088. The Golden Little Star (Estrellita de Oro)
There were a king and a queen who had only one daughter. Then the mother [queen] died and the king remarried. Life in the palace went very well until the new queen had a daughter because, from that moment on, all the love and pamper went to her own daughter, and mistreatment and humiliations to her stepdaughter. Moreover, as the daughter of the new queen grew up, she treated her stepdaughter worse: she sent her to wash clothes, to fetch water from the fountain… in short, she treated her like a servant and, in the meantime, the daughter stayed in the palace and hardly lifted a finger.
[Note: la hija se quedaba en casa y no daba un palo al agua]
One day the queen sent her stepdaughter to wash clothes [that were] dirty with soot, a tiny bit of soap and an empty pot. And she said:
– You have to bring back [to me] the cleaned clothes, two whole [bars of] soap and the pot full of soup.
Upon leaving, the poor girl was very sad with her task, because she did not know how she would be able to fulfill the errand that her stepmother had given her. On her way to launder the clothes, she encountered an old woman who, on seeing her being so pitiful, asked her:
– Little girl, why are you so sad?
And the girl answered her:
– It is my stepmother who sent me to wash these clothes and they are so black with soot that I am unable to look at them; and she had only given me a tiny bit of soap to wash them and, moreover, this pot has nothing to eat in it. And I have to return with the clothes spotlessly cleaned, two whole [bars of] soap and the pot full of soup.
And the old woman said to her:
– Very well, don’t you worry. Take this basket that I give you and put the clothes and soap in it. Later, look up to the sky. Ah, and do not forget to eat the soup which is in the pot.
The girl, being consoled, did everything that the old woman ordered her to do. And when she looked up at the sky, a golden little star fell on her forehead; and when she looked inside the basket, she saw that the clothes were as white as they had ever been and on them were two beautiful pieces [bars] of soap; and when she looked in the pot she saw that it was full of hearty soup, and she ate it, and the pot became full again.
Very contented, she gathered everything and returned to where her stepmother was. The stepmother, as soon as she saw her, said:
– Have you done everything that I told you to do?
The girl gave her everything that she had brought with her. Then the stepmother noticed the star on her forehead and she asked her how it came to be there. And the girl told her about her encounter with the old woman, and that she had told her to look up at the sky and the golden little star had fallen onto her.
The stepmother became very envious, she called her daughter and said to her:
– Now, you too will go wash clothes at the washhouse and carry the same things as your stepsister did, so that you will return with a golden little star on the forehead.
Her daughter did this. She met the old woman, who saw that she came out of envy and punished her [for this]. The old woman told her to put the clothes, the soap and the pot in the basket and to look up to the sky. The daughter did this and a donkey’s tail fell onto her forehead; and when she went to look in the basket, she found the clothes black as [if stained with] soot, the pot empty, and there was not even the tiny bit of soap she had brought with her. And so she went back to the palace with the donkey’s tail planted on her forehead.
Her mother saw her and became all furious. And the angrier she was, the worse she treated her stepdaughter. The people began to call one Rabo de Burro (Tail of Donkey) and Estrellita de Oro (Golden Little Star) the other. In the end, the queen, not knowing how to hurt her stepdaughter, she made her clean the wood stoves and take out the ashes. When Sunday came, they left Golden Little Star [behind] to clean the ashes and the Queen and Tail of Donkey went to mass in a carriage. Despite the fact that she had a donkey’s tail on her forehead, the mother dressed her in a way that one cannot notice it, but the people said [sang]:
– Ha, ha, ha. Golden Little Star is cleaning ashes and Tail of Donkey travels in a cart.
One day, the king had to leave for a long journey, which would take him away for multiple days. Before departing, he went and spoke to his daughter, Golden Little Star, and to his stepdaughter, Tail of Donkey, and asked them what they would like for him to bring back, because the king loved them both equally. Tail of Donkey said that she wanted a very beautiful dress, a feather hat, and a pair of slippers. And Golden Little Star said to her father that all she wanted was for him to bring her a wand from the first tree that he saw.
