007. The Anjana’s Pincushion (El Alfiletero De La Anjana)
In Cantabria there are witches called anjanas, who have great powers and reward the good and punish the bad. And there is also a kind of witches who only think of doing harm to the people, and [these] are called ojáncanos, because they only have a single eye in the middle of their foreheads. The ojáncanos live in caves and are longtime enemies of the anjanas.
[Note: “ojo” means eye in Spanish.]
One day, an anjana lost a pincushion that had four pins, each with a diamond [on it], and three silver needles with a golden eye.
A poor woman who was begging for alms from village to village found it, but her joy was short-lived because she immediately thought that, if she tried to sell it, everyone would think that she had stolen it. So not knowing what to do with it, she decided to keep it. This poor woman lived with a son who helped her to sustain themselves, but one day the son went to the mountains and did not return, because he had been taken by an ojáncano.
Being dismayed to see the days passed by and her son not returning, the poor woman continued to beg for alms and put the pincushion in her pocket. But she did not know that her son had been taken by the ojáncano and she thought he was lost and dead and she wept bitterly for him, as he was her only child.
One day when she was begging, she passed by an old woman who was sewing. Just as the poor woman passed by, the old woman’s needle broke, and she said to the poor woman:
Do you happen to have a needle by any chance?
The poor woman thought about it for a moment and finally answered:
Yes I do, I just found a pincushion which has three, so you can take one – and she gave it to the old woman.
The poor woman continued on her way and passed by a very beautiful young woman who was sewing and the same thing happened, and she gave away the second needle from the pincushion.
And later she passed by a girl who was sewing and the same thing happened and the poor woman gave her the third needle.
Then she only had the pins remaining from the pincushion, but it happened that a little further on she encountered a young woman who had a thorn stuck in her foot, and she asked the poor woman if she has a pin to help her remove the thorn, and of course, the poor woman gave her one of her pins. And yet again she met another girl who was crying inconsolably because the skirt of her dress had been torn, so that the poor woman used her last three pins to mend the skirt and with this she was left with the empty pincushion.
At last, her path led her to the river, but it did not have a bridge where she could cross, so she began to walk along the bank in hope of finding a ford. She was walking when she heard the pincushion said to her:
Squeeze me to [get to] the river’s [opposite] bank.
The poor woman did what the pincushion told her and a solid wooden log suddenly appeared, crossing the river from one side to the other, and the poor woman stepped on it and reached the opposite bank.
Then the pincushion said to her:
Whenever you want something or need help, [just] squeeze me.
The poor woman went on her way, but she did not have any luck in finding a house where she could call on, and she began to feel hungry. Then she remembered the pincushion and said to herself: “What if the pincushion gave me something to eat?”
She squeezed the pincushion and a freshly baked loaf of bread appeared in her hands, so she happily ate it while she continued on her way. Then, after a short time, she had a glimpse of a house to which she went without delay to beg for alms, but in that house there was only a woman who was mourning the loss of her daughter because she had been snatched [away] by an ojáncano. Pitying her, the poor woman told her that she would go into the forest herself to see if she could find her daughter.
Right away she remembered the pincushion and, not knowing where to begin to search, she squeezed it hard and a doe with a star on her forehead appeared. The doe began to walk and the poor woman followed it until the animal stopped in front of a large stone and waited there.
Puzzled, the poor woman again squeezed the pincushion and a hammer appeared. She took the hammer and hit the stone with all her strength, and the stone broke into pieces and the cave of the ojáncano appeared. Then she entered the cave accompanied by the doe, and although the cave was in complete darkness, the star on the doe’s forehead illuminated their way. And they went to all the corners in the cave until the poor woman saw a young man sleeping in one of them and she recognized that it was her son, whom the ojáncano had taken some time ago, and she woke him up and the two of them embraced one another with immense joy, and immediately, they hurried out of the cave with the doe’s help.
They returned to the house of the woman who was mourning the loss of her daughter, but then the poor woman saw that she was no longer crying and recognized by her appearance that she was an anjana.
And the anjana told her:
This is your home from now on. Don’t allow your son to wantonly go back to the forest. And now squeeze the pincushion for the last time.
The poor woman squeezed it and fifty sheep, fifty goats, and six cows appeared. And when they were done counting them, they saw that the doe, the anjana, and the pincushion had disappeared.
—– VOCABULARY —–
Abrazar – to hug, to embrace
Acabo – I just, just
Acordarse – to remember; acordar – to agree, to agree on, to remind
Adelante – forward, ahead, in front of, further
Adentrarse – to go into
Aguja – needle
Alcanzar – to reach, to catch, to catch up with
Alcanzar a ver – (to see briefly) to glimpse, to be able to see
Alegría – joy, happiness
Alfiler – (sewing) pin; (jewelry) pin, brooch
Amargamente – bitterly
Aparecer – to appear
Apretarse – to squeeze up, to squish together, to press
Arrebatar – to snatch
Atravesar – to cross
Aunque – even though, although
Bolsillo – pocket
Brujas – witches
Cabra(s) – goats
Castigar – to punish
Clavar – to hammer, to thrust, to fix, to stick
Compadecir – to pity, to feel sorry for
Contar – to count, to tell
Corzo/a – roe deer, roebuck
Coser – to sew, to stitch
Daño – damage, hurt
De repente – suddenly, all of a sudden
Delante – in front, ahead
Demora – delay
Desconcertado/a – disconcerted, puzzled
Desconsuelo – distress, grief
Despertar – to arouse, to wake up
Detuvo – s/he stopped; detener – to stop; to arrest; to delay
Dirigir – to be in charge of, to manage, to run; dirigirse – to walk toward, to address
Durar – to last
Enseguida – immediately, right away
Espina – thorn, prickle, spine, bone
Falda – skirt; hillside
Golpear – to hit, to punch, to bang; to beat
Guapo/a – handsome, beautiful
Hacía tiempo – a long time ago
Hornear – to bake
Intentar – (to make an effort to do something) to try, to attempt
Junto – together, nearby, next to
Justo – barely, just
Lucero – star, bright star
Madero – piece of timber, timber
Martillo – hammer, gavel
Oveja(s) – sheep
Pasar – to pass, to meet, to come across
Pedazo(s) – pieces
Pie – foot
Piensan – they think; pensar – to think
Plata – silver
Por casualidad – by chance
Porte – demeanor
Poseer – to have, to own, to possess
Premiar – to reward
Proseguir – to continue, to proceed
Puente – bridge
Que acabo de encontrar – I just found
Recomponer – to mend, to repair
Reconocer – to recognize
Recorrer – to travel around, to traverse; to do; to look around
Repente – suddenly
Resolverse – to decide, to make up one’s mind, to resolve
Romper – to break, to wear out
Roto – broken, torn
Seguir – to continue, to carry on
Sustento – sustenance, support
Todavía – still, even, yet
Tome – I take; tomar – to take
Vaca(s) – cows
Vado – ford, entrance
Vestido – dress, clothes