076. The Golden Cloak (El Manto de Oro)
Around here was a man who had a red-colored, eye-catching bird; and when it sang, it was a delight to listen to. The man had put this bird in a cage, and the cage was hung in a room whose door was always closed under seven bolts, so that no one in the world could manage to see the bird. Not even his wife nor his son had been able to enter that room where lived the precious bird which no one was able to see. Needless to say, both his wife and son were dying to see it.
One day, the man left his house for some errands which would take him at least an entire day. His wife and son, taking advantage of the occasion, searched all of his bags thoroughly until they found the seven keys which opened the door to that room. They opened the seven bolts and entered to see the bird. They took down the cage and the young man, admiring at how pretty the bird was, wanted to take it out [of the cage], and while he was cuddling it, the bird flew away.
After some time, the father returned and as soon as he realized that the bird had escaped, he became so exasperated that he put a curse on his son:
– May you never have luck nor happiness until you find the golden cloak.
The following day, the poor lad, more dead than alive due to the curse thrown at him by his father, began to travel God’s world to see if he can find the golden cloak. Before departing, his mother gave him a bag with three corn tortas [cakes, flat breads, sandwiches] to eat during his journey.
On the first day he ate the first torta, and when night fell he climbed up a tree to sleep in safety. On the second day he ate the second torta, and the third day, the third torta. So that he had nothing to eat on the fourth day and decided to look for work. On his way, he passed in front of a house with a young man sitting by its door. The lad approached him and asked if he would hire him as a day laborer, and the young man agreed to the proposal.
– You won’t have to work much – said the young man – you will only have to sweep and clean the house well. In the pantry you will find an abundance of food, so you can eat all you want, as they are for you. You have the whole house at your disposal with the exception of that door at the end of the corridor, and you must never open it for any reason. If you do open it, woe to you!
Having said that, the young man left.
The lad put his hands at the task and swept and cleaned the house thoroughly. He then ate what was in the pantry, and when full, he went to bed and slept comfortably.
The young man showed up the following day and the lad’s work seemed like pearls to him, so that he was very satisfied.
So in this way the lad lived there for a few weeks until he was unable to resist the urge to open that door at the end of the corridor. And he ignored the young man’s warning, went and opened it.
He was not surprised upon seeing that the door opened up to a beautiful garden, so big that the view was lost in it, filled with trees and marvelous birds. There in the middle he also saw a fountain where three young gals were washing clothes. Part of the laundry was already hung out to dry and he was able to see that, among those several pieces was a golden cloak. The lad, without thinking twice, ran toward the cloak and pulled it away. One of the three gals immediately grabbed the cloak at its other end, while the other two took the washed clothes and those that have yet to be washed, and ran away with them all.
Neither the lad nor the gal let go of the cloak, because neither of them wanted to lose it; until finally the lad decided to speak and said to her:
– Let me keep the mantle, as I am cursed by my father and I won’t be able to have neither luck nor happiness until I find a golden mantle. And now that I have found it, I cannot let it escape.
– Well then, if you want me to give you the cloak – said the gal -, you will have to marry me, because my life depends on it.
The proposal didn’t seem bad to the lad, as that gal was young and beautiful. So then, without thinking more about it, he married her and they both went back to his house with the golden cloak. The father, upon seeing their arrival, was very satisfied and relieved as his son had been rid of the curse. But lo and behold, this was an enchanted cloak and it must not be seen by anyone outside of that garden, because if not, its owner would vanish. Due to this, as soon as their arrival at the house, they hid it away so that no one could see it.
But the lad’s mother was dying to gaze at the cloak that had brought luck and happiness to her son, and she did not stop poking and searching around until she found the box in which they had hidden it. And at that precise moment when she opened it, zas!, her daughter-in-law disappeared.
The lad missed his wife very much and he began to search for her in all places. And upon finding no traces of her, he feared for the worst. His mother, greatly worried, did not dare to tell him what had happened; but seeing how desperate he was, she told him what she had done. And as the lad loved his wife so much, he decided to travel the world to search for her, at whatever cost and for however long that may take.
