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)
061. The Vengeful Frog (La Rana Vengativa)
(Told by the same young man Morales in 1909.)
While on her way a village girl ran into a frog, and picking up some nettles she hit it hard in the belly with them. The frog was left motionless, lying upside down and was extremely swollen.
At night, when the girl opened up the bed to lie down [for the night], an enormous frog came out from under the pillow and, sitting on its hind legs, it stared at the girl with a gaze so fixed and so intense that her blood froze and she fell dead.
The frog was a witch.
—– VOCABULARY —–
Vengativo – vengeful, vindictive
Ortiga – (botany) nettle, stinging nettle
Vientre – (anatomy) belly, abdomen, womb (uterus), bowels (intestine); (wide part) belly
Hinchado – (puffed) swollen; (overinflated) conceited, pompous, bombastic, high-flown
Trasero – (at the back) rear, back; (buttocks) backside, bottom, butt, bum
Fija – (imperative; put; second person singular) fix; (imperative; determine; second person singular) fix, set, establish; fixed; set; sets; fixes
Helar – (to become solid) to freeze; (to shock) to freeze, to dumbfound; (to produce ice) to freeze
Helarse – (to become frozen) to freeze, to freeze over (body of water), to ice over (body of water); (to become cold) to freeze, to get cold; (to dry out) to freeze (harvest)