From Cuentos Populares en Chile (Chilean Folktales) – by Ramón A. Laval
Part 1 – Magnificent Stories, Stories of Animals, Anecdotes (Cuentos maravillosos, Cuentos de animales, Anécdotas)
008. The Body Without Soul (El Cuerpo Sin Alma)
(Referred to in 1912 by 50-year old Beatriz Montecinos from Talca)
Know to tell and tell to know.
There was a gentleman who had a very large and very beautiful farm near the city, but no one could live on it due to a curse that, without knowing how or why, those who tried to work the lands would turn up dead the next day. The gentleman was desperate [for a way to rid the farm of the curse], and offered to give half of the farm outputs to anyone who dared to sow the lands.
There was a very poor widow in the same city, who had three sons, [all] determined and brave, who agreed to move to the farm to work its lands. They set out with each carrying a piece of bread and a slice of cheese, since the little money that they had was not enough for more.
They had walked for a good distance when the youngest stepped away from his brothers due to an urgent needs, while his two older brothers continued on their way. He was on his way to join them when a poor old woman came up to him and asked for alms. He, being compassionate for her plight, gave her the bread and cheese that he was carrying with him, and then the old woman thanked him with a little wand, saying that it had magical power and that it would give him whatever that he asked of it, then she disappeared.
The three brothers arrived at the farm very early in the morning and agreed that while the two younger ones went to work, the oldest would stay and cook for the three of them.
The younger ones went to work and when the oldest had completed making their meals and was ready to serve them, an enormous Culebrón came out of a well near the kitchen, and the young man, out of fright, fell backwards and almost died from the fall.
Your life or the food, -the Culebrón said to him.
The food, -replied the poor lad, being in a state of complete shock.
The Culebrón devoured the food and immediately disappeared down the well.
The other two brothers arrived a short time later, and they, having worked so hard, were exhausted from hunger. When they learned what had happened, they almost died from rage.
The next day the middle brother stayed behind to make meals, with the other two went to work, and the same thing happened as the day before: the Culebrón came out, ate the food, and left the three brothers starving again.
The youngest stayed behind on the third day, and at the moment that he took the pot off the fire, out came the Culebrón, who said to him:
Your life or the food.
Neither my life nor the food, -replied the lad, and facing the Culebrón with his wand in hand, he made it go back to its well after badly wounding it.
The other two brothers came back and they all ate their meals to their great satisfaction.
Then the youngest brother said:
In order for us to free ourselves from this nuisance, tie me with a rope and lower me down into the well and I will kill the Culebrón when I see it. When I move the rope, then it is time for you to pull me up.
The young man was lowered down, and at the bottom of a well he found a beautiful palace, which had all of its doors and windows closed. He knocked on them to no avail, for no one came out to open them for him. Then, taking out his wand, he said:
God and a little ant, -and immediately he was transformed into an ant. He was then able to enter through a crack and came to a room where there was a girl more beautiful than the sun. He climbed up to her side and suddenly gave her a bite.
Who bit me? -asked the girl.
It was me, miss, -replied the young man re-transformed into his human form.
Then they began to talk. The girl told him that there were three sisters, she and two others, who were daughters of the Culebrón, who had them locked up under seven layers of doors and would not permit them to see anyone.
I will kill the Culebrón and free you all.
You won’t be able to kill him -she said to the young man- for my father is the Body Without Soul.
But you can find out where he puts his soul and then I will take care of him.
The girl went to her father, and with her the young man as well, after having transformed into an ant and attached to her side.
Papa, why do they call you the Body without Soul?
I won’t tell you, for walls have ears and shrubs have eyes.
But if we are the only ones here, and away from the world as we live, to whom can I confide what you are going to tell me?
Then he replied:
Daughter, you should know that in the neighboring mountain there is a lagoon: in the lagoon there is a bull; kill that bull and a lion will come out of its body; kill that lion and a double-quick (e.g. agile) fox will come out, one that no one in the world can catch up to; inside that fox is a dove; and inside that dove, an egg; That egg is my soul, and if it is broken, then I am dead.
They continued talking for a while about other things and the girl retired to her room soon after. Immediately the young man went running to the lagoon, and he had barely reached the shoreline when a bellowing bull came out and dug its hooves into the earth in a frightening manner.
God and a fiercest bull among them all -said the young man with his wand, and at once he turned into a bull and began to fight with the one which had come out from the lagoon, until he killed it. From the dead bull’s snout came a lion, which brought the sky down with its roars.