Walked he must, and he went to all places asking those he encountered on the road whether they had seen a gal with a golden cloak, but no one knew how to answer him, as no one had seen her. Finally, after three years of going from one place to another, one day he became very tired and asked for lodging at a house. In that house lived a man who, in place of hair, he had a body covered with feathers, and he told the lad that he was the king of birds. The lad explained to him who he was searching for, and the king of birds told him that he did not know anything about what he just described, but perhaps some of his children would be able to tell him the truth. He played a pan pipe three times and right away all birds presented themselves, from the largest to the smallest, from the most tamed to the most wild. And when they all had gathered there, he asked them:
– Had anyone among you heard the owner of the golden cloak speak, and do you know where to find her? You that know, do tell this lad here immediately.
All the birds shrugged their shoulders and said that they hadn’t heard anything regarding the matter, and asked among themselves how it was possible that no one knew anything, until the robin suddenly raised its voice and said:
– Not all the birds are here, the kinglet is missing. Because it flies the highest, perhaps it would have seen what we had not seen.
When the king of birds saw that the kinglet was missing, he got angry and ordered the speediest among them to go and search for it. After a while, they returned with the poor kinglet, who had not attended the king’s summons because water had entered his ears and impaired his hearing. And upon finding out what the king wanted to know, it said that, yes, it does know where the golden cloak’s owner was.
The king of birds ordered it to show [the way to] what the lad had asked, but as the kinglet was very small and not able to carry the lad, it asked him to follow in the direction that it will go and in seven days they would arrive at a castle of a very powerful king who was the father of the gal with the golden cloak.
The lad thanked the king of birds for the grand favor that he had given him, and without further delay, he began his trip.
After seven days of walking in the direction that the kinglet had marked out, he arrived at the base of a grand castle, and from the outside, he could see his wife, who was in front of a window with a baby boy in her arms. When he paid [close] attention to the baby, he saw that the baby resembled him and it filled him with joy. But this did not last long because the gal told him right away that he had to be extra careful to not let her father see him, as he was very angry with the lad for having snatched her away from him and married her with out his permission, so he had sworn to drink the lad’s blood if he ever runs into him.
The lad became very concerned upon hearing this threat uttered by his father-in-law. But his wife told him not to be distressed, as she would fix the matter by obtaining a pardon from her father. And she secretly aided him in entering the castle and put him in one of the most isolated rooms so that no one would know that he was there.
The following day, the gal went looking for her father and told him that she wished to see her husband so as to be able to show him to her son, who had yet to meet him. Her father threw a tantrum when he heard this. She did all she could to placate him, but he said he had sworn to drink the lad’s blood, and as they were words from a king, he would have to fulfill his promise. Despite how much his daughter was upset by this, he wouldn’t be able to go back on his words. Then she told him that perhaps this can be circumvented; that, if she finds her husband, she would make a small cut on his finger, where blood would come out from it; she herself would collect the blood, the king would be able to drink it, and so no one would be able to say that he did not fulfill his words.
This idea seemed neither good nor bad to the king, but he remained pensive [over the matter].
Then she told him that her husband was there now, and that, if he so desired, they could carry out the proposed idea right away. The king agreed, and the gal ordered [the servants] to go look for her husband. When they brought him to her presence, the lad knelt before the king and asked for his pardon; the king pardoned him, but, to fulfill his promise, he brought out his knife and made a cut on the little finger from the lad’s right hand, squeezed out a drop of blood and drank it.
And since that day, everyone was able to live tranquilly at last, in peace and with joy. After some time, with the death of his father-in-law, the lad succeeded him as king. And if he has not died yet then he must still be king today.
