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)
026. The Enchanted Parrot (La Lorita Encantada)
(In 1909, 56-year old Petronila Riquelme, a native of Chimbarongo, told this story to don Luis Thayer Ojeda, who was kind enough to give me the transcription, done by him, in October of 1915.)
Know so one can tell and tell so one can know. There was a very poor old woman who had raised an orphaned child named Manuel, and whom she employed to take care of the pigs in the mountain.
One day the Orphan said to the old woman:
I have heard they say that there is a King who pays a bushel of silver for a year of work, and I, mamita, am going to go there to change our luck.
Manuel left home and went to where the King was, which was the castle of Flordelís, and he worked with the rest of the laboring force for a year, and each of them was paid a bushel of silver; but when the King was handing out the payment, a Parrot belonging to the King was talking incessantly and getting herself involved in the task, so the King, being impatient, announced:
Anyone who wants to take this Parrot instead of the bushel of silver is free to do so, for which I’m most grateful.
And none of those who heard him wanted to take her, and then Manuel, seeing that she was very beautiful, said:
I will take her, Your Majesty, instead of the bushel of silver.
And the Orphan returned to his village, and on the way back he took great care of the Parrot and fed her half of what he had; but when he got home, the old woman was very angry because she wanted the silver and not any birds, and she gave Manuel a severe beating and [again] sent him to the mountain to take care of the pigs, and then she began hitting the Parrot, which almost killed her.
Then the Parrot said: -“I’m going back to Flordelís”- and she flew away.
When the Orphan returned in the afternoon and learned that the Parrot had flown away, he was greatly saddened that that same night, when it was barely dawn, he left his house [in search of the Parrot].
He walked all day without eating nor resting, so that hunger took over his body and he couldn’t get more tired [than he already was].
He sat down under some trees and fell asleep.
The following day he was woken up by a great ruckus made by three pretty girls, arguing over who was the best looking among them all. Then he approached the girls and asked them why they were arguing so heatedly; and once they explained the reason, he told them:
Your grace, who is the oldest, is the sun, and during the day what is more beautiful than the sun? –Your grace, who is the middle sister, is the moon, and at night what is more beautiful than the moon? –Your grace, who is the youngest, is the morning guide, and at dawn what is more beautiful than the morning guide? -and having spoken thus, he left.
[Nguyen: original text is “es la guía de la mañana”, I’m not sure if this “morning guide” represents the “stars”?]
The girls were very happy with these remarks made by the Orphan, and they told him:
And with what shall we pay this young man who had brought us harmony and left us greatly pleased?
Then they called for him, and the eldest gifted him a ring which would give him everything that he asked it for; the middle gifted him a feather, which he needed only put in his shoes to fly faster than the wind; and the youngest gave him a hat, which he needed only put it on to become invisible.
The Orphan thanked them for the gifts and departed once more; and he had already walked for some distance when a feeling of dizziness came upon him, as he had not eaten anything since the night before.
Then he said to the ring:
Little ring, give me a table full of food, with the best delicacies there are available.
And then a table full of the best dishes and most delicious wine appeared before him, and after he stuffed himself with food, he began to take a nap. In the afternoon he woke up and continued on his way, until he could not go any longer due to his feet being swollen from so much walking, and he sat down to rest. And at this moment he suddenly remembered his encounter with the three girls and the gifts that they had given him, and he said:
Such a fool that I am, when I can fly faster than the wind [itself]; -and he took out the feather and put it in his shoe.
He had flown for some time and the night was already upon him when an immensely large eagle appeared and said to him:
How dare you fly in my domain, vile worm from down below?
Then the Orphan told him his story, and once the Eagle, who was none other than the King of the Birds himself, heard it, he said:
The Parrot that you are searching for is in the Flordelís castle, and you should hurry, because if you don’t get there by this very night it will already be late, due to what’s going to happen there.
The Orphan flew through the air, more swift than the wind, and arrived at the castle of Flordelís when all the people and even the King himself had gone to bed, and only the soldier guarding the castle’s gate was still awake.
Then the Orphan asked him:
What is the latest news around here, good sir?
What other news is there? That tomorrow the Princess will get married. She was [once] enchanted, and was none other than the Little Parrot that you took away in place of the bushel of silver.
When he heard this, a great sadness was felt by the Orphan; but, remembering his hat, he put it on, and flying through the air he entered the Princess’s room, who was being guarded by seven Moorish soldiers.
And then the Orphan, who had not taken his hat off, said to the Princess:
If you are the Little Parrot that I took in place of a bushel of silver, why had you left me [and flown away]?
And the Princess was greatly frightened and started screaming, and the seven Moorish soldiers came, and so did the King and the Queen to see what was going on.
The Orphan, as he was invisible and in order for them to not run into him, [went and] huddled up in a corner; and as those who entered the [Princess’s] bedroom neither saw nor found anyone, they went back, the King and the Queen to their rooms and the Moorish soldiers to their posts.
After everyone had left, the Orphan started talking again, and again the Princess screamed aloud that there were people in her room, and the King and the Queen and the soldiers entered once more, and since they did not find anyone there this time as well, they told the Princess not to scream again, because they would not pay attention to her the next time. Then they left.
The Orphan waited for a moment, then approached the Princess and told her not to be afraid, that he had made such a long trip due to his great love he had for her and that under no manner would he permit her to marry a man who did not love her as much as he did; and then he removed his hat.
Then the Princess recognized the Orphan and calmed down, and she told him everything that had happened and that she was getting married against her will and that she loved no one else but him, for he had spurned the silver for her, and as he had taken great care of her and later had had to put up with his mother’s abuse.
