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)
009. The Orphaned Lamb (La Huachita Cordera)
[Nguyen: I think huachita is another form of “guacho”, which translates to “orphan” in English: https://www.spanishdict.com/translate/huacho, or https://dle.rae.es/guacho?m=form.]
(Referred by 14-year old Mercedes Albornoz in April of 1914, Villa Alegre).
There was a man who lived in the countryside and was a widower with two small children: a little boy and a little girl. The man was poor, and in order to feed his children he had to start working before the sun went up everyday. And as the children were not yet capable of doing any chores, he left them in the care of a neighbor who treated them with great affection, helped washed their little clothes and always kept them well-fed.
Fast forward some time and the man’s situation had improved a little, when he then married the neighbor. But things changed after the marriage, where as soon as her husband left the house for work, she would force the children to keep watch over the fire, to go fetch her water from the river and put them in buckets that were very heavy for their age, to sweep and run other errands which were beyond their meager strength; and if the firewood did not burn well, or the buckets were not completely filled, or a little dirt remained on the floor, she would harshly beat them with the first thing she could find in her hand.
One day, the boy said to the girl: –Let’s run away, little sister; why should we suffer so much here? -and very early that next day they rose from their bed, left the house where they were born in and set out on their travel, feeding on fruits and herbs and sleeping in mountain caves or abandoned huts that they found on their way.
After many days of walking, they came to a deserted area, without houses nor trees, where the heat from the sun was felt with all its force. The children were dying with thirst, yet they could not find water anywhere to quench it. At last they came to the shore of a lagoon, and when they were ready to take a drink, they heard a voice which said:
She who drinks this water will turn into a shark and devours her brother.
Sister, let us not drink this water -said the boy- let’s put up with our thirst and continue on, perhaps we will find a good water source later on.
They were very sad as they left the lagoon, and became more and more thirsty as time passed by; but then they stumbled upon a well and their hearts were gladdened [with the discovery]. Using a rope that was on the ground next to the parapet, they tied it to a pot that was nearby and threw it into the well. And when they raised it up completely filled with water, a voice came out from the well that said:
She who drinks this water will turn into a serpent and devour her brother.
Sister, let’s not drink this water -said the boy- let’s put up with our thirst and continue on, perhaps we will find a good water source later on.
The girl was on the verge of being unable to put up any longer, and if it had not been for the warning that if she were to drink that water she would devour her brother, she would have drunk it to quench her thirst.
They continued on their way in a downcast mood, weak, nearly without any strength left to walk, but after just a few steps they stumbled on a stream of fresh, crystal-clear water. They threw themselves face flat on the ground to drink and when their dry mouths were about to be wet, they heard these words coming from the stream:
She who drinks this water will become a little lamb.
Sister, let us not drink… -the boy had barely spoken those words when he saw his sister turned into a lamb. The poor child, not hearing any warning about devouring her brother if she were to drink the water, quickly quenched her thirst and managed to swallow several gulps of that cursed water.
It’s easy to imagine what this tragedy had brought upon the children, who now had no consolation other than to converse and communicate their sorrows to one another, because fortunately for them, as the girl underwent her transformation, she had not lost her ability to speak. However, the boy cried a lot; he could not get used to seeing his sister turned into an animal.
One day an old woman waylaid the boy.
Why are you crying so much, little boy? -she asked him.
How can I not cry, mamita, with the misfortune that had befallen us? What I wouldn’t give to see my sister turn into human form again!
[Nguyen: mamita is like mommy, ma’am, etc.]
My son, that is not possible at this moment; but with this magic wand that I am going to hide under the wool of the Lamb, she will get whatever she wants; she will also be able to turn into a woman for three hours at a time whenever she wishes, and forever when a prince wants to marry her.
And she disappeared after placing a wand underneath the Lamb’s wool.
From that moment the little Lamb stopped crying and one could see her skipping and running around her brother and bleating merrily; for she knew that she was not to speak to him except when they were alone by themselves.
Some time passed and the boy had now become a man, when he went into service as a shepherd of the King’s flocks, who, as he was a kind man, permitted the young man to keep the little Lamb with him.
It so happened that on the first night in which the shepherd was employed, the King’s son took a walk through the courtyard where the servants were staying and was surprised to hear a female voice from the room furthest away, which was the one occupied by the shepherd and his little Lamb. He stopped to listen in order to tell the Queen, his mother, what he heard, since it was forbidden for the maids to enter that rooms in that courtyard; but he only heard murmurs and could not understand a word that was said. The following day, the Prince told his mother what had happened, and in the evening, when the shepherd returned after putting the flocks back into their pens, he was led into the presence of the Queen.
When the Queen asked him who was the woman who had been in his room the night before, he replied thus:
I was not, ma’am, with any woman, but with a little huachita Lamb that the King, my Lord, had permitted me to keep by my side and to whom I have managed to teach a few words. (He did not dare to tell her the truth).
And what words does she know? -asked the admiring Queen.
