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)
021. Chilindrín y Chilindrón (Chilindrín and Chilindrón)
(Recounted by 92-year old Anastasio Puga in 1917, from Guacarhue)
You should know that there was once a famous thief in the North, so wily and sharp when conducting his thefts that nothing could ever be proven against him, despite the fact that in many cases he was almost caught with his hand in the cake, as they would commonly say. His name was Chilindrín.
[Nguyen: “con las manos en la masa”, which literally translates to “with hands in the cake”, or “red-handed” as another way to say it.]
The fame of this thief spread throughout the country and reached Chilindrón, another famous thief who had established his camp in the South. And since there was a lot of talk about the other thief’s exploits and they being painted in such vivid colors, Chilindrón deeply wanted to get to know him, cultivate their friendship and ask to be named as his second, if what they said about him turned out to be true, that the other thief surpassed him [in skill] and scored a hundred and one in the difficult and dangerous art that they both practiced. And he set out [for the North] to offer him his services.
But, at that same time, the fame of Chilindrón went beyond the border [of the province] in which he committed his misdeeds, crossed the middle lands and arrived at the North; and his adventures, cloaked in the robes of marvelous [accomplishments], instilled in Chilindrín a vehement desire to get to know Chilindrón and put himself at his command, if the stories of his misdeeds were not exaggerated. And mounting on his horse, he left for the South. At the time there were no trains in the country, nor the roads well paved, so it took a long time for both to reach the outskirts of the capital. But after many setbacks and fatigues and long days of travel, Chilindrín arrived at a dense forest situated on a plain not far away from the city, where he dismounted from his horse, then sat down on the ground to rest, leaning his back against a leafy oak.
Shortly after, Chilindrín also arrived at the same place, and without dismounting from his horse, he greeted the other person resting [on the ground]:
Good morning, my friend, are you taking a nap?
No, friend; I’m only waiting for the heat to ease before continuing South.
Well I am heading to the North, and if you don’t mind, I’ll get down, and while waiting for [the cool] evening to arrive, we will smoke a cigar and have an idle chat to pass the time.
And dismounting from his horse, he sat down beside the other person and said:
Will you believe it, friend, that I have been traveling for twenty days without taking a rest? And perhaps I still have a long way to go before I can find the person that I’m looking for!
And may I know who is it that you are after? If the question is not indiscreet.
Indiscreet, no, but you know that walls have ears and shrubs have eyes; but as you inspire confidence in me, I will whisper in your ear that who I am looking for is the famous thief Chilindrín, who I’m told is the number one thief [in the land].
And he said all this quietly, very quietly, his mouth almost pressed against the ear of his interlocutor.
But, friend, I am Chilindrín, who have left my home turf to get to know Chilindrón, of whom they have told marvelous tales that never end.
And I am Chilindrón, my good friend.
And both thieves hugged each other effusively.
They chatted for a good while to build up trust between themselves; and after resting for a moment, they began this dialogue, starting with Chilindrón:
Friend, you can’t imagine how pleased I’d be if I can witness you performing one of your feats.
And I would give everything that I have to see you do one of those things that has given rise to your great fame.
Why don’t you start, little brother, for you come from the North.
Although this is not a reason for me to start, I will do so. Do you see that eagle nest at the top of this very oak tree? The eagle is resting in it and I will steal its eggs without it realizing my presence.
And Chilindrín spitted [saliva] in his hands, then climbed up the trunk of the tree with the gentleness and caution of a cat, and he did it so well that not even the slightest noise was heard.
Chilidrón waited for Chilindrín to climb halfway up the trunk, and then, imitating his newly made friend, he too spitted in his hands and climbed up behind him without being felt.
When Chilindrín reached the top of the tree, he skillfully placed his hand in the nest, and without the eagle realizing what was happening, removed an egg and put it in his pocket. But Chilindrón, who had also arrived after him, with the same tact and skill, put his hand in his friend’s pocket, removed the recently stolen egg and placed it in his own.