The king set out and immediately encountered a tree. He gave order to stop his carriage, got off and cut out the most eye-catching and straightest wand which grew out from its branches. When he arrived at the place where he was going to, he bought the dress, hat and slippers, returned [to his castle] with everything and gave them to his daughters.
Several days later, a neighboring king hosted a large ball, because he was single and wanted to search for a wife. The queen dressed Tail of Donkey with what the father had brought back, and these looked very elegant on her. She hid the tail with a wig and a tiara and took her to the ball, where all marriageable princesses and girls from neighboring kingdoms would attend. But before that she spilled a sack of lentils among the stove’s ashes and told Golden Little Star to not leave there until she had separated and cleaned them. Having done this, she went to the ball with her daughter.
Golden Little Star then took her wand, which was a magical wand that the old woman had placed in the king’s way (her father) and went and said:
– Little birds, little birds from the garden, come and help me!
An enormous number of little birds came and in a moment they separated the lentils and put them in a basket. Then Golden Little Star asked the magical wand for a cute dress plated in gold, silver and laces, a golden pair of slippers to go to the ball in, and a tiara with a pearl to cover up the little star that she had on her forehead. In this way, and in a very elegant carriage that she also asked for, she went to the ball.
She arrived at the ball and, as soon as the king saw her, he was dancing with her, dancing and dancing non-stop and, the more he danced with her, the more he liked her and he asked her that if she’d like to marry him. Golden Little Star told him that she would answer him later; and so they continued, dancing and dancing. Tail of Donkey and her mother were full of envy, wondering who that girl that dazzled the young king could be.
It got late and Golden Little Star told the young king that she had to leave. The young king did not want to let her go, but he finally relented and accompanied her to the carriage; and on their way she gave him promise of marriage and they became a couple, and she promised him that she would return to the next ball. And as soon as she arrived at her palace, she asked her magical wand to turn her back as before, and once more she saw herself in the kitchen.
In a short while, Tail of Donkey and her mom arrived from the ball, and they said:
– Aye, what a pretty girl that was at the ball! Who could she be? Who could she be? And she came to dance and dance with the king throughout the night. Who could she be? Who could she be?
And Golden Little Star replied:
– Well yes, well no, could it be me?
And the stepmother said to her:
– Who can you be, being so dirty that you are!
So the second night of the ball came and once more the queen dressed Tail of Donkey very elegantly and they went to the young king’s palace. Once more they gave Golden Little Star a sack of lentils mixed among the stove’s ashes and told her to clean them.
As soon as they had left, Little Star grabbed her magical wand and called out again to the little birds:
– Little birds, little birds of the garden, come and help me!
The little birds returned and they cleaned the lentils in a flash. She then asked the wand for a dressed embroidered with colors of all the flowers in the world, and a tiara with a ruby which hid the little star on her forehead. And off she went to the ball in a carriage more elegant than the first.
The king was already waiting for her, because they were already a couple, so that when she arrived, he took her out to dance and they were dancing and dancing all night, until it got late and she told him that she had to return home, but that she would come back the next night without fail. The young king accompanied her to the carriage and, as soon as she was on her way back home, she asked the wand to turn her back as before, and once more she saw herself in the kitchen.
When the queen and her daughter returned, they found her in the kitchen with all the lentils separated and cleaned like last time. And they said:
– Aye, how beautiful the king’s girlfriend looked this evening! Who could she be? Who could she be?
And Golden Little Star answered:
– Well yes, well no, could it be me?
And the stepmother said to her:
– Who can you be, being so dirty that you are!
Well, the next night came and the queen dressed Tail of Donkey more elegantly than ever before. [Together] they went to the ball and left Golden Little Star to clean the lentils. And it happened as in the previous times: the girl called the little birds, they came and cleaned the lentils in less time that it takes to say this and she asked the wand for a dress still more gorgeous and lovely than before, this time with golden and silver bells ringing and a tiara with a diamond which covered the little star on her forehead. She got dressed and went to the ball in a carriage drawn by six white horses.
