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)
023. The Enchanted Toad (La Sapita Encantada)
(Recounted by Beatriz Montecinos.)
There were a King and a Queen who had three sons, named Pedro, José and Juan; and it was customary in the kingdom for the King to leave his crown to whoever among his sons that seemed best to him, without the need to take into account of his age; and so any of them could succeed him [as king], even if he was the youngest.
Which of the three would inherit the throne? This was a question that greatly worried the old King, who had not decided one way or another, because he had equal affection for all three; nor could he divide the kingdom and give each one a part of it, because the division would result in three small states, and that would expose them at all times to being absorbed by the neighboring kingdoms, which were as strong and powerful as his own.
The Queen advised, in order for him to not worry about this anymore, that he should put his sons to the test by sending them away from the palace, with the winning condition being that they would get married upon their return in a year time together with bringing back two gifts for their parents; and he whose wife was the most beautiful and whose gifts were the nicest and most valuable would be heir to the throne.
The King said to himself: The wife’s advice isn’t much, but I’d be crazy to not follow it, and deciding that what the Queen had just told him was good advice, he sent for his sons and made them see the tough situation that he was in. Then he proposed that they should leave the palace, get married, and return to the palace in a year time, and that the crown would go to the one who’d bring back the most beautiful wife and two gifts for the King and Queen which were deemed superior to those of his two brothers.
The princes accepted without hesitation and only asked before leaving that they be told what the gifts should consist of. After a short deliberation, the monarchs agreed that the prize would be awarded to he who presented, in addition to the prettiest wife, the finest roll of cloth and the most beautiful and smallest dog.
The princes bid their parents a fond farewell and departed following the same road, until they came to a fork on the road where it was divided into three. Here they embraced each other, and promising to meet in the same place when the agreed deadline expired, each then went their separate ways.
Pedro, who was the oldest, took the left most branch, and after a few days he arrived at a little house that stood on the shores of a lagoon and at whose door stood an old lady. Inside it a girl with a beautiful voice was singing, and Pedro, thinking that such a beautiful voice could only come from a very beautiful person, resolved to get to know her and asked the woman for permission to enter; but she told him that she would let him enter only if he promised to marry the one who was singing. The young man gave her his words and entered the living room of the house, but no matter how hard he searched, he could not find anyone, until at last he saw a Little Toad hopping around in a corner.
Is this the one who sings? -Pedro asked.
Yes, this is she -the woman answered.
Who is going to marry this disgusting toad? -the prince replied, and spitting at her, he told himself to renege on his promise.
Moments later, José, the second oldest of the King’s sons, arrived at the same house, because the three roads all converged there; and to make it short, we will say that the same thing happened to him as that to his brother Pedro, only that, instead of spitting at the Little Toad, he kicked her ferociously and sent her flying far away.
José hadn’t left for an hour when Juan, the third of the brothers, arrived at the house, and he, too, became spellbound upon hearing that sweet and melodious voice. When the singing stopped, Juan begged the woman to introduce him to the beautiful singer, for he had no doubt that she who had such a beautiful voice must also be beautiful. The woman agreed, but, as in the previous two times, she first made Juan promise that he’d marry the person who sang [the melody]. Juan swore that he’d do this, after which the woman showed him the Little Toad, who at that moment was hopping around in her [little] corner. The Prince, although he was disgusted by its appearance, said thus:
Juan’s words cannot be taken back; I am ready to get married.
And I will not be a burden on you -exclaimed the Little Toad.
And the marriage was celebrated immediately.
Juan sometimes became sad and felt miserable; but the Little Toad’s charming voice, which seemed to discern his sorrows, and her tender and caring words consoled him and made him forget the ugliness of his wife.
The other two brothers had also gotten married, but their wives were beautiful and rich.
When the end of the year was approaching, Pedro and José thought about returning to the palace, and riding in luxurious carriages, they headed out with their wives, who were elegantly dressed [for the occasion].
Upon passing the little house by the lagoon, they saw Juan at the door. They greeted him without getting down from their coaches and asked him to introduce them to his wife.
Before Juan answered, the Little Toad hopped out and told them:
I am Juan’s wife, and soon we will join you at the agreed [meeting] place.
The two princes and their wives, on seeing such a peculiar spouse, burst out laughing and said to Juan:
How dare you present yourself before our parents being accompanied by that horrible-looking toad?
This has been my fate -replied Juan- and I am happy with her; this horrible-looking toad, as you call her, is my wife, she has brought me happiness and with her I will pay my respects to my parents.
The two princes departed and agreed to continue on to the palace without waiting for Juan at the fork. They believed the throne would only be contested between the two of them, since it did not cross their mind that it would be given to the husband of a toad. And the gifts that Juan must present [to his parents]? Where would he get the money to buy them? The little house in which he lived in, modest beyond words, clearly demonstrated his poverty. But, as the saying goes, man makes plans but God has the last words, and for those terrible brothers the joke’s on them.