And this operation was repeated four times, with the eggs being transferred from the nest to Chilindrín’s pocket, and from Chilindrín’s pocket to Chilindrón’s, without neither the eagle nor Chilindrín noticing the tricks being played on them.
And immediately after pocketing the fourth egg, Chilindrón slid down the tree and with an air of feigned curiosity he began to watch as the famous northern thief came down, then addressing him as soon as he was on firm ground:
How did it go, friend? Did the eagle notice your presence?
She didn’t even move, friend. And here I have brought the eggs with me.
And Chilindrín put his hands in his pockets, moving from one to another, feeling his way around the entire body, and not finding anything, he exclaimed thus:
Good heaven! Where have I put them? Where have they gone?
Look no further, friend, -Chilidrón said to him,- here are the eggs which you stole from the eagle and which I stole from you as you were putting them in your pockets. Where there is one there is another, for everyone has that someone to lean on, and for a Chilindrín here you have a Chilindrón.
[For an explanation of “nunca falta un roto para un descosido”, please see here: https://cvc.cervantes.es/lengua/refranero/ficha.aspx?Par=59247&Lng=0. Here I translated it as “for everyone has that someone to lean on”.]
Here are five jasmines for you, friend! You are more of a devil than I imagined, and with you I have met my match. Let us swear to be brothers and to live and work together going forwards, and who then would be able to do anything against us?
And with a handshake they sealed the pact to always live and work together from then on out.
Our two thieves settled on the outskirts of the capital; and since they needed to have someone to take care of them in times of illness and to attend to the errands in the house, it was agreed that Chilindrín would marry a young and good-looking sister that Chilindrón had in the South and whom they asked to come live with them.
So Chilindrín married her and everything went fabulously well, as the two friends, with their thievery, were able to provide themselves with all sorts of comforts.
At that time the country was governed by a very rich King who had inherited an enormous fortune from his ancestors, which he, for his part, had added on prodigiously. The jewels, jewelry and gold coins that made up this fortune formed large piles that were kept in a very high tower built especially for this purpose. This tower stood at the foot of the palace, and which the King [always] visited on the first day of each month.
Our thieves, who heard about these riches, decided to steal them. And for this purpose, one night, passing through the roofs of one house after another, they arrived at the tower, and [acting] as if they were lizards, they attached themselves to the wall and climbed to the top. Here they found some sort of a window, or rather, a narrow opening, which had a thick iron bar placed across it. At this time, after breaking a [pane of] glass, they tied themselves with a rope that they had with them and lowered themselves down below, with Chilindrín going first, then being followed by Chilindrón.
The eyes of the thieves could not be satiated when they looked at the great fortunes in front of them, lit by the light of a lantern that they had with them; but it was necessary to leave before daylight, so they hurriedly stuffed their bags with what seemed most valuable to them, and climbing up through the rope, which they removed [afterward], they went home quite satisfied with their haul. The visit was repeated for several consecutive nights, with even greater success, for they took along [quite a few] sacks [with them] to carry what they stole.
But as the days passed by, one after another, without anyone being able to catch them due to how well they evaded the snare, the end of the month [finally] arrived. And the following day the King, accompanied by his ministers and advisors, went to the tower to deposit the money collected in the previous thirty days, and to admire his [ever increasing] riches.
Put yourself in the King’s position and you’ll realize how that miser of a monarch, who had his soul invested in his wealth, would feel when he saw the enormous hole left in the main pile by the thieves, where the most precious jewels were placed. His anger knew no bounds; unsheathing his saber, he charged at his ministers and advisors as if they were the thieves themselves. It is not possible to say how much effort it cost to calm him down.
Once his calm returned, they all conferred to see where the thief had entered – they assumed that there was only one – an undertaking considered nearly impossible as the tower did not have any other entrance than the door, and this door, which was made out of iron, had many secret locks that were only known to the King. And they did not find the slightest trace [of the thief].
A hundred conjectures were formed in this regard, each more ridiculous [than the previous], until a blind man, a former thief and current advisor to the King and who was among those present, said to him:
Have them bring dry tree branches in here and set them on fire, and those from the outside can see where the smoke is leaving the room; that’s where the thief probably made his entrance.
