095. The Seven-Headed and Seven-Tailed Serpent (La Serpiente de Siete Cabezas y Siete Colas)
Once upon a time there was a king who had three sons and he did not know which among them to name as his heir to succeed him when he died. After much pondering, he decided to leave his crown to one among the three who [could] demonstrate to be the wisest and kindest. So he summoned them, gave each a bag of money and a horse and told them that, in a year time, they would present themselves to him again; and the one who had shown to be kindest and had best used the money he was given would be named as his heir. And without further ado, the three went their separate ways.
The eldest used his money to acquire five cargo ships that sailed all over the world transporting valuable merchandise, and he became rich with these profits. The middle son bought hundreds of purebred horses, which grew and had thousands of foals and fillies that were worth a fortune. The youngest, on the other hand, began to distribute his money among the needy and, in time, ended up poorer than a rat.
After one year, the three returned to the palace. The two older ones appeared full of riches and very well-dressed. The youngest, on the other hand, arrived with nothing, poor and dressed in tatters. His two brothers took him for a fool and laughed behind his back. The king, on the other hand, said that he had demonstrated to have a much kinder heart than his two brothers and also that, before he’d make a decision, he wanted to see what the youngest would do if he was to give him another bag of money; and that, if he demonstrated to be as kind-hearted as he had been until then, he would be heir to the crown.
The young prince took the bag of money given to him by his father and set out on the road again. On his way, he passed by a cemetery where he saw a gang of thieves who had dug up [the grave of] a dead man. The prince, surprised, asked them what they were doing and they replied that they were going to use the flesh [of the corpse] to make tallow to grease carts, and the bones to make flutes; and they would sell the flutes and tallow later, which [would] pay them well.
When the prince heard this, he was horrified and offered them all the money that he had with him if they would bury the dead man again and leave him in peace. And the thieves, naturally, accepted the offer, left the dead man [alone] and went on their way with the money.
Then, the dead man stood up as if he was alive and thanked the prince for what he had done for him. And he offered to accompany him, saying that he’d save him from all the dangers that might come his way; but – he added – they would have to partake equally in all the business that came their way. And the young prince, with his kind heart, accepted the deal.
So they set out and soon arrived at a large city, in which there was a great commotion. They asked what had happened and were told that it was from a large party because the king’s daughter was getting married. And the dead man said to the prince:
– Instead of getting married with her fiance, who is now heading to church, the princess will marry you, but we’d have to partake equally in this matter.
So they went to church and lo and behold, when the kings and the princess and all the retinue and cheering subjects were already gathered in front of the church, the fiance had a [coughing] fit and died right there. The princess and her parents and relatives did [could do] nothing but weep at the sight of such a sad [turn of] event. Then, following the counsel of the dead man, the prince approached to console them. And when they saw such a handsome and courteous and kind-hearted man, the bride’s father told him that, if he liked his daughter, he could marry her. The prince, who had fallen in love with the princess as soon as he saw her, said yes; and without further ado, they entered church and wedded then and there. And later they celebrated the wedding banquet to the great joy of all.
When it was time to go to bed, the dead man said to the prince that, as they had agreed to partake equally in all things, it was his turn to sleep with the princess and not the prince’s. The prince did not find this amusing, but a deal was a deal and he was set to accept it.
And it happened that, at midnight, they began to hear dreadful snoring [sounds] that came from the princess’s belly; [and] so the belly of the princess suddenly opened and a serpent with seven heads and seven tails came out from it. The dead man then took a sword and cut off the seven heads and the seven tails, and the serpent, bellowing [hissing?] furiously, went back into the belly of the princess.
On learning this, the prince understood what a great favor the dead man had done for him, as he had promised to save him from all the dangers, and he thought of how lucky he was to have made that deal of partaking equally in all matters with the dead man.
The following day, after they had eaten, the dead man said to the price that they had to cut up the princess. The prince was horrified [on hearing this], wondering how they could divide the bride into two pieces, but the dead man immediately came up with a solution. He told him that they must tie the hands and legs of the princess to the tails of four horses; then they would goad them [the horses] and the princess would be quartered into four parts, two for the dead man and two for the prince.
To the prince this seemed like madness, but, as he trusted the dead man, he accepted the proposal. They tied the princess as the dead man had said [suggested] and the four horses began to pull, each one in a [different] direction. And as soon as they began to pull, they felt bellows which shook the earth and the belly of the princess was opened again, and the serpent emerged from it once more, in which the seven heads and seven tails had regrown. The serpent bellowed [hissed] like a thousand demons together [at once] and attacked the dead man and the prince to swallow them alive, but the dead man skillfully used his sword to strike it in the heart and the serpent fell dead.
