087. Fate [Destiny] (El Sino)
A prince was once lost in a forest and could not find his way back. He was lost for several hours until, at dusk, he thought he saw a small house between the thicket and [he] went to it. When he got close, he saw that it was a modest cabin and in it lived a couple of shepherds. The prince spoke to them without announcing himself, because he saw that they were kind by nature and generous as well, as they offered to share their meager dinner with him: cheese, sheep milk and rye bread. Afterwards, they made a straw bed for him and there the prince lied comfortably.
There at midnight, the prince heard noises and voices and soon he realized that the shepherdess was complaining of labor pain. He stayed awake for a while and, at this, heard a cry from a baby and then the voice of the husband who said:
– It’s a girl! It’s a girl more beautiful than all the flowers in this forest!
In that place it was customary to read the fate of the children at the moment of their birth, so the shepherd read aloud the fate of his daughter. The fate says that, on reaching fifteen years old, the girl would marry a prince who in that moment was lying in a straw bed.
The prince heard the reading and said to himself: “The fate refers to me, there is no doubt about that; but I will avoid my marriage to the daughter of these shepherds.”
The parents were very happy with the fate [of the daughter], although they did not quite believe it, as they did not know that the one whom they had given the straw bed to was a prince.
Just before dawn, when everyone was still sleeping, the prince quietly got up, grabbed the girl without being seen, took his horse, entered deep into the forest, and left the girl hanging from the branch of a walnut tree.
The prince [at the time] was living in the castle of his relatives (uncles and aunt) and they, on seeing their nephew had not returned, determined to go search for him; and they were combing the forest when they heard the cries of a baby. Guided by the cries, they found the walnut tree on which the girl was hung and carried her away with them. They returned to the castle and the first thing they did was to baptize her, and with that they gave her the name María. And as they had found her hanging from a walnut tree, they called her María la del Nogal (Maria from the Walnut Tree).
Meanwhile, the prince had managed to leave from the other end of the forest and returned to his father’s castle, from where he relayed a message to his relatives that he was safe and sound.
After some years, the prince returned to his relatives’ castle during the hunting season and, while there, saw a girl whose last name piqued his attention, so he asked the reason for which she was known as María la del Nogal. Then his relatives, who loved the girl very much, explained to him how and where they had found her. On hearing their explanations, the prince became furious and said they had been wrong in picking her up [saving her] and he would never return to their castle while María la del Nogal still lived in it.
In reality the prince was worried and scared, thinking that the fate in which the shepherd had read on the night of the birth might be fulfilled.
And it happened that when the girl was about to turn fifteen, the prince returned to his relatives’ castle to demand them to banish the girl forever. And seeing that he couldn’t get his way, because they loved her like their own daughter, he locked himself in his room contemplating a way to get rid of her.
The following day, when washing his hands, he removed his rings, because they bothered him, and left them in the washbasin’s water; and as the water was murky with soap, they remained there [after he was done]. Later, Maria went to clean the prince’s room and on seeing the washbasin’s dirty water, she threw it out the window overlooking the sea; and [together] with the washbasin’s water went the rings. The prince later asked for his rings and Maria told him that she had not seen them. Then he told his relatives that she had stolen them [the rings] from him.
Theft was a grave matter, so that even with great sorrow due to how much they loved her, the relatives threw her out of their house [castle]. But an aunt sent a servant after her to know what she’d do.
Maria, not knowing what to do, went to the seashore and sat down on a cliff to look out in the distance, and after a while she began to cry. And the more she cried, the more distressed she became.
But lo and behold, suddenly a cormorant came flying over the water, and the cormorant was carrying the prince’s rings in its beak and put them in Maria’s hands. On seeing them, Maria turned around and came running back to the castle to return them to the prince and told everyone how they had come out from the sea.
No one believed what she said, thinking that she always had them with her and that it was now late to repent. But the aunt sent for the servant whom she had charged to follow Maria and asked him:
– Is it true what she’s saying?
And the servant replied:
– It is true, I saw it.
Then the prince understood that he was unable to free himself from the fate that followed him and he married María la del Nogal.
And it was never known whether this marriage was a happy one.
—– VOCABULARY —–
Acabar de – (used to express immediate action) just; (to complete) to finish
Acostarse – (to recline) to lie down
Amable – (gentle) nice, kind
Apellido – (hereditary name) last name, surname, family name
Arrepentirse – (to feel remorse) to regret, to be sorry, to repent
A salvo – safe
Asunto – issue, matter
Atardecer – (twilight) dusk, evening; (to get dark) to darken
Aun con – even with
Batir – (to explore) to comb, to search; (to mix) to beat, to whip, to whisk
Bautizar – to baptize
Cabaña – cabin, hut, shack
Centeno – (botany) (culinary) rye
Cormorán – cormorant
Dar a conocer – (to divulge) to announce, to make known, to publish
Dar crédito – to credit; to believe
Dar media vuelta – turn around
De parto – labor, birth
Desconsuelo – grief, distress
Desterrar – (to deport) to banish, to exile; (to forget) to dismiss, to banish
Devolverse – to give back, to return
Espesura – (botany) thicket, bushes, vegetation
Evitar – (to keep clear of) to avoid; (to avert) to prevent
Exigir – (to order) to demand; (to necessitate) to call for, to require; (taxes) to levy
Jofaina – washbasin, washbowl
Lecho – bed; lechar – to milk
Llamar la atención – (to bring to notice) to call attention to; (to issue with a warning) to reprimand
Llanto – crying, weeping
Meditar – (to consider) to ponder, to meditate on, to think about, to think out
Molestar – (to irk) to bother, to annoy; (to offend) to upset
Naturaleza – (environment) (essence) (character) nature
Nogal – walnut tree
Paja – (dried grass) straw, hay;
Pastoreo – shepherding
Peña – cliff, crag
Perseguir – (to run after) to pursue, to follow, to chase; (to pester) to harass
Quejarse – to complain
Recado – (correspondence) message; (task) errand
Robo – robbery; theft
Sino – (destiny) fate; (solely) but, except, save
Sucio – (filthy) dirty; (disorganized) messy
Tardar – (to spend time) to take; (to take too much time) to take too long; (to be a while) to be long
Temporada – season; (stint) time, period of time, period, spell