And indeed, that is how the narrow opening which served as the entrance to Chilindrín and Chilindrón was discovered.
The blind man advised them to keep complete silence about what had happened and that in the precise place where those coming down from the narrow opening must place their feet, that they would place a large vat of tar, thick enough so that anyone entering it would not be able to leave, and that they would wait until the next day [to see the result]. The advise seemed good [to the King] and it was followed in all its parts.
Late at night, at the usual hour, our protagonists climbed up to the narrow opening in the tower and climbed down through the rope, first by Chilindrín; and when he let go of the rope and let himself fall down to the ground, he felt that he had sunk up to his chest in a sticky substance, which was adhered to him in such a way that he could not move. He immediately shouted to his partner who was climbing down after him:
Don’t let go, or else you’ll get stuck in this vat of tar just like me. Swing with the rope and when you have moved far enough away from the center, drop down and cut off my head, then take it away and bury it where no one will see you; in this way they won’t know who I am and you won’t be implicated.
With great pain [penetrating deep] in his soul, and only after much begging by Chilindrín, who demanded him to do what he asked, Chilindrón cut off the head of his brother-in-law and left it to bleed out completely in the same vat that the body was in; then he wrapped it tightly in a large handkerchief and put it in a sack that he had with him; and as there was still room in it, he chose the most beautiful jewels from the large pile and filled the sack with them, and securing it tightly to his shoulder, he used the rope to climb up, which he then left hanging from the crossbar.
The King, for his part, stayed awake all night, counting the hours until the thief can be caught. And in anticipation, he entertained thoughts of the torments which he would make the thief suffer in public, as a lesson [deterrence] to those who might be tempted in repeating the venture.
And as no one is capable of cutting short the [waiting] hours, even if many wanted to, they followed one after another until daylight arrived and it was the moment in which the King and his retinue would go visit the treasure tower.
The face that the King and his companions made when they found a headless body in the vat is indescribable. There were new angers from the monarch and new efforts from his companions to calm him down. The one who ultimately managed to reduce it was the blind man, assuring him with names from all the saints in heaven that everything would [ultimately] be uncovered.
Once calm was restored, the blind man spoke again:
What you are seeing shows that there are not just one, but two thieves, as we had believed. To find the second, I propose that this body here is placed in a leather pannier and be dragged through all the streets in the city; at the front [of the pannier] would be a herald proclaiming thus: “This is justice from our Lord, the King, to those who contemplate stealing his treasures”, -and behind it, mixed in with the curious lookers-on, would be various individuals from the police force, disguising as civilians; and when they hear anyone crying or lamenting in a certain house, they’d place a sign at the door opening up to the street. Afterwards it will be easy to find out in which of the marked houses lives the beheaded thief’s family, and like a thread being pulled out from a ball [of yarn], we won’t expend too much effort in finding the missing thief with this information.
Everyone thought the blind man’s advice was sound, and in the afternoon of the next day they carried out his instructions to the letter.
Chilidrón was walking in the street when the procession began, and as he had not a single strand of foolishness, he immediately suspected what they were intending to do, and he became even more certain in his belief upon recognizing various members of the police force disguising themselves in the crowd that followed the corpse. He quickly went to his house and told his sister, Chilindrín’s wife, about his suspicions, which had become almost certain, and advised her to not manifest any signs of grief when her husband’s corpse was paraded by the front of their house: and to make really sure about this, he locked her in an interior room [of the house]. But when the wife heard the voice of the herald and the shoutings of the crowd, she could not contain herself and began to cry openly, in such a way that, despite the precautions taken by Chilindrón, the widow’s laments could be perfectly heard in the street. Then Chilindrón went to the kitchen and, taking an axe used for splitting firewood, deliberately cut off the little finger on his left hand, and taking it to the widow where the widow was locked in, he showed her the hand dripping in blood and asked her to allude to this in her moanings. And indeed, moments later when the corpse and its entourage passed by the house and one of the disguised policemen entered to find out what the cries were about, he heard the woman said to Chilindrón: -“You have cut your hand! what is going to happen to us? Now you cannot work and we’ll starve to death!”, and the injured man answered: -“This is nothing, for I’ve only cut off a finger, which, to a large extent, would not do any harm to me at all.” The policeman, who saw what was happening and heard what both of them were saying, believed the reason for the woman’s crying was true and left the house without speaking a word. But a second policeman, who at the same time that the other policeman left the crowd [to investigate], had meanwhile made a cross with liquid tar on the door of the house [opening up to the street].
