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)
040. The Herons And The Toad (Los Guairaos Y El Sapo)
Two Herons were flying [over a lake] when they saw a Toad lying on his back with his belly toward the sun, a belly so white that it was shining [brightly]. One Heron said to the other:
Brother, that over there, isn’t that a Toad?
And the Toad, who heard them, replied thus:
No soy un Sapo; (I am not a Toad;)
¿que no vis que soy un trapo? (can’t you see that I’m a rag?)
Then the Heron said:
A trapo que habla, (To the rag that talks,)
mi guargüero se lo traga. (I’ll swallow it through my throat.)
And so he ate the toad.
—– VOCABULARY —–
Guairao – heron
Por encima de – (directly upwards from) over; (at superior levels than) above; (superior in importance to) before, above; (superior in rank to) higher up than; (superior to) higher than; (not bothered by) beyond; (in spite of) despite
Leso – (fool) (Chile) stupid, dumb
Guargüero – (anatomy) (Cuba) (Peru) (Venezuela) throat