From Cuentos Populares en Chile (Chilean Folktales) – by Ramón A. Laval
Part 2 – Myths, Traditions, Things (Mitos, Tradiciones, Casos)
058. The Lagoon of the Three Pascuals (La Laguna De Las Tres Pascualas)
(Told by D. Francisco Vásquez.)
Back in the days when the Spaniards [still] ruled over Chile, there lived near Concepción, in a beautiful manor surrounded by orchards and gardens, a beautiful lady, mother of three beautiful daughters with names Sol (Sun), Esperanza (Hope) and Alegría (Joy), but among the townspeople, due to the name of the mother, they all called them the three Pascuals. The mother died, and the girls surrendered themselves to a dissipated life, living in a continual party with the young men of Concepción and other townsfolk, who came to enjoy themselves at the manor where they lived. Many gentlemen were lost because of these girls. The sins that they committed in that manor were so numerous and so great that God, being tired of such sinful behaviors, on one of those partying days sank the manor with the three girls and all their guests [in it], which numbered more than fifty people, and filling with water the space where the dissipated place had stood together with its surroundings. And the extent of water that was created from this act, and which still exists today, is what is known by the name of “The Lagoon of the Three Pascuals”.
Once a young man fell asleep on a large rock on the shore of this lagoon, and when he woke up he saw three beautiful girls setting up a table in front of him, and they served him with all kind of delicacies and exquisite wines. He was with them for the rest of the day and throughout the night, enjoying themselves thoroughly. The next day, he woke up at 12 as usual and found himself naked on a sandbank in Bío-Bío.
Whenever the lagoon water recedes, one would see an enormous rock which takes the form of a church. The few people who had managed to get in and out alive said that there is a marvelously beautiful altar inside, in front of which were one hundred thousand shining bright lights.
—– VOCABULARY —–
Dama – (woman) lady; (noble woman) lady; (in chess, cards) queen; (in checkers) king
Damas – (board game) checkers, draughts
Responder – (to give an answer) to answer, to reply, to give a reply; (to react) to respond, to respond to; (to answer impertinently) to answer back, to talk back; (to take responsibility for; used with “por” or “de”0 to vouch for, to take responsibility for; (to correspond to; used with “a”) to be in keeping with, to be appropriate for; (to reply to) to answer, to reply to, to respond to; (to acknowledge) to answer
Esperanza – (desire) hope; (something or someone that gives hope) hope
Entregarse – (to yield) to surrender, to turn oneself in; (to dedicate oneself) to devote oneself; (to give in; used with “a”) to succumb to
Entregar – (to hand in or over) to turn in, to submit, to give; (to transport) to deliver; (to transfer) to hand over
Disipado – dissipated
Culpa – (responsibility) blame, fault, guilt; (religious) sin
Cometer – (to carry out) to commit; (to produce) to make