Chilindrón’s house was the only one in which cryings were heard that day. For this reason, the blind man advised them to apprehend the man with the severed finger and the crying woman, because both must be relatives of the beheaded thief. But when the police arrived at the street in which the presumed culprits lived, they could not find the house, because all houses in the neighborhood were exactly the same: they all had on their doors the same cross which the disguised policeman had placed as a sign. What had happened? For soon after the procession had passed by his house, Chilindrón had gone out into the street to surveil, and upon returning he saw the cross on his door, and, always being suspicious of what might happen, he made the same cross on all the doors in the neighborhood that night.
The investigation did not yield the expected result, and the rage of the King rose up once more, but again the blind man calmed him down.
The blind man said:
I am of the opinion that the corpse be left on the hill to the east of the city, and we announce by proclamation that it is abandoned for the vultures to feed on; but at the same time, some soldiers will be lying in wait, hidden among the shrubs on the hill, and as soon as they see someone approaching to take it away, they will seize that person. As no one traverses through the hill, it is clear that whoever does this is trying to take possession of the corpse.
The advise was found to be sound, and the King ordered it to be put into practice.
But Chilindrón, who was even more devilish (e.g. cunning?) than the blind man, guessed what they wanted to do upon hearing the herald’s proclamation. And as soon as it was night time, he dressed [himself] in a Franciscan habit, put on a cowl and armed with some sharp scissors he mounted on a mule, in whose haunches he secured a wineskin of aged, strong wine mixed with poppy juice, together with many religious habits of the same order, then began to take them all to the hill. Despite the night being very dark, the soldiers clearly saw a figure arriving next to the corpse, seemingly a man getting off a horse, and at once they ran towards him to apprehend him; but when they got there they realized that the man that they were going to seize was a poor friar who devoutly prayed with his rosary beads and who invited them to join him in the prayers. The soldiers did not accept the invitation and, more perfunctory than anything else, they asked him where he was going and why he had chosen a path that no one frequented. The friar replied that the convent had completely run out of wine for mass and so he had gone to the city to buy the best wine and carried them back in a wineskin on the rump of his mount; and taking advantage of the trip, he had gone on to buy twenty habits, which they had tasked him with buying. And if he had chosen the path which passed through the hill it was because, by going that way, he would avoid making a long detour along the slope, and would [be able to] arrive at the convent before dawn. The soldiers verified that the mule was really carrying the wineskin of wine and the habits as the father had said, and after apologizing for having frightened him, they begged him to treat them to a glass of wine to keep them warm in the cold. Chilindrón told them that he would gladly do so and that he would give them not just one glass, but two for each one of them; and taking from his sleeve a horn glass of bigger than medium size, he filled it up and passed it successively to all the soldiers, and said to them while pouring: -“After you are satisfied, leave me to finish my praying in peace, as I have the holy devotion to make a complete prayer fifteen times, for whenever on my travel I’d always encounter some dead person.”
[Nguyen: this last sentence is a bit cryptic for me, the original sentence is «Después que queden satisfechos me dejarán terminar tranquilamente mi rosarito, pues tengo la santa devoción de rezar uno completo, de quince casas, siempre que en mi camino tropiezo con algún difunto».]
He began to serve them again once the first round was over, but [due to] the strength of the wine, and more than that of the wine, but that of the [poppy] narcotic, the soldiers were lulled to sleep, who, one by one, fell on the ground and remained there like dead chickens.
