Histories of Witches – Historias de Brujos
From Cuentos Populares en Chile (Chilean Folktales) – by Ramón A. Laval
Part 2 – Myths, Traditions, Things (Mitos, Tradiciones, Casos)
060. The Punished Frog (La Rana Castigada)
(The 16-year old student D. Antonio Morales told me about it in Santiago, in 1909.)
In a house there lived three sisters.
One day they set out to visit some friends of theirs, but one of the sisters, claiming to be unwell, did not accompany the other two.
While they were visiting, they saw an enormous frog entered the living room, which greatly frightened everyone.
The sisters, who suspected that she who had not accompanied them was a witch, thought that the frog could be her and who had come to bother their friends, whom she hated; and although they had done everything possible so that the owners of the house would not cause her harm, she was cruelly mistreated by them, where she was beaten with the handle of a feather duster.
When the two girls came back to their house, they found their sister in bed, covered with bruises and wounds, which she explained by saying that she had slipped and that the fall had caused them.
They did not buy the explanation, and from this the girls deduced that what they thought was true (e.g. their sister was a witch). And it was, indeed.
—– VOCABULARY —–
Castigada – punished
Castigar – (to impose a sentence on or for) to punish (a person or crime); (to chastise) to punish, to ground (not allowing to go out), to keep in (not allowing to go out); (to hurt) to punish, to hit, to affect, to afflict, to ravage, to devastate; (to be harmful to) to damage, to harm; (sports) to penalize, to suspend; (to drive on a horse) to ride hard; (to attract) to seduce; (old-fashioned) (to edit) to revise, to correct; (to cut expenses) to reduce
Pretextar – to claim, to use as a pretext, to use as an excuse
Hallarse – (to be situated) to be; (to be part of) to be; (to experience a state or emotion) to feel, to find oneself; (to discover oneself) to find oneself
Hallar – (to find) to find; (to uncover) to discover; (to receive a reaction) to meet with
Maliciar – to suspect
Mango – (fruit) mango; (botany) mango tree; (flavor) mango; (object to grip) handle; (currency) (River Plate) peso; (attractive person) hunk, stunner
Plumero – (cleaning tool) feather duster; (decoration) plume of feathers; (holder for pens) penholder (cup), pencil case (case)
Contusión – (medicine) contusion (technical), bruise
Resbalar – (to skid) to slip, to slide; (to make a mistake) to slip up; (to be indifferent)
Resbalarse – (to skid) to slip