She can now say papá, mamá, brother, and others.
Bring me the little Lamb; I want to see her.
The young man went to his room and told his sister what he had said to the queen. He advised her to say no other words beyond what he had told the Queen that he had taught her, then led her into the presence of the sovereign.
The little Lamb bathed herself everyday in the river, so she was always very clean. The queen was captivated by the Lamb and asked the shepherd to leave it with her, promising that she would take great care of it.
[Nguyen: I’ll use both pronouns “it” and “her” to address the lamb.]
The Queen became very fond of the Lamb and it, in turn, went everywhere with her. The little Lamb called her mamá; it called the King papá, and the Prince brother.
One day, the Queen said to herself: –If a rustic shepherd can teach this small animal to pronounce a few words, why shouldn’t I be able to make it learn to speak like a human?
And since that day she began to teach the Lamb to talk, and [at first] the little Lamb pretended to not know how to do this, but that little by little it [managed to] learn how to speak [like a human being].
This went on for some time until one day when, in order to celebrate a victory won by the King, great festivities were organized, among which were horse races that must be attended by the entire Court.
When that day came, the little Lamb, who until then had not made use of the magical power granted to her, also wanted to go to the races; and after the King, Queen, Prince and the other royal family members who lived in the palace had left, she too went out to the countryside without anyone seeing her, and beside a hawthorn shrub that was there, she said:
Magical wand, by the power that God had given you, transform me into a woman, dressed in a garment of the color of the stars and let a silver carriage drawn by two pairs of horses and serviced by three pages appear here to take me to the celebrations. -And immediately she found herself transformed into a beautiful young woman, dressed as she had requested and with a carriage serviced by the three pages. The sheepskin was at her side, and when she got on the carriage she left it hanging on a branch of the hawthorn shrub. Then she set out to the celebrations.
When she arrived at the square, she attracted everyone’s attention for her beauty and elegance and splendor of her dress. No one knew who she was, and they were saying to one another: “Where did this princess come from?” The Prince, above all, paid great attention to her and fell hopelessly in love with her. When it was time for her to leave, the Prince asked her if she would return the next day and she replied yes.
No one talked about anything else at the celebrations for the rest of the day; the unknown beautiful young woman was everyone’s sole concern.
The next day came and everyone went to the races.
Once the little Lamb found herself alone, she returned to the countryside, and at the hawthorn shrub she asked the wand to transform her into a woman, dressed in a garment of the color of the moon and stars and be taken to the celebrations in a golden carriage drawn by three pairs of horses and serviced by six pages; and at once everything was done as she had requested. She left the sheepskin hanging from a branch of the hawthorn shrub, got onto the carriage and went to the celebrations.
Upon her entrance, the attention of the crowd was focused on her, and if they had found her to be beautiful the day before, they found her to be even more beautiful on this day. The Prince, still even more in love with her, went and put himself by her side, and there he was talking with her until the moment when the young lady rose to leave.
The next day was the last for the races. The crowd’s turnout was [also the] greatest, it can be said that the entire city came out to witness the events.
At the same hour as in the previous days, the young woman arrived in a diamond carriage drawn by four pairs of horses and serviced by twelve pages; her garment was of the color of the moon, and the stars and the rising sun, and if they had found her pretty the previous two times, they would have found her even prettier this time around. All eyes were keyed in on her, and from the lips of the crowd came nothing but praise in her honor. As soon as the Prince saw her, he went over and sat by her side to court her. When he was talking to her most enthusiastically, a page came by with a message from the Queen and the Prince had to leave his seat for a moment; and on his return he found that the girl had already left.
The celebrations came to an end and no one saw the young woman again.
The Prince became very sad and languished rapidly. The physicians could do nothing to cure his illness and the King and Queen were mourning for the coming death of their only son.
One day, when all hope for a cure was lost, the little Lamb said to the Queen:
Mamá, would you like for me to go and care for your son? Perhaps I can help him heal from the sickness!
What was the harm in allowing her to do so! The queen agreed and she herself led the little Lamb to the Prince’s room and left her there.
As soon as the Queen left the room, the little Lamb quietly asked the wand to transform her into the same young woman, dressed in the same garments that she had appeared at the celebrations, and once she was transformed, she approached the patient and sweetly called out for him. The Prince opened his eyes, and at the sight of his beloved he felt life had once more returned within him.
For three hours they chatted happily and when this was over, the young woman was transformed back into the Huachita Lamb.
[Nguyen: huachita means sweet, sweety, etc.]
The Prince then called for his parents and said to them:
Father and mother, the little Lamb has healed me; I am perfectly fine and it is necessary for you to let me marry her.
The Prince had barely finished his words when the prediction from the old woman who had given the little Lamb her magical power came true, she was forever transformed back into the beautiful girl that everyone had seen at the celebrations, and the Sovereigns, filled with contentment, agreed to the marriage between their son and the young woman.
The bride and groom were very happily married and lived together in a perpetual honeymoon and had many children.
