078. Metamorphosis, e.g. Transformation (Metamorfosis)
[Note: I still don’t fully understand a key description of this tale, which you can see below. Please note this deficiency in the translation before you decide to read on.]
There was a girl, of plebeian class and from a poor family, who had an idea planted in her head of becoming a queen. And nothing in any manner could convince her otherwise. As she was very beautiful, she could have tempted more than one prince, but it so happened that the king of that kingdom only had a daughter.
As the girl was very stubborn, she said:
– Well, I endeavor to reign, and reign I will!
And no better idea occurred to her other than disguising as a guy, enlisting as a soldier, and heading to the palace to serve in the king’s guard. It was here one day when the princess saw that young lad, and as he [the gal in disguise] seemed handsome, she [the princess] took him for a man. Little by little she became more and more interested in him, and finally, they ended up as a couple to get married.
Upon seeing this, the soldier’s comrades in arms took an interest in him and began to observe him; and by his voice, the fine features of his face, his [body] figure, in short, by everything, they began to suspect that perhaps he was a woman and not a man, and they went to tell the king.
The king was curious and to uncover the mystery, he offered a banquet to the soldiers of his guard. And he said this to his friends:
– We will put out high chairs and low chairs; and if he was a woman, we will find out right away because women prefer to sit themselves in low chairs.
But the princess, on hearing that, went and told her beloved.
– Look what nonsense had gotten to my father, when he thinks that you are a woman and will sit yourself in a low chair!
– Is that what your father thinks? – said the handsome [young] man -. Very well, now you’ll see what I will do.
He entered the banquet room and, with an expression of disgust, threw to the side all the low chairs while saying loudly so all could hear him:
– All us men get to sit in the high chairs, as the low ones are for women.
The soldiers frowned and the king turned red when he felt being outed. But as night fell he [the king] left for a walk with several of his soldiers, among them the handsome young man and, not intentionally, they came to the seashore. Then he ordered all soldiers to follow his example and take a bath without exception.
[Note: I have trouble understanding this next paragraph mainly due to the word ‘cabezada’, which I still don’t know the exact meaning of. The original Spanish text is this: “Como la moza sospechara ya algo, había ido antes al monte, donde abundaban las corzas. Mató una, le quitó la cabezada y la llevaba sujeta a la cintura cuando se metió en el mar. Entonces la cabezada se pegó a su carne y, cuando salió del mar, la moza ya no era moza, que era mozo. Y avergonzado el rey de haber hecho oídos a las sospechas que le hicieron llegar, le redobló los favores y acabó por casarle con su hija.”]
[Switching back gender for the girl from ‘he’ to ‘she’ to make this paragraph clearer] As the girl suspected something was up, she had gone ahead to the mountain where roe deer were abundant. She killed one, removed her belt (cabezada?) and carried it fastened to her waist when she went into the sea. Then the belt got stuck to her skin and when she left the sea, the girl [disguised as a lad] was not a girl, but [instead] was a boy. And the king was embarrassed for having been made listened to the suspicions, so that he redoubled his favors [for the girl] and ended up marrying her to his daughter.
And this was how the poor girl, beautiful and stubborn, came to be nothing less than a king.
—– VOCABULARY —–
Acabar de – (used to express immediate action) just; (to complete) to finish
Acabar por – to end up
Ademán – gesture (with the hands); expression (with the face); movement
Alistarse – (to join the army) to enlist
A más de – more than; to more than; to over
Avergonzado – ashamed, embarrassed
Averiguar – (to uncover) to find out, to discover; averiguarse – (Mexico) to make do, to get by
Cabezada – (movement of the head) nod; (butt using the skull) head butt;
Cabezota – (obstinate person) mule, stubborn person; pigheaded, stubborn
Cara – (body) face
Cintura – waist
Corzo – (animal) roe deer; roe buck (male)
Descubrir – to discover, to uncover
Disfrazarse de – to dress up as, to disguise oneself as
Empeñarse – (to make an effort; used with ‘en’) to endeavor to; (to persist; used with ‘en’) to insist on; (to owe) to fall into debt; empeñar – (to deposit as security) to pawn, to hock; (to offer) to give; (to pass) to spend
Finura – (elegance) refinement; (courtesy) politeness; (good quality) fineness
Galán – handsome man, heartthrob
Gesto – (facial movement) expression, face, gesture
Interesarse por – to be interested in
Metamorfosis – metamorphosis, transformation
Novios – bride and groom; couple
Pegarse – (to cling) to stick; (to catch) to pick up; pegar – to attach, to glue, to stick
Plebeyo – (person from the working class) plebeian; (ordinary) common
Quitarse – (to remove clothing) to take off; (to move away) to get out; quitar – (to eliminate) to remove; (to grab) to take away, to take; (to ease) to relieve, to take away; (to consume) to take up; (to exclude) except for
Redoblar – to redouble, to increase
Reinar – to reign
Sala – (room in a house) living room, sitting room, room; (public place) courtroom, ward
Sujetar – (to grasp) to hold; (to fix in place) to fasten, to hold in place; (to restrain) to hold down, to subdue
Tentado – tempted
Tipo – type, kind, sort; (physique) figure
Tontería – (absurdity) nonsense, stupid thing
Torcer – (to contort) to twist; (to fold) to bend; (to curve) to turn
Torcer el gesto – wince, frown
Tozudo – stubborn, obstinate