired that he said:
Rug, to where my brother Pedro is!
And he got back home, apologized to his brother and went to sleep because he was exhausted from so much traveling. Then Pedro hid the rug again and everyone lived there quietly, happily, and full of satisfaction.
—– VOCABULARY —–
Acabarse – to run out
Acostarse – to go to bed, to go to sleep; (to recline) to lie down
A fuerza de – as a result of, by dint of
Albaricoques – apricots
Apego – (affection) attachment, fondness
Arder – to burn; to be boiling hot; to sting, to burn
Arrastrar – (to move along the ground) to drag; (to pull) to sweep away (a river), to blow along (wind)
Arreglarse – (to do with or without) to manage
Asustado – scared, frightened
Cadena – chain
Ciervo – deer, stag, hind, doe
Comprometerse – (to pledge to do something) to commit oneself, to promise
Conque – thus, so, so then
Contratar – to employ, to hire
Cuenco – earthenware bowl
Cuerno – horn
Darse por – (to become keen on) to take to, to take up, to be into
De postre – for dessert
Despedirse – (to see off) to say goodbye
Dirigirse – to move toward; (to talk to) to address
En cuanto – as soon as
Engañado – deceived
Enseñarse – to teach; to show
Enterarse de – to find out
En un santiamén – in a flash
Espanto – fright, terror, horror
Esperar – (to await) to wait for; (to wish) to hope; (to count on) to expect
Estruendo – (loud sound) crash, din, boom; uproar
Gacho – (bent down) drooping, hanging, turned down
Gastar – to spend, to use
Heredar – to inherit
Hortelano – gardener, garden
Jamás – (not ever) never
Manta – blanket; rug
Meterse – to go in, to get into
Molido – exhausted
Ni corto ni perezoso – without thinking twice
Orejas – ears
Pascua – Easter; Passover
Pierna – leg
Prenda – article of clothings, garments
Que ni hablar – not to speak
Refunfuñar – to grumble, to growl
Tenderse – (to recline) to lie down
Traje – (clothing) suit
Trocito – small piece
Vencer – to defeat, to overcome
Vergüenza – (ignominy) embarrassment, disgrace; (indignity) shame