Latin American Folktales

by John Bierhorst

  That night she rumpled the creature’s hair as usual, and he relaxed into sleep. She waited until his breathing became regular, then said to herself, “Now I will see what he looks like.” She struck a match, and there before her was a man, but only from the waist up. His lower half was a fish. He awoke and gave her a fright, “