008. Little Asparagus (Periquillo)
[Note: per the Spanish dictionary https://dle.rae.es/periquillo, Periquillo is a type of candy made of sugar; it is also the diminutive form of “perico”, which can be a parakeet (animal), toupee (headdress), asparagus (vegetable), urinal (toilet). In our context, Periquillo most likely means “Little Asparagus” for how small and thin the child was. Please correct me if you think otherwise.]
There was a couple of farmers who were both so small that the people knew them by the nickname of “hemp seeds”. This did not bother them, but instead, they lamented of not having any children. When they heard them lamenting, the people would say to them:
And why do you want a child, if he’s going to be a hemp seed [too].
And the two responded:
Well so what; hemp seed and all, we [both] want to have a child.
And so God granted them a son and he was born as small as a hemp seed; and they called him Little Asparagus (Periquillo) and, as he did not grow an inch more, [the name] Little Asparagus stayed with him.
So time passed and as Little Asparagus aged, he remained tiny as ever, but he was a strong-willed boy who did not get intimidated from being so small. One day when his father had gone to work in the fields early in the morning, he said to his mother, who was hitching up the donkey with food to take to his father:
Mother, leave the donkey to me, for I will take the food to father.
And the mother replied:
[And] How are you going to take it to him, as small as you are?
And Little Asparagus answered:
You finish preparing it, and I will take it to him.
The mother put the packsaddle on the monkey and put the food in it next to the other things that the father needed. And as soon as she had finished doing this, Little Asparagus jumped on the packsaddle, climbed up on it, ran up the donkey’s neck, settled in one of its ears and said calmly:
Giddy up, donkey!
The donkey started to walk, and the two of them were walking along the road when three thieves appeared behind a rock and said among themselves:
Let’s go for that donkey, it’s by itself.
Little Asparagus, who heard them because he had a very good ear, said in a loud voice so that they could hear him:
I will kill and dismember those who get near the donkey!
And the donkey quickened its pace, but the thieves remained still, trying to guess where the one who had spoken to them was hiding.
So Little Asparagus got to where his father was working and told him:
Ea, father, I bring you your food here.
And the father, who could only see the donkey’s packsaddle, said:
Where are you, son, for I do not see you?
as he had recognized his voice.
And Little Asparagus answered him:
I am here, in the donkey’s ear
and he went out [the ear] and jumped off of it.
Then Little Asparagus said to his father:
Father, should I make some furrows while you eat?
And the father said:
And how are you going to make them? As small as you are, you cannot handle the oxen.
That I can!
replied the child. And while his father ate, he climbed up the yoke that held the oxen together and began to cry out to the animals. Upon hearing this, the oxen began to walk and made a furrow, and returned and made another, and so on, going and coming back and making furrows until his father finished eating. And then they continued together all afternoon until sunset, when they both went home. The father put the oxen in the stable and prepared fodder for them, and Little Asparagus, who was very tired, laid down and slept in the manger for the ox Colorao. And the ox Colorao began to eat and, without knowing it, swallowed [up] Little Asparagus.
So it was dinner time and they called for the child, but no matter how hard they looked for him, he was nowhere to be found. They began to look for him in all parts of the house, and when the father passed by the stable he heard Little Asparagus spoke from within the ox:
Father, kill the ox Colorao, for he has eaten me whole.
So the father took the ox to the field, killed it and cut it open with a knife, but no matter how hard he looked in its guts and all the other parts, he could not find Little Asparagus; and there the ox laid dead until a wolf who was prowling around the village happened to pass by and ate the ox’s guts and Little Asparagus with them.
The wolf was searching for livestock to eat the next day and Little Asparagus, who felt [its intention], began to shout [aloud]:
Shepherds, here comes the wolf!
The shepherds, who heard his voice, surrounded the wolf and beat it to death. Once they had killed it, they began to cut it open with their knives and Little Asparagus, from inside [the wolf], told them to be careful not to hurt him; but no matter how hard the shepherds looked, they did not see Little Asparagus. Then one of the shepherds decided to make a drum with the wolf’s skin so he could take it with him to the festivities in his town, and Little Asparagus remained inside the drum without anyone noticing.
The shepherd placed the drum next to a large oak tree and left with the others. Little Asparagus [then] spent his efforts in scratching the skin [head] of the drum with all his might and, little by little, he managed to open a small hole through which he could poke his head out. And when he poked his head out he saw two thieves coming, [together] carrying a large bag of coins which they hid in the hollow of the oak tree. And before leaving, they said:
It will be safe here tonight, and tomorrow we’ll divide up the money.