The young king was already waiting for her and, as always, he took her out to dance. He never left her side and they were dancing throughout the night [while] Tail of Donkey and her mother were green with envy. This time Little Star got a little careless and was very late, so late that she said to the king that she was unable to stay a moment longer and ran toward her carriage. She ran so quickly that on her way one of her golden slippers came off and the king, who did not manage to catch up with her, picked up the slipper and kept it with him. Golden Little Star flew home in the carriage drawn by the six white horses, asked the wand to turn her back as before the ball, and stood waiting in the kitchen.
The queen and her daughter arrived soon after. And they said:
– Aye, tonight the princess looked beautiful! Who could she be? Who could she be? She lost a slipper when she left the ball and the king got it. And the king said that he would marry the owner of the slipper. Who could she be? Who could she be?
And Golden Little Star said [to them]:
– Well yes, well no, could it be me?
And those two, the queen and her daughter, said:
– Who can you be, being so dirty that you are!
The next day, the young king left his palace and went to where the queen lived, as he was searching for the girl who’d fit the lost slipper. He arrived at the queen’s palace and came Tail of Donkey and she cut off her toes so that she’d fit into the slipper, but the king saw that it was not hers. The king then asked if there was not another girl in the house. The queen replied that there was not, that there was only one in the kitchen, but she was very ugly and very dirty. The young king asked to call for her and, as it was the king who asked for it, they went to search for her.
The queen and her daughter said:
– I don’t know why he’s wasting time calling that dirty girl.
Then came Golden Little Star in her dress with golden and silver bells and a single golden slipper. The king, on seeing her, recognized her immediately and put on the slipper that he kept with him, which fit her perfectly, as it was the one that she had lost.
The young king asked for Golden Little Star’s hand from her father, which he happily gave to him. The father became very angry on seeing how the queen and her daughter had treated Golden Little Star, but Little Star asked him to pardon them. She then went with the young king to his palace and married him [there].
And they had many feasts at the wedding, ate partridges, and had a grand time; and I, who tell the tale, got bones in my nose.
[Note: not sure if this is a common Spanish saying, but the original text was: “y a mí, que lo cuento, me dieron con los huesos en las narices.”]
—– VOCABULARY —–
A medida que – (time) as
Apearse – to get off, to get out of, to alight from
Apurarse – (to be distressed) to worry oneself
Caber – to fit
Casadero – marriageable
Cenicero – ashtray
Cenizas – (remains) ashes
Dar con – to find; to track down (a person)
Deprisa – (rapidly) fast, quickly, hurriedly
Descuidarse – to be careless
Despegar – (to detach) to unstick; (to lift off) to take off
Diadema – (jewelry) diadem, crown, tiara
Encaje – (material) lace; (coupling of pieces) fit; (mechanics) socket
Encandilar – (to blind) to dazzle; (to amaze) to dazzle; (to fuel) to stir up, to stoke
En un santiamén – in a flash, in no time at all
Fastidiar – (to irritate) to annoy, to bother; (to mess up) (Spain) to spoil, to ruin
Fea – (unattractive) ugly, unflattering
Hueso – (anatomy) bone; (fruit) pit, stone;
Lanteja – lentil
Lastimoso – pitiful
Miaja – tiny bit; bit
Mientras tanto – (during the same time) meanwhile, in the meantime
Mimo – (show of affection) cuddle, caress; (indulgence) pamper; (gentleness) care
Nariz – nose
No dar un palo al agua – not lift a finger; never do an ounce of work
Pájaro – bird
Peluca – (false hair) wig
Perdiz – partridge
Próximo – (following) next
Puchero – cooking pot; stewpot;
Rabo – (animal anatomy) tail; (botany) stem
Recta – straight line, straight
Reparar en – (to become aware) to notice
Soltero – (unmarried) single person
Tizne – soot, smut
Varita – (small staff) wand
Venir bien – (to become) to look, to suit;
Vistoso – eye-catching; flashy; bright and colorful
Volcar – (to turn over) to knock over, to spill, to tip over; (to empty) to empty out, to dump