After an hour, the Little Toad said to Juan:
It’s time for us to head out. Go to the orchard and you will find two donkeys: hitch them to the old cart that is behind the house and we will take it in the company of the lady who has taken such good care of us. The donkeys know where to go and also what to do. In this little box there are two nuts; when the time comes to deliver the gifts that you have to present to your parents, pass a nut to each and ask them to crack them open. And with that we’ll be on our way now.
The donkeys began a slow trot and the cart, which seemed like it was going to fall apart at any moment due to its old age, creaked like a devil, but nothing bad ever came out of it. After a few hours of travel, they encountered Pedro, whose luxurious carriage had overturned and broken into pieces, injuring his wife and leaving her blind in one eye for the rest of her life, as a splinter detached from the carriage and took out one of her eyes. With these mishaps, Pedro was in a foul mood; so when the Little Toad offered him and his wife a place in the cart, instead of thanking her, he cursed her out.
A cloud of sadness covered Juan’s face, who could not but hear with deep pain the unkind words his brother had said; but the Little Toad, who seemed to read her husband’s thoughts, said to him at once:
Cast aside your sorrows, dear; do not pass judgment over your brother; soon our griefs will end and we will be completely happy.
And the donkeys began to set out once again, and they stopped just a little further on, when they encountered José, whose horses had reared, breaking up the carriage with their kicks, one of which crushed the beautiful nose of his wife and left her nose completely flattened for the rest of her life. José was beside himself with rage, so when Juan offered to help him, or if it seemed better to him, to take José and his wife [along with them] in the cart, he let loose [a volley of] insults against Juan and the Little Toad, whom he called repugnant.
Juan didn’t say anything, but the pain consumed him. The Little Toad said to him: -“Why are you sad? Don’t judge the insults [hurled at us] by your brother; don’t you see that they are the results of the misfortune that he has suffered? Rejoice, for it will be a short while before our sorrows end.” -And to console him she sang him one of the most beautiful songs she knew, the one that Juan liked the most.
Meanwhile, the donkeys continued their slow trot and it didn’t take them long before they arrived at the banks of a stream that ran very close to the city in which the monarchs resided. The Little Toad hopped into the water and at that same instant she was transformed into the most beautiful princess that human eyes had ever seen. The Prince knelt at her feet and kissed her hands ecstatically. The Princess told him: –Prince, we must get to the palace now; your brothers have brought new carriages and are close to killing their horses [in rushing here]. Let us get on ours, for no matter how slowly they carry us, we will always arrive there before they do.
Only then did the Prince realize the new, marvelous changes: his suit, completely new, was of extraordinary worth; the old woman who had served as their housekeeper was now a beautiful, elegantly dressed lady; the donkeys had transformed into two gorgeous horses that were lavishly harnessed; and the cart had turned into a carriage so beautiful that surely one wouldn’t be able to find an equal in any other royal carriages.
They arrived at the palace, and the monarchs experienced the greatest joy upon seeing their youngest son and were dazzled by the beauty and elegance of their daughter-in-law and the majesty of the lady who accompanied her.
After lovingly kissing and embracing Juan and his wife, they asked the couple to tell them about their romance.
The Prince related everything that had happened to him since he left; and the lady told them about a witch, who, out of hatred for the King, her husband, for wanting to throw her out of their kingdom, had killed the King with her evil magic and transformed the Princess into a little toad, leaving her with only her beautiful voice and condemning her to live in that condition until a year after a prince consented to marry her; and as today marked the year in which the prince, Juan, married her daughter, they could now see her in the real form that she was in when the witch had so cruelly begun to torment their family.
The lady had just finished her story when Pedro and José entered with their respective spouses, blind in one eye for the first, and with a flattened nose for the second, and both with clothes dirty and in tatters, as they had not had time to buy new ones for fear of arriving late.
The monarchs also showed great joy upon the arrival of their two eldest sons, but their hearts sank when they saw the appearance of their wives: one blind in one eye and with half of her face swollen, and the other with the nose spread all over her face! The contrast between them and Juan’s wife was great! There was no doubt that the prize belonged to this youngest son. But, what if the other gifts brought by Juan were inferior to those of Pedro and José? It was necessary to see them before they can reach their decision.
They summoned the noblemen of the kingdom to serve as arbitrators, and the three princes exhibited their gifts to them. Pedro, as the eldest, approached first and handed over a valuable chest made out of cedar about half a vara long, and on opening it, they took out a piece of silk cloth that measured some twenty varas, very beautiful, very fine, with gorgeous embroidery; from the other box they took out a beautiful little dog, one about a quarter [of a foot] tall, more or less. Both were received with loud applause, and they truly deserved it.