Chilindrón waited a while, and after verifying that none would wake up even if a cart passed over them, he took out his scissors and, with the mastery of a convent’s barber, sheared a tonsure for each. Then he undressed them [from their uniforms] and dressed them in the habits that he had brought, and immediately lit a fire and burned the pile of removed clothes. [Soon after,] He threw the wineskin on the ground and in its place he put his friend and brother-in-law’s corpse, then mounted the mule, spurred it on and headed for home.
When the fumes of wine and the effects of the narcotic had dissipated, the soldiers opened their eyes and looked at one another in horror; they thought they were dreaming, but finally came back to reality and understood the bloody mockery that had been played on them. After deliberating for a while, they saw that they had no choice but to present themselves to the King as they were, to give him an account of what had happened and that the thief had derailed the task he entrusted to them.
The King listened to the story without batting an eyelid and understood that he was dealing with an enemy whom he could not fight against. But as someone had to be punished, he ordered each of the soldiers to be given a hundred lashes so that they wouldn’t be sucking on their thumbs again (e.g. so they won’t be so naive in the future), and that the blind man be burned so that he wouldn’t have to receive advice from him anymore: advice that, although appeared to be wise, had turned out to be disastrous.
Chilindrón quietly continued as a thief for some time longer without anyone bothering him, until, being tired of the thieving life, he went with his sister to another very far away kingdom, where no one knew them, and there they remained to comfortably spend the remainder of their lives.
—– VOCABULARY —–
Ladino – (shrewd) crafty, cunning, wily
Sutil – (not obvious) subtle; (perceptive) sharp, keen; (light) delicate (smell or fabric), thin (atmosphere or fabric), fine (thread or fabric), subtle (smell), gentle (breeze)
Robo – (holdup of a bank) robbery; (stealing) theft; (break-in) burglary; (stolen articles) stolen goods; (unfairly high price) rip-off
No obstante que – even though, although, however
Con los manos en la masa – caught red-handed
Reales – (military) camp
Hazaña – (achievement) feat, exploit, deed
Vivamente – (in a vivid manner) vividly; (emphatically) strongly; (intensely) deeply
Arriesgado – (fraught with danger) risky, dangerous, hazardous; (adventurous) daring, bold
Desbordar – (to run over) to overflow, to burst; (to surpass) to exceed, to go beyond; (military) to break through; (sports) to get past; (to overwhelm) to be beyond, to be too much for; (to exude) to be brimming with, to be brimming over with
Fechoría – (crime) misdemeanor, misdeed, act of villainy; (naughtiness) mischief
Revestir – (to place as a covering) to cover, to coat, to line, to sheathe, to face; (to show) to have, to be marked by; (to disguise) to cloak
Ropaje – (clothing) robes, apparel
Infundir – (to imbue) to fill with, to inspire, to arouse
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
Arribar – (to come to a destination) to arrive, to reach, to land, to put into; (nautical) to fall off
Peripecia – (literary) (event) incident, adventure; (setback) vicissitude, sudden change
Tupido – (compact) thick, dense, closely woven; (obstructed) blocked; (intensely) hard; (often) often
Llanura – (topography) plain, prairie; (regularity) smoothness, flatness, evenness
Pitar – (to consume tobacco) to smoke; (automobile) to honk at; (to boo) to hiss at, to catcall; (to act as referee) to referee; (to rule) to call, to call for, to blow the whistle for, to blow for
Párrafo – (division of text) paragraph; (conversation) chat
Descender – (to decrease) to fall, to drop, to go down, to come down; (to move downward) to descend, to go down, to come down; (to alight) to get off (plane, train, bus), to disembark (from ship, plane, train); to get out (of car); (to be demoted) to be downgraded, to go down, to be relegated