God and a bravest lion among them all -said the young man to the wand, and he was transformed into a lion, after which he then savagely attacked his opponent and killed it. Then the fast running fox came out from the snout of the dead lion, and it ran so fast and so well that no one could see its paws.
God and a foxhound, of the fastest and fiercest kind, -said the young man, and at that instant he was transformed into a foxhound, which ran so fast that its paws did not touch the ground. In just a short moment he caught up to the fox and dispatched it, too.
In the mean time the Body Without Soul felt very ill and made terrible sounding moans. The girl then went over to him to ask what was troubling him.
Go away, traitorous daughter -the Culebrón said to her- if you don’t want me to kill you.
A dove came out from the body of the fox, and it flew away and was lost from sight. The young man then said:
God and a fastest falcon there is; -and he was transformed into a falcon, which then gave chase to the dove, killed it and took from its crop the egg that was placed there, which was the soul of the Culebrón.
A short time later he was at the palace and showed the egg to the Culebrón, who was barely breathing [at this point], being so weak that he was. He said:
Do you recognize this?
How can I not recognize it, for it is my soul!
I will give it back to you if you will give me the bundle of keys to the palace.
The Body without Soul gave him the keys and the young man threw the egg at him, saying thus:
Here you have it.
But the egg hit the Culebrón’s forehead and burst, and the the Culebrón fell dead.
The young man went to free the three girls, but the youngest, who was the one that he had seen, did not want him to release the others, because she was in love with him and feared that her sisters, who were also very beautiful, would steal her love. But he said to her:
There are also three of us; my brothers will marry your sisters.
He freed the other two girls from their confinement and, tying the rope to the youngest one first, gave the signal and those above pulled her up. The two brothers, when they saw how beautiful the girl was, began to fight to see who would get to take her; but she said there were three of them and that the other two would come up later.
When all three girls had come up, the older brothers did not lower down the rope, with each one taking a girl and left the youngest one behind, he who was still staying in the well and was waiting in vain to come up.
A moment later after he had learned of his plight, and, troubled with grief from the betrayal of his brothers, instead of saying to the wand “take me seven levels above”, he said “take me seven levels below” and ended up reaching the land of the pygmies, where, from the violent crash when he landed, he was knocked unconscious. When he came back to his senses, the pygmies had stolen his magic wand.
The poor man began to suffer enormously and his misery reached such a state that he had to work as a herder for the flocks of the King of the Pygmies in order to sustain himself.
One day, he was weeping over his misfortune when a little Eagle appeared before him and asked:
Why are you so sad and crying thus?
How can I not cry, being so far away from my love and seeing myself in this state that I am in and without any hope of returning home?
I will take you away from here if you’d like; but you must take along a lot of meat, for the trip is long and we will have to cross the sea.
That is fine, we’ll take a lamb with us.
And the young man killed a lamb and divided it into four parts, which he put on the Eagle, and then he himself immediately climbed on it.
After flying for a while, the Eagle asked to be fed and he put a quarter of the lamb in its beak. They flew for some time, and the Eagle asked for more, and he gave it the second quarter; later on, the third; and finally the last one that remained.
They were flying over the sea when the Eagle said to him:
Friend, do we have any meat left? I’m losing strength and we will fall into the sea and drown if I don’t eat.
The young man cut off a leg of his and placed it in the Eagle’s beak. This was repeated twice more, and the young man had to cut of his other leg and left arm, which the Eagle devoured instantly. Suddenly the Eagle said:
We have arrived; get down, my friend, for your girl is in that palace; and you should hurry because she’s going to get married to a prince even though she does not want to, for she is waiting for you.
And how can I get down -replied the young man- when I don’t have any legs?
Just get down on the ground and don’t delay a moment longer, or they’ll leave you without a girl.
When he let himself fall down to the ground, the young man found himself with his two legs and his two arms, and if the lad had been good looking previously, he was much more handsome since then. Weeping with joy, he gave his thanks to the Eagle, and it, transforming into an angel, told him that it was his guardian, and seeing how sorrowful he was, it had come to get him out of his predicaments.
When he got to the palace where his love was, she was overjoyed upon seeing him, and instead of celebrating her wedding with the prince whom she was forced to marry, she wedded the young man who had gone through so much for her and who had been her first love. The celebration was dazzling and it was still ongoing to this day; I was a guest there and ate and drank nearly to the point of bursting myself. And here the story ended and the wind carried it away to the mountains further inland.