[Nguyen: a “vara” is about a “yard” long.]
José followed him, opening a silver chest of the same dimensions as the one presented by Pedro, where he took out another twenty varas of cloth, also [made out of] silk, but finer, more delicate and more beautiful that that from his brother. The little dog was also cuter, and smaller than that of Pedro. These gifts earned José a longer and louder round of applause than the prior one.
Finally, Juan approached and respectfully handed the King one of the nuts that the Little Toad had given him, and the other to the Queen, and asked them to open them. They did this effortlessly, for they almost cracked open by themselves, and the Queen got from hers an exquisitely woven piece of cloth, made from a very fine gold thread and measuring a thousand varas long, how fine must it be in order for everything to fit in the shell of a nut! From the one which the King opened, a little dog so tiny, so beautifully cute, jumped on the table that was in front of the monarchs and drew the admiration of all those present. The little dog began to dance and at each turn it released pearls and diamonds and all kind of precious stones. No sound could match the applause which were received by both objects, and the exclamations and cheers upon the declaration of the King that Juan, the youngest of their sons, would be the heir to the throne.
And so the story ended and the wind carried it away.
—– VOCABULARY —–
Sapito – (game) (Southern Cone) ducks and drakes; (watering device) (Argentina) sprinkler; (ulcer) (Uruguay) sore
Expuesto – (uncovered) exposed; (perilous) risky, dangerous; (exhibited) on display
Apuro – (difficulty) predicament, difficult situation, tight spot, fix; (dearth) hardship; (shame) embarrassment; (hurry) (Latin America) rush
Justo – (unbiased) fair, just; (precise) exact, right; (tight-fitting) tight, adjusted; (barely enough) just enough; (precisely) just, right; (barely) just
Tornar – (to go back) to return; (to recover consciousness) to regain consciousness; (to hand back) to return, to give back; (to put back) to return; (to convert) to turn, to change
Obsequio – gift, present
Obsequiar – (to make a gift of) to present, to give
Adjudicar – (to assign) to award, to allocate, to allot; (to auction) to sell
Adjudicarse – (to appropriate) to claim; (to assume) to take, to claim; (to achieve) to win
Umbral – (architecture) threshold
Escudriñar – (to inspect) to scrutinize, to scan, to examine, to search
Sapo – (animal) toad; (game) sapo; (informant) (Andes) (Central America) (Uruguay) snitch, grass; (smart) (Andes) crafty
Asqueroso – que causa asco, o repulsión moral o física [[(repugnant) disgusting, revolting, filthy; (easily disgusted) squeamish
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
Puntapié – kick
Alelado – (foolish) stupid; (dazed) spellbound (figurative), bewildered
Adivinar – (to estimate) to guess; (to foretell) to predict; (to perceive) to discern; (to figure out) to solve
Adivinarse – (to be distinguishable) to make out
Fealdad – (unattractiveness) ugliness; (base behavior) ugliness
Carruaje – (vehicle) carriage
Ataviado – (wearing formal clothes; used with “con” or “de”) dressed up in; attired in; clothed in; (wearing a costume; used with “con” or “de”) dressed up as
Singular – (being the only one) unique, singular; (strange) peculiar, odd; (exceptional) extraordinary, remarkable; (grammar) singular
Carcajada – (burst of laughter) loud laugh, guffaw
Casposo – (dandruffy) covered in dandruff; (old-fashioned) (Spain) antiquated; (shabby) (Spain) seedy
Postrarse – (to fall to one’s knees) to prostrate oneself, to kneel
Postrar – (to exhaust) to prostrate, to weaken
Encrucijada – (crossing) crossroads, intersection; (meeting point) crossroads, intersection
Disputarse – (to contend for) to dispute, to fight for; (sports) to play, to compete
Asignarse – (to award) to assign, to allocate (resources), to ascribe (value); (to name) to appoint, to designate, to assign
Refrán – saying, proverb
El tiro por la culata – backfired, the joke’s on
Culata – (weaponry) butt, breech (of artillery); (mechanics) cylinder head; (anatomy) hindquarters
Rogar – (to implore) to beg; (to offer a prayer) to pray
Trote – (gait) trot; (bustle); (use) wear
Trotar – (to run) to jog; (horseback riding) to trot; (to bustle about) to rush around
Cundidor – dicho de una cosa: que cunde [cundir: (to grow) to spread; (to produce a good quantity) to go a long way; (to be profitable) to go well
Desarmar – (to disassemble) to dismantle, to take apart, to take to pieces, to take down (a tent), to break up; (to take away the weapons of) to disarm; (to win over) to disarm; (to appease) to calm, to placate