—– VOCABULARY —–
A base de – (having as its main components) consisting of mainly, -based; (as a result of) through
A conciencia – thoroughly
A escondidas – secretly
Al momento – at once, straightaway
A lo mejor – maybe, perhaps, may, might
Alzar – (to move to a higher position) to lift, to raise, to elevate (religious), to hoist
Ancho – (self-satisfied) proud; (at ease) comfortable
Aplacar – to pacify, to appease
Apurarse – (to be in a hurry) to hurry, to hurry up; (to be distressed) to worry oneself
Arrebatar – (to take violently) to snatch; (to stir) to captivate
Arreglar – (to restore) to fix, to repair, to mend; (to solve) to settle, to sort out
Arrodillar – (to bend the knees) to make kneel, to bring someone to his knees
Ausentarse – (to be gone) to be absent; to be away
Ay de ti – woe to you; woe unto thee
Barrer – (to clean with a broom) to sweep
Bonito – pretty
Cabello – hair
Caja – (container) box, crate
Cerrojo – (lock) bolt, latch; (weaponry) bolt
Colada – (act of washing) laundry, washing, wash; (washed items) laundry
Colorado – (color) red
Conformar – to agree
Contemplar – (to observe) to gaze at; to contemplate; to study; to examine, to consider
Corredor – corridor
Corte – (injury) cut; (royal court) court
Costar – (to be valued at) to cost; (to be difficult to) to be hard
De pronto – suddenly
Descansado – (relaxed) rested, refreshed; (peaceful) restful
Descolgar – (to get down) to take down; (to move down) to lower; (to lift a telephone receiver) to pick up
Desdecirse – to go back on one’s words
Desesperarse – (to get impatient) to get exasperated; (to go mad) to go crazy
Despensa – (food storage) pantry, larder; (provisions) stock of food
Dilación – delay
Disgustar – (to dislike) to upset, to not like; disgustarse – (to get annoyed) to get upset
Disposición – (availability) disposal; (legal) provision, regulation, order
Diverso – diverse, varied, various; (more than one) several, various
Dorado – (color) golden; gold
Durar – (to go on) to last, to be long; (to continue being usable) to last
Echar de menos – (to long for) to miss (someone)
Encogerse – (to become smaller) to shrink; (to get afraid) to cringe
Encogerse de hombros – to shrug; to shrug one’s shoulders
Enojado – angry, mad, annoyed
Enseñar – to teach, to show
Enterarse de – to find out
Entre si – whether
Entre sí – among themselves; to each other
Esfumarse – to vanish, to disappear; (to be dispelled) to fade, to melt away, to disappear
Exprimir – (to extract) to squeeze, to wring out; (to abuse) to exploit
Fijarse en – (to concentrate on) to pay attention to; (to become aware of) to notice
Fondo – (lowest part) bottom; bed (of river, stream, etc.); (farthest part) back (room)
Furia – (anger) fury
Gloria – (fame) glory; (pleasure) delight, bliss; (celebrity) great figure, great name, hero
Hacer caso omiso de – (to pay no attention to) to ignore, to disregard
Hallar – to find; (to uncover) to discover; (to receive a reaction) to meet with
Hartarse – (to fill) to stuff oneself with; (to get annoyed) to get fed up
He aquí – here is; herein lies; here we have
Jornalero – day laborer
Maldición – (malediction) curse
Maldito – damned, cursed, wretched;
Manar – (to pour out) to flow, to run
Manso – (domesticated) tame, docile; (mild) meek, gentle, calm
Mantener – (to preserve) to keep, to keep up, to maintain; (to provide for) to support
Manto – (clothing) cloak
Mimo – (show of affection) cuddle, caress; (performer) mime, mime artist; (indulgence) pamper
Morir de ganas – dying to [do something]
Ni siquiera – not even
Nuera – daughter-in-law
Oreja – ear; handle; claw; (of a sofa) arm, wing
Petirrojo – robin
Por delante de – (facing) by; ahead of
Por haber – for having
Prenda – (clothing) garment, item of clothing, article of clothing
Preocupado – (uneasy) worried, concerned
Proferir – to utter, to hurl (insults)
Que hay al – to; at the; on the
Rastro – trace, sign, scrap
Razón – (sanity) reason; (cause) reason; (truth) right; (mathematics) ratio; message
Registrar – (to check out) to search; (to make an official record of) to register, to record
Remover – (to move) to stir, to toss, to shake, to turn over (soil), to dig up (soil), to poke at (ember)
Respecto – (aspect) regard; (in relation to) with respect to
Reyezuelo – (bird) kinglet, goldcrest (wren?)
Salvaje – (undomesticated) wild, untamed, feral; savage
Señalar – (to indicate) to show, to point out, to point to; (to tag) to mark; (to mean) to signal
Sepa – I/he/she know/s
Siéndo – from ‘ser’: to be; e.g. ‘being’
Siringa – (Andalusia) panpipes; (Latin America) rubber tree
Soltar – (to stop holding) to let go of, to drop, to put down, to let out; (to make less tight) to loosen
Sordo – (unable to hear) deaf, hearing-impaired; (muted) muffle, dull
Suegro – father-in-law
Tendido – (laundry hanging) hung up; (lying down) stretched out
Tener ganas – (to wish something) to feel like it, to want to
Tirar de – (to drag) to pull, to draw; (to pluck) to pull, to tug; (to resort to) to use, to draw on
Trepar – (to ascend something) to climb
Veloz – fast, quick, rapid, swift
Vistoso – eye-catching; flashy; bright and colorful
Zurrón – bag