—– VOCABULARY —–
Fundo – (rural property) country estate; farm
Pretender – (to want) to intend, to expect; (to affirm) to claim; (to court) to woo
Sembrar – (agriculture) to plant, to sow; (figurative) (to sprinkle) to scatter, to strew, to spread
Decidido – (resolved) determined, resolute, decisive; (firm) wholehearted
Trasladarse – (to relocate) to move; (to go) to travel
Trecho – (section) stretch; (space) distance
Virtud – (quality) virtue; (capacity) power, ability
Convenir – (to be desirable) to be advisable, to be a good idea, to be worth; (to be a good time) to suit, to be convenient; (to be beneficial) to do good, to do well, to be in the interest of, to be good for; (to be in agreement; used with “en”) to agree on, to agree to, to agree
Tableta – (medicine) tablet, pill; (computing) tablet; (slab for writing on) tablet
Olla – (cookware) pot
En facha – aback
Facha – (appearance) look; (countenance) face; (dreadful appearance) mess, sight
Estorbo – (drag) nuisance, hindrance
Amarrar – (to fasten) to tie, to tie up, to moor; (to secure) (Latin America) to clinch, to tie up
Cordel – (twine) cord, string; (thick cord) (Chile) rope
Descolgar – (to get down) to take down (a painting or the curtains); (to move down) to lower; (to lift a telephone receiver) to pick up; (to answer the telephone) to pick up; descolgarse – (to descend) to lower oneself, to let oneself down
Cuerda – (thick cord) rope; (thin cord) string; (anatomy) cord; (musical instrument part) string; (weaponry) bowstring
Inútilmente – uselessly, vainly, fruitlessly, to no avail
Rendija – (cleft) crack, crevice; (aperture) gap; (trace) glimmer; (omission) loophole
Costado – (of an object) side; (anatomy) side
De repente – (all at once) suddenly, all of a sudden; (possibly) maybe, perhaps
Picar – (to be hurt by an animal) to sting, to bite, to peck at (birds); (to snack on) to eat, to nibble on; (to divide into pieces) to chop, to mince, to grind, to cut, to crush (ice); (mining) to break up (in big pieces), to chip (in small pieces); (to perforate) to punch; (to antagonize) to needle; (horce racing) to spur on; (bullfighting) to goad, to prod; (music) to play staccato
Averiguar – (to uncover) to find out, to discover;
Pegado – (adhered) glued, stuck; (adjacent to); (surprised) (Spain) stunned; (injured or killed with electricity) fried, electrocuted
Matorral – (undergrowth) thicket, bushes; (area of land) scrubland
Quebrar – (to smash) to break, to snap; (legal) to break; (to make curved) to bend
Escarbar – (to excavate) to dig (deep), to scratch around in (superficially), to dig up (causing damage)
Hocico – (of an animal) snout, nose, muzzle
Rugir – (to cry) to roar, bellow; (to make loud noise) to roar, to bellow, to rumble
Rudamente – (brusquely) roughly
Ligero – (not heavy) light, lightweight (material or structure); (culinary) light; (beverage) light; (not thick) thin (fabric)
Despachar – (to solve) to deal with, to take care of, to see to; (to direct) to send, to dispatch (merchandise), to ship; (to conclude) to finish
Quejido – moan, groan, cry, whine
Halcón – (animal) falcon; (politics) hardliner, hawk
Buche – (of an animal) crop (of bird), maw; (anatomy) belly; (swallow) mouthful, slug, shot; (illness) goiter
Manojo – (group) bunch, handful
Disparar – (to discharge) to shoot, to fire; (sports) to shoot, to take; (photography) to shoot, to take
Reventarse – (to be destroyed) to burst, to break, to explode; (to collide with) to crash into, to run into
Amarrar – (to fasten) to tie, to tie up, to moor (nautical); (to secure) (Latin America) to clinch, to tie up
Turbado – (agitated) disturbed; (worried) alarmed
Pena – (sympathy) pity, shame, sad (adjective); (sadness) sorrow; (trouble) problem
Pigmeos – (any of a small people of equatorial Africa) pygmy, pygmies
Demorar – (to set back) to delay, to hold up; (to spend a certain time on) to take; (to spend too long) to take long, to be long
Arder – (to be on fire) to burn; (to be at high temperature) to be boiling hot; (to feel stinging) to sting, to burn, to smart; (emotion) to burn, to seethe
Serranía – (geography) mountain range, mountains, mountainous area