Latin American Folktales (19 page)

42. The Three Dreams

Two students, once, were on their way to a town. The road was long and they had only ten centavos between them. In the distance they could see something moving. What was it? They stepped up their pace and, sure enough, it was human. An Indian, they realized. They got closer, hailed him, and called out, “Do you have any money on you?”

“Five centavos.”

That’s just what each of the two students had, five centavos. They’d been discussing it, how it wasn’t enough to buy a meal, and so they’d kept on walking until they’d come to this something or other that might be human, and they’d stopped to ask about the money; and the man had said, “Five centavos.”

So one of the students said to the other, “Since we’ve got ten already, and our friend here has five, that makes fifteen. We could do something.”

They kept on down the road, and after a while it got dark. They decided to ask the Indian to make camp with them for the night. Then the three pooled their resources and bought a half-pound of rice and a pound of sugar to cook in a little pot that one of them had brought along. When it was time to go to bed—well, let’s just say, lie down— one of the two intellectuals made a proposition, “This rice? In the morning we’ll cook it up for breakfast to get some energy for the road, but the one who gets to eat it will be the one who tells the best dream.”

So the pressure was on to start dreaming. The two students went right to sleep. In the morning all three were ready with dreams to tell. One of the two students was the first to wake up. He said to his friend, “Did you dream anything?”

“Yes I did.”

“What was it?”

“In my dream there was a broad avenue stretching from here all the way to Heaven, and it was lined with flowers. I walked along until I came to the end. There was a church. It was so beautiful, I walked right in. When I got inside, I saw all the statues of the saints, and I myself became . . . a statue! And what about you? Did you dream?”

“Yes, I dreamed there was a broad avenue stretching all the way to Heaven. I walked along until I got to the church, and I saw that you were a statue, but then I raised my eyes and there was a cloud coming down. It got closer and I could make out three angels. They lifted me up. I became an angel, too, and the four of us floated into the sky.”

“So we both had dreams! What about you, Indian? Did you dream?”

“Yes, patrón, a little bit like your dream. Imagine it, patrón, there was an avenue, and at the end of the avenue was a church. I went inside, and there was my patrón, changed into a statue, and I looked up and saw my other patrón carried away by the angels. So what else could I do, all by myself in the world? I ate the rice.”

Guatemala
/
Luis
Arturo
Hernández
Castañeda

43. The Clump of Basil

Well, sir, there was once a carpenter who had three pretty daughters, Carmen, María, and Pepita, and they lived in a little house not far from the king’s palace. The house had a garden full of flowers and a handsome clump of basil.

The poor carpenter had to be out nearly every day working his trade, while his daughters labored at home by themselves.

Now, the king who lived in this city was a great lover of riddles and would propose them not only to his courtiers but to anyone he happened to meet. One morning, while out for a ride, he passed the carpenter’s little house and saw Carmen, the eldest of the daughters, watering the basil. He called out to her,

Young lady, grant me your best appraisal:
How many leaves on your clump of basil?

The girl was embarrassed and went inside without answering.

The next day the king came by again. The second eldest, María, was watering the basil plant. The king repeated his question. But like her sister, the poor young woman went into the house, ashamed, without answering.

The following day Pepita, the youngest and prettiest, was out watering, and when the king caught sight of her he asked,

Young lady, grant me your best appraisal:
How many leaves on your clump of basil?

Without hesitation Pepita called back,

Caballero, give me your best reply:
How many stars are in the sky?

Having imagined that the girl would be caught off guard like her sisters, the king was embarrassed. He rode away without answering, but promised himself he would get even.

A few days later the king appeared again, this time disguised as a street vendor selling candies. Since the carpenter’s daughters had a taste for sweets, they called to the vendor the moment they saw him. He came into the house and announced he would sell his candies only for kisses.

The two older daughters were indignant. They showed him the door. But the youngest struck him a bargain and gave him one kiss for each of the candies he had in his jar.

After returning to the palace, the king changed his clothes and waited until he knew it was time for the basil to receive its daily watering. Just at the right moment he rode by the house and called to Pepita,

Young lady, grant me your best appraisal:
How many leaves on your clump of basil?

She answered,

Caballero, give me your best reply:
How many stars are in the sky?

But the king called back,

You with your answers so smart and handy,
How many kisses did you give for candy?

And Pepita, ashamed, ran back into the house.

The days passed and the king did not come riding by the garden. Pepita heard from someone that the king was deathly ill. Without a moment’s hesitation she knew what to do. She dressed up as Death and went to the palace leading a mule. Frightened, the palace guards stepped aside and allowed her to enter the king’s bedroom. She said to the king, “I’ve come to take you. Your years and days are counted up.”

The king begged, “Let me live. I’ll do anything you ask. Just give me a few more years.” So Pepita told him, “There’s only one way.” And what was it? To kiss the mule under its tail. And since the king wanted so badly to live, he raised up the tail and began kissing, and kept on until he had planted a great many in that very spot. Death promised him a year of life for each kiss.

Then Pepita, still dressed as Death, left with the mule. The king began to improve and was soon completely well.

Before long he appeared once again in the street, rode past the garden, and found Pepita watering the basil. He said,

Young lady, grant me your best appraisal:
How many leaves on your clump of basil?

She answered,

Caballero, give me your best reply:
How many stars are in the sky?

The king called back,

You with your answers so smart and handy,
How many kisses did you give for candy?

To which she replied,

Clever, my lord! But answer without fail:
How many times did you lift the mule’s tail?

In spite of himself the king began thinking, “This wise young woman will be my wife.” Still, he would have to find a way to get even with her. He had the old carpenter brought before him. “I’ll take your daughter to be my queen,” he declared, “but she must come to the palace neither naked nor dressed, neither riding on horseback nor sitting in a carriage nor simply walking. And if she doesn’t do it, both you and she will be put to death instantly.”

The poor carpenter returned to his house in despair. But when Pepita heard what the king had commanded, she sent for a fisherman’s net and wrapped it around her body. Then she told her father to hitch her up behind the mule. Off she went to the palace, neither naked nor dressed, neither riding nor sitting nor simply walking. The king, seeing how clever she really was and knowing she would make an excellent queen, married her without further delay.

Their life thereafter was perfectly nice;
They even gave me some chicken with rice.

Puerto
Rico

Riddles