After thinking hard about what they should do, they agreed that at the banquet, before the wedding, the Princess would ask each of them to give a speech and that she would see how to get herself out of the predicament.
The next morning, the Orphan said to the ring:
Little ring, give me a full suit embroidered with gold threads and precious stones, and I’ll make myself handsomely looking.
And as soon as he finished talking, the Orphan was turned into a handsome and elegant prince and the Princess was greatly content on seeing him so well groomed. And putting the feather in his shoe and the hat on his head, the Orphan then said goodbye to the Princess.
Very early in the morning of the next day, the Orphan said to the ring:
Little ring, bring here before me a most handsome horse of the best breed, fully harnessed and with those plated in gold and silver.
And at this precise moment a beautiful white horse appeared before him and he mounted on it and rode all over the city, and everyone was staring at him with mouths wide-opened for they had never seen as handsome and elegant a prince as he was. And as the hour for the banquet approached, he went to the castle and when the King saw him, he said: -“who is that handsome prince?” And he told the King that he was a prince who ruled in the air.
At the start of the banquet, the Princess asked the King to permit everyone to give a speech, and when this was granted, the Princess said:
Your Majesty, which is more valuable, a crown made of gold or a crown made of silver?
The King replied:
A crown made of gold.
I had -the Princess said- two crowns, one made of gold and one made of silver. The one made of gold I had lost and was lucky enough to find it [again recently]; and as I should only keep one, I ask you all, which of the two should I keep?
Everyone replied:
The golden crown, the golden crown; there is no other choice.
Then the Princess, taking Manuel by the hand, made him stand up and said:
This is the crown made of gold that I had lost and that I had just found [again recently], and as I must keep this crown, I will marry this prince and he, and no one else, will be my husband.
Everyone applauded the speech that the Princess just gave, except the fiancé who was going to marry her and who had to leave with a broken heart.
And so it was that Manuel married the Princess and they were very happy [together], and they still will be, that is if they are still alive [today].
And thus this story ended and the wind carried it away, and it slipped through the door of a convent where the fathers who heard it were all very happy [of the tale].
—– VOCABULARY —–
Huacho – surco hecho en la tierra con el arado
Huacho – guacho (dicho de una cría: que ha perdido a su madre; dicho de una persona: huérfana – a quien se le han muerto el padre y la madre o uno de los dos; dicho de una planta cultivada: que nace sin ser sembrada; dicho de un hijo de madre soltera: no reconocido por el padre; descabalado, desparejado)
Chancho – (animal) (Latin America) pig, swine, hog, sow (feminine); (dirty person) (Latin America) dirty pig, dirty cow; (fat person) fatso; (culinary) (Latin America) pork
Almud – (dry measure equivalent to between 1.75 and 5.68 liters, depending on the region) bushel, basket
Peonar – (Southern Cone) to work as a laborer
Aburrido – (dull; used with “ser”) boring; (experiencing boredom; used with “estar”) bored
Apenarse – (to be grieved) to be sorry, to be upset, to be saddened, to be distressed; (to feel shame) (Latin America) to be embarrassed, to be ashamed
Apenar – (to grieve) to sadden; (to shame) (Latin America) to embarrass
Bulla – (noise) racket, uproar, ruckus; (fight) brawl, quarrel; (haste)
Disputarse – (to contend for) to dispute, to fight for; (sports) to play, to complete
Disputar – (to call into question) to dispute; (to debate) to discuss; (to contend) to compete for; (sports) to play
Discutir – (to fight verbally) to argue, to quarrel; (to talk about) to discuss; (to answer back) to talk back
Acaloradamente – heatedly, passionately
Bastar – (to be sufficient) to be enough; bastarse – (to get along) to manage, to be capable of
Desmayo – (medicine) fainting fit, fainting spell, faint; (discouragement) dejection
Hinchado – (puffed) swollen; (overinflated) conceited, pompous, bombastic, high-flown
Gusanillo – (office supplies) spiral binding; (interest) bug, itch; (wish) itch
Apurarse – (to be in a hurry) (Latin America) to hurry, to hurry up, to get a move on; (to be distressed) to worry oneself
Pensión – pena (sentimiento de tristeza) – Chile, Colombia, y Panama
Acurrucarse – to curl up, to snuggle; to cuddle
Puesto – (job) position; (military) post; (place of origin) place; (classification) place; (market outlet) stand, stall; (stylishly dressed) well-dressed; since, put, post, position, place
Despreciarse – (to disdain oneself) to despise oneself
Despreciar – (to disdain) to despise; (to refuse) to reject, to spurn
Discurso – (address) speech; (rhetoric) discourse; (linguistics) speech, discourse; (indicating time) passage, passing
Plantado – (cultivated) planted; (on one’s feet) standing
Aperado – (Andes) well-equipped; harnessed
Aperar – (to put a harness on) to harness; (to supply) to provide, to equip
Apero – (agriculture) tool, implement; (horseback riding) harness
Enchapado – plating (metal); veneer (wood)
Pararse – (to halt) to stop; (to rise) (Latin America) to stand up, to get up; (to stick up) to stand on end; (to quit working) to stop
Acholado – (of mixed European and Amerindian ancestry) mestizo; (timid) (Chile) shy
Colarse – (to enter furtively) to sneak in, to slip in, to crash; (to move forward in a line) to cut in line, to jump the queue; (to fall in love) (Spain) to fall for somebody; (to make a mistake) (Spain) to get wrong)