Matorral – (undergrowth) thicket, bushes; (area of land) scrubland
Alentar – (to inspire) to encourage, to give the strength to, to cheer on (with shouts or cheers)
Alentarse – (to recuperate) to get better, to recover
Reposar – (to physically relax) to rest; (to be buried) to lie, to repose; (culinary) to stand, to settle; (culinary) to stand, to settle; (to be placed) to lie, to rest
Entablar – (to initiate) to start, to start up, to strike up, to enter into, to open; (board games) to set up; (medicine) to put in a splint; (to build a wooden floor) to board, to put down
Renombre – renown, fame
Escupir – (to eject saliva) to spit; (to eject from one’s mouth) to spit, to spit out, to spit up; (to emit) to spew, to belch out; (to confess) to spit out; (to exclaim angrily) to spit
Tiento – (caution) care; (diplomacy) tact; (sense) touch, feel
Flamante – (new and not yet used) brand-new; (having recently become something) new; (shiny) brilliant; (splendid) fabulous
Tino – (common sense) sound judgment, good sense, good judgment; (sensitivity) tact; (ability) skill, knack; (caution) moderation
Nido – (nesting or breeding place) nest; (lair) den; (area for newborns) nursery; (breeding ground) nest
Advertir – (to detect) to notice
Deslizarse – (to move over a surface) to slide, to slip, to glide, to slither; (time or life) to slip away, to slip by
Menearse – (to move oneself) to sway, to move about, to shake; (to hurry up) to get a move on
A medida que – (time) as
Descosido – (ripped) unstitched, coming apart; (incoherent) disconnected, disjointed; (sewing) open seam
Jazmín – (shrub) jasmine; (flower) jasmine
Futre – (man who gives much attention to his looks) dandy; (magnate) fat cat, well-to-do guy
Apretón – (compression) squeeze, crush (of people); (embrace) hug; (exertion) push, effort; (sudden need to go to the bathroom) cramp
Menester – (task) activity, occupation; (responsibility) duty
Antepasado – (relative) ancestor, forebear, forefather
Acrecentar – (to augment) to increase
Acrecentarse – (to augment) to grow, to increase
Prodigiosamente – prodigiously, marvellously
Alhajas – (rings, necklaces, earings, etc) jewelry
Lagartija – (animal) wall lizard, small lizard; (exercise) push-up, press-up
Tronera – (in a fortification) embrasure, porthole; (narrow opening) small window; (billards) pocket
Vidrio – (material) glass; (glass shard) piece of glass; (glass pane) window; (optics) lens
Soga – (cord) rope; (noose) halter
Farol – (small lamp) lantern, lamp; (lamppost) streetlight, street lamp
Precipitadamente – rashly, in a hurry
Acarreo – (automobile) haulage, carriage, transport; (by people) carrying; (sports) carry
Atajar – (to take a shorter way) to take a shortcut; (to put an end to something) to put a stop to, to stop, to stem, to contain, to check the spread of; (to interrupt) to cut short; (to intercept) to catch, to stop
Lazo – (decorative knot) bow; (ligature) knot; (strip of fabric) ribbon; (rope) lasso, lariat; (hunting) snare, trap; (link) bond, tie
Recaudar – (to gather) to collect (revenue), to raise (funds); (to earn money) to make
Desenvainar – to draw, to unsheathe
Sable – (weaponry) saber, cutlass (short and curved)
Arremeter – (to set upon, used with “contra”) to charge at, to attack, to lunge at, to rush; (to criticize, used with “contra”) to attack, to tear into, to lay into
Decible – sayable, expressible
Apaciguar – (to quiet down) to calm down; (to make less intense) to soothe; (to placate) to pacify, to appease, to mollify
Cerradura – (mechanism) lock
Descabellado – crazy, ridiculous
Prender – (to ignite) to light; (to activate) to turn on, to switch on; (to apprehend) to catch, to arrest, to capture; (to put on) to attach, to pin, to fasten
Posar – (to deposit) to put down, to lay down, to set down; (to position) to place, to lay, to rest; (to lay eyes on) to rest (literary)
Tina – (bath) bathtub, tub; (large container) tub, vat; (tub for laundry) washtub
Alquitrán – (substance) tar
Hundirse – (to submerge) to sink; (to fall down) to collapse, to cave in; (to go down) to subside; (to be ruined) to go under, to collapse, to go to the wall; (to become sad) to get depressed