Desarmarse – (to reduce armaments) to disarm; (to disassemble) to come apart, to fall to pieces
Crujir – (to make noise) to creak (stairs or wood), to rustle (leaves, paper, cloth), to crackle (firewood), to crunch (food, gravel, snow), to grind (teeth)
Volcado – turned, overturned, focused, dumping, rolled
Maltratar – (to treat poorly) to mistreat, to ill-treat, to maltreat, to batter, to abuse; (to misuse) to mistreat
Tuerto – (person with only one eye) one-eyed person; (person who can see with only one eye) person who is blind in one eye
Astilla – (fragment) chip, splinter (of wood), woodchip (of wood); (payoff) (Spain) bribe, sweetener
Astillas – (small sticks for fires) kindling
Desprender – (to remove something attached) to detach; (to emit) to give off
Desprenderse – (to be removed) to come off, to become detached, to come away; (to dispose of) to get rid of; (to distance oneself); (to be concluded)
Carruaje – (vehicle) carriage
Genio – (temperament) temper, nature, disposition; (temporary frame of mind) mood; (distinctive character) genius, spirit
Amable – (gentle) kind, nice
Desechar – (to eliminate) to throw away, to throw out, to get rid of, to discard; (to decline) to reject, to cast aside; (to abandon) to drop
Juicio – (legal) trial, court case; (reason) good sense, sense, sensible; (point of view) judgment, opinion; (mental health) sanity
Encabritar – (horseback riding) to rear
Encabritarse – (horseback riding) to rear up
Despedazar – (to tear apart) to tear to shreds, to rip to pieces, to tear up; (to cut into pieces) to cut up; (to hurt) to break; (to bring down) to rip apart
ñata – nose; nose pressed; death
Desatarse – (to come loose) to come undone, to come untied; (to burst) to break out, to break, to erupt
Desatar – (to release) to untie, to undo, to loosen, to let loose; (to set off) to trigger, to spark, to spark off, to unleash
Asqueroso – (repugnant) disgusting, revolting, filthy; (easily disgusted) squeamish
Denuesto – insult
Extasiado – in raptures, in ecstasies, captivated
Despacio – (not quickly) slowly; (not loudly) quietly, softly; (not rough) gently
Enjaezar – (horseback riding) to harness, to saddle up
Deslumbrar – (to blind) to dazzle; (to impress) to dazzle
Deslumbrarse – (to be fascinated) to be astonished, to be amazed; (to become dazzled) to get blinded, to be blinded
Referir – (to recommend) to refer; (literary) (to narrate) to tell of, to recount, to relate; (to draw a connection between) to relate
Condenar – (to disapprove of) to condemn; (legal) to sentence, to convict, to condemn, to order (to pay a compensation); (religious) to condemn, to damn (to hell); (to oblige) to condemn, to force; (to block off) to seal, to brick up (with bricks)
Contraer – (to become infected) to contract, to catch; (anatomy) to contract, to tighten, to contort; (to get into a habit) to acquire; (to make an obligation) to contract, to incur, to make (commitment); (to make shrink) to shrink
Quebrar – (to smash) to break, to snap; (legal) to break; (to make curved) to bend
Atrasado – (not on time) late, behind, behind schedule; (owing) overdue, outstanding, in arrears; (antiquated) backward, behind the times; (losing time) slow; (underdeveloped) backward, slow
Facha – (appearance) look; (countenance) face; (dreadful appearance) mess, sight
Hinchado – (puffed) swollen; (overinflated) conceited, pompous, bombastic, high-flown
Hinchar – (to puff up) to inflate, to blow up, to pump up; (to overemphasize) to blow up, to exaggerate; (to annoy) to piss off; (to rally around) to cheer on
Desparramar – (to let flow) to spill; (to spread) to scatter, to spill; (to waste) to squander
Cedro – (botany) cedar, cedar tree; (wood) cedar
Vara – (pole) stick, rod; (botany) branch, stick; (authority symbol) staff; (unit of measurement) vara; (standard) yardstick; (bullfighting) lance; (of a trombone) slide; (sports) pole; (influence) (Peru) connections
Medir – (to take the measures of) to measure, to gauge (pressure or temperature); (to calculate) to weigh up (actions, to weight (words); (to be) to measure, to be (height), to be (width)
Merecer – (to merit) to deserve, to be worth; (to be worthy) to be deserving
Bulliciosa – (producing noise) noisy, rowdy; (hectic) busy, bustling; (restless) boisterous
Primorosamente – delicately, exquisitely, elegantly
Tejer – (to sew with yarn) to knit (with two needles), to crochet (with one needle), to weave; (to weave a web) to spin; (to plot) to hatch
Cáscara – (covering) shell (of an egg and nuts), peel (of fruit), skin (of a banana or potato), rind (of cheese or citrus); (on seafood) shell
Aclamación – acclaim
Vítor – cheer