The dead man then picked up the four pieces of the princess, put them together and the princess came back to life as if nothing had happened. At that moment, the dead man turned to the prince and said:
– Prince, now I have saved you from all the dangers that besieged you and I have protected you until I saw you become king and husband. All this I have done in gratitude of the grand favor you did me when you saved me from those thieves. And now, since you no longer need me, I am going back to my grave.
And the kind-hearted prince found himself with two crowns, that which his father gave him and that which his father-in-law also gave him and, with that, he lived with his wife for a long time in holy peace and harmony.
—– VOCABULARY —–
Abrir de golpe – to fling open, to open suddenly
Aclamar – (to appoint to a position) to acclaim; (to laud) to applaud, to acclaim
Adquirir – (to get) to acquire, to gain, to achieve; (to buy) to purchase, to acquire
Alzar – (to move to a higher position) to lift, to raise, to elevate (religious), to hoist
A medias en – half-hearted; splitsies on; half in
Armonía – (music) harmony; (friendship) harmony; (balance) harmony
Asediar – (military) to lay siege to, to besiege; (to irritate) to bother, to pester
Atar – (to bind) to tie, to tie up, to tie down, to tether (livestock); (to impede) to tie down
Avispado – sharp, quick-witted, bright
Azuzar – (to encourage to attack) to set on; (to urge on) to egg on, to incite
Barbaridad – (cruelty) atrocity; (nonsense) madness, something stupid, outrageous
Beneficio – (finance) profit; (advantage) benefit; (mining) extraction; (religious) benefice
Bobalicón – (dumb) silly, stupid; (dumb person) fool, idiot
Bramar – (of animals) to roar (bull, lion), to bellow (bull, deer); (relating to weather) to howl (wind)
Carro – (wagon) cart
Cavilar – to ponder, to think deeply
Convite – (reception) banquet, feast; (request) invitation
Convocar – (to convoke) to call, to convene, to summon
Cortejo – (train of attendants) entourage, retinue, cortege, procession, party
Cuadrilla – (set of people) bunch, group; (group of workers) gang, team; (military) squad
De manera que – (in such a way that) so, so that; (used to introduce a statement) so
Dineral – fortune
Engrasar – (mechanics) to grease, to oil, to lubricate; (culinary) to grease;
Espantoso – (frightening) horrifying, horrific; (extremely bad) hideous, awful, horrible
Flauta – (musical instrument) flute
Gentil – (pleasant) courteous, kind, nice, helpful; (graceful) elegant, charming; (religious) gentile
Hábilmente – (expertly) skillfully; (shrewdly) cleverly
Hacer gracia – (to be amusing) to be funny
Herir – (to harm physically) to wound, to injure; (to offend) to hurt; (to beat) to hit, to strike
Ir a medias – to go fifty-fifty; to go halves
Jirón – (tear) shred, rag, tatters; (fragment) bit, shred
Nave – (transport) ship, vessel
Negocios – (commerce) business; (agreement) deal, transaction;
Nombrar – (to say the name of) to mention, to name
Pariente – (family member) relative, relation
Peripuesto – dolled-up, tarted-up; dressed-up, smart
Potrillo – (animal) foal
Rata – (animal) rat; (miser) cheapskate, tightwad; (bad person) rat
Raza – (ethnic group) race; (of an animal) breed
Repartirse – (to part) to give out, to distribute
Ronquido – (individual noise or action) snore; (series of noises or actions) snoring
Rugir – (to cry) to roar, bellow; (to make loud noise) to roar, to bellow, to rumble
Santa paz – holy peace
Sebo – (oily substance) fat, grease, tallow (for soaps, candles); (culinary) suet
Serpiente – snake, serpent
Súbditos – (person under the rule of a sovereign) subject; (member of a nation) citizen, national
Suegro – (via marriage) father-in-law
Surgir de – (to materialize from) to arise from, to come from, to emerge from, to appear
Tocar – (to be someone’s obligation or chance) to be someone’s turn
Tragarse – (to ingest) to swallow; (to absorb) to soak up (through the pores), to swallow up (making disappear), to engulf (covering completely; (to contain) to choke back, to swallow
Valioso – (costly) valuable; (appreciated) valuable; (old-fashioned) (rich) wealthy
Vientre – belly, abdomen, womb, bowels