So they disappeared, [and] Little Asparagus took his head out of the drum, and then his body with some effort, and as soon as he was outside, he ran back home. His parents were there, sad and heartbroken, but that they became so happy when they saw Little Asparagus coming [home], safe and sound. Then Little Asparagus told them all that happened to him since the ox ate him, and also what he had witnessed with the thieves. So his father and he went to the oak tree, took out the hidden bag, saw that it was full of gold coins and carried it home. And the father bought another ox like Colorao and they still had money left over to buy many other things that they had needs for.
—– VOCABULARY —–
Acertar – to find, to discover; to guess correctly
Acudir – (to attend) to go to, (to consult) to turn to, (to occur to) to come
Adivinar – to guess, to predict
Agujero – hole
Albarda – packsaddle, saddle
Anduvieron – they walked; andar – to walk, to take; andarse – (to act) to be
Apear – to get off, to get out of
Apodo – nickname, alias
Arre – hurry up! Giddyap!
Arredrarse – to be frightened, to be intimidated, to be daunted, to be scared
Así sucesivamente – so on
Asomar – to stick out, to lean out
Aún – still, yet, even
Bastonazo(s) – blow(s) with stick(s)
Bueno y qué – well…
Buey – oxen,
Burra – donkey; bus, bicycle
Cansado – tired
Cáñamo – (botany) hemp; twine, hemp rope, hemp cloth
Cañamones – hempseeds
Cargar – to load, to fill
Cenar – to have dinner
Conceder – to give, to grant, to award, to admit, to concede
Conque – so, so that
Conseguir – to get, to obtain, to achieve
Cuadra – block, stable, pigsty, barracks, ward
Cuarta – fourth, quarter
Cuchillo – knife
Cuello – neck, collar
Cuenta – account; realize; dar cuenta de – to realize, to account for, to give an account of
De marcharse – to leave
Dedicar – to dedicate, to devote, to consecrate; dedicarse a – to devote oneself to, to spend time with
Desconsolado – heartbroken
Descuartizar – to quarter, to carve up
Detrás – behind
Diminuto – tiny, minute, dimunitive
En cambio – instead
En cuanto – as soon as
Encina – holm oak, oak
Entero – whole, entire
Forraje – fodder, forage
Fueran – they were; ser – to be
Ganado – livestock
Gritar – to scream, to shout
Guardar – to put away, to put, to save, to keep
Herirse – to hurt, to injure oneself; herir – to wound, to injure
Hueco – hole, hollow; opening, space
Incomodar – to make uncomfortable, to trouble, to inconvenience
Instalarse – to settle in; instalar – to install, to connect, to put
Junto a – next to, beside, together
La burra albardada – the saddled donkey
Labrador – farmer; dog breed
Lamentarse – to complain, to grumble
Lobo – wolf
Matrimonio – married couple, marriage
Merodear – to prowl
Nacer – to be born, to hatch, to grow
Oído – ear, hearing
Oír – to hear, to listen to
Oreja – ear
Parte – anywhere, everywhere
Paso – pace, step, footstep
Pastor – shepherd
Peña – rock, cliff, crag
Pesebre – manger, crib
Ponerse – to become, to turn
Por más que – no matter how, as much as
Que sí que puedo – that I can
Quieto – (immobile) still, motionless; (peaceful) calm, quiet
Rascar – to scratch, to scrape
Repartirse – to give out, to distribute
Rodear – to surround, to encircle
Saltar – to jump, to leap
Sano – health, wholesome, intact; sano y salvo – safe and sound
Salvo – safe
Sin darse cuenta – without realizing it
Sintió – s/he felt; sentir – to feel
Sobrar – (to remain) to be left over, to be more than enough
Surco – (agriculture) furrow
Talego – long sack
Temprano – early
Tragar – to swallow, to soak up, to guzzle
Tratando – trying to
Tratarse de – (to cocern) to be about; tratar – (to behave) to treat, to address, to deal with
Trepar – to climb, to scale
Tripas – guts, innards, insides, stomach
Triste – sad, melancholy
Uncir – to yoke
Voluntarioso – willing, willful
Yugo – yoke
Zamparse – to wolf down (e.g. eat a lot quickly); to put, to stick; to shove, to give