The brother of the young woman, which until the day before the wedding had continued to serve as a shepherd, was ennobled and stayed at the Court, performing very important tasks for the Royal Family.
And here the story ended and the wind carried it away.
—– VOCABULARY —–
Huachita – sweety (Chile)
Balde – (container) pail; bucket
Barrer – (to clean with broom) to sweep; (to carry away) to sweep; (to search) to sweep
Escasa – (insufficient) scarce, limited, scant, short; (just) mere, barely; (miserly) stingy
Basura – (waste) trash, garbage, rubbish, litter; (container) garbage can, trash can, dustbin, rubbish bin
A la ventura – by chance, at a venture, aimlessly, at random
Aplacar – (to pacify) to appease, to placate, to soothe, to calm down; (to mitigate) to satisfy (hunger), to quench (thirst), to soothe (pain), to ease (pain), to appease (guilt, wrath, anger); aplacarse – (to relax) to calm down; (to lose intensity) to die down, to abate
Aguantar – (to withstand) to bear, to take, to support, to hold, to hold up; (to tolerate) to put up with, to endure, to stand, to bear; (to stifle) to hold (breath), to hold back; (to endure) to last
Puede ser – (in replies, used to express uncertainty) maybe, perhaps, it’s possible
Sediento – (dry) thirsty; (figurative) (eager for) hungry (figurative), thirsty (figurative)
Tropezar – (to hit accidentally; often used with “con”) to trip, to stumble; tropezarse – (to meet) to run into
Brocal – (framework around top of well) parapet, curb; (edge) rim
Tiesto – (container for plants) flowerpot; (basin) (Southern Cone) bowl
Alzar – (to move to a higher position) to lift, to raise, to elevate (religious), to hoist; (to put up) to erect
Sierpe – serpent, snake; (spiteful person) viper
Echar de bruces – flat on one’s face, face down, face-first
Fauces – (animal’s mouth) jaws, maw, fauces
Humedecerse – (to saturate) to get damp, to get wet, to get moist, to fill with tears (eyes); Humedecer – (to saturate) to moisten, to dampen, to wet
Alcanzar – (to get to) to reach, to catch, to catch up with; (to rise to) to reach; (to accomplish) to achieve; (to be sufficient) to be enough
Tragar – (to ingest) to swallow; (to absorb) to soak up; (to bear) to stand; (to use up) to guzzle, to be heavy on, to use
Sorbo – (action of sipping) sip; (swig) mouthful, swallow, gulp
Consuelo – (relief) comfort, consolation, solace
Brincar – (to bounce around) to jump, to skip, to jump up and down, to gambol, to cavort; (to jump on one leg) to hop; (to jump) to skip; (to omit) to skip
Balar – (to make the cry of a sheep) to bleat, to baa
Bondadoso – (benevolent) kind, kind-hearted, good-natured
Murmullo – (low voice) murmur, whisper; (low sound) murmur (water, wind, trees), whispering (wind), rustling (leaves); (medicine) murmur
Aposento – (somewhere to stay) lodging, lodgings, accomodations; (bedroom) room, chamber
Concurrir – (to turn out) to attend, to go; (to participate) to take part, to run (for a position), to compete (in a competition); (to unite) to come together, to contribute, to combine; (to cross) to meet, to converge; (to accord) to agree
Potentado – (powerful businessperson) magnate, tycoon, baron, fat cat; (ruler) potentate
Espino – (botany) hawthorn
Carroza – (vehicle) float (of carnival or parade), carriage, hearse (funeral)
Arrastrar – (to move along the ground) to drag, to sweep (clothing), to brush (clothing); (to pull) to sweep away (a river), to carry out (the ocean), to blow along (wind); (automobile) to tow; (finance) to drag down; (to be ill with) to drag on; (to lure) to draw, to attract; (to persuade) to influence, to win over; (to mumble) to slur
Pajes – (personal attendant of a knight or gentleman) page; (attendant to a bride) pageboy, page
Atraer – (to excite interest) to attract, to draw; (physics) to attract; (to encourage) to attract, to draw; (to be captivated by) to attract; (to interest) to appeal
Atender – (to care for) to look for, to deal with, to take care of; (to provide a service to) to attend to, to see, to serve, to assist; (to fulfill) to respond to, to meet
Carruaje – (vehicle) carriage
Afluencia – (abundance) influx; (attendance) turnout; (stream) flow; (wealth) affluence
Muchedumbre – (group of people) crowd, throng; (large number) mass
Alabanza – (words of admiration) praise
Recado – (correspondence) message; (task) errand
Quedito – very softly, very quietly, very gently
Ataviado – (wearing formal clothes; used with “con” or “de”) dressed up in, attired in, clothed in
Vaticinio – prediction, forecast
Henchir – (to make full; often used with “de”) to fill, to fill up, to swell
Desempeñar – (to execute) to carry out, to hold (a position), to play (a role); (to retrieve valuables) to redeem; (theater) to play