Pegajoso – (adhesive) sticky; (memorable) catchy; (over-affectionate) clingy, clinging; (weather) sticky
Balancear – (to move to and fro) to swing, to rock; (to bring into equilibrium) to balance
Desviar – (to change the direction of) to divert, to alter (the course of a river), to deflect (a ball, blow, bullet), to parry (a blow or a ball), to avert (the eyes or the gaze), to change (the subject); (to move away) to divert
Escoger – (to select) to choose, to pick; (in voting) to elect
Gozar – (to take pleasure) to enjoy oneself
Escarmiento – (warning) lesson; (sanction) punishment
Atajar – (to take a shorter way) to take a shortcut; (to put an end to something) to put a stop to, to stop, to stem, to contain, to check the spread of; (to interrupt) to cut short; (to intercept) to catch, to stop
Restablecer – (to establish again) to re-establish, to restore
Restablecerse – (medicine) to recover; (to be reinstated) to be re-established, to be restored
Serón – (type of basket) pannier, large basket
Paisano – (originating in the same place) from the same country, from the same region, from the same place; (person from the same country) compatriot, fellow countryman; (citizen) civilian
Hebra – (textile string) thread, strand; (culinary) fiber, string; (of an animal) thread; (related to wood) grain
Ovillo – ball
Leso – (fool) (Chile) stupid, dumb
Pretender – (to want) to intend, to expect; (to affirm) to claim; (to court) to woo
Certidumbre – (conviction) certainty
Adrede – on purpose, intentionally, deliberately
Chorrear – (to dribble) to drip; (to be soaked); (to pour) to gush, to gush out, to spurt, to spurt out; (to arrive gradually) to trickle in
Quejarse – (to protest) to complain, to whine, to moan, to grumble; (to express pain) to whine, to moan, to groan, to complain
Provenir – (used with “de”) to come from, to stem from
Presunto – (assumed) supposed, presumed, alleged, suspected; (named) so-called; (prospective) presumptive
Reo – (convicted) criminal, culprit, offender; (imprisoned) prisoner, inmate; (charged) defendant, accused; (fauna) sea trout
Cortejo – (courting) courtship, wooing; (train of attendants) entourage, retinue, cortege, procession, party
Pesquisa – (research) inquiry, investigation; (undercover police force) secret police
Pasto – (place for grazing) pasture, grazing; (green area) lawn, grass; (feed) fodder
Buitre – (animal) vulture; (greedy person) vulture, scrounger
Acecho – (stalking)
Apoderarse – (to appropriate, used with “de”) to seize, to take possession of, to take control of; (to over power, used with “de”) to overcome, to grip
Encasquetar – (to put on) to pull on; (to force to put up with) to foist on, to saddle with, to land with, to dish out
Capucha – (clothing) hood, cowl; (diacritic) circumflex accent
Ancas – (anatomy) behind
Anca – (animal anatomy) haunch, rump, leg (of a frog)
Añejo – (ripe) mature, aged; (ancient) old; (musty) stale
Recargar – (to replenish) to recharge (a battery), to reload (a gun, program or truck), to refill (a container), to top up (with credit); (to increase workload of) to overload; (to put up a payment) to increase (a fee); to raise (a fee); to charge extra (an amount)
Zumo – (beverage) juice
Amapola – (botany) poppy
Escanciar – to serve, to pour, to pour out
Tropezar con – (to hit by accident) to trip on, to bump into, to stumble over; (to come up against) to run into, to encounter
Difunto – (dead) deceased, late; (dead person) deceased
Adormecer – (to make drowsy) to make sleepy, to lull to sleep, to send to sleep
Cerquillo – (hair over forehead) bangs, fringe; (monk’s hair) fringe of hair around the tonsure
Traste – (music) fret; (tableware) dishes, kitchen utensils; (anatomy) backside
Dar al traste – undo, reverse, end; to tear up, derail, ruin, undo
Inmutarse – (to be bothered) to get upset, to be perturbed, to bat an eyelid
Azotar – (to punish with a scourge) to whip, to flog; (to thrash) to spank, to slap; (to pound) to lash, to batter; (to do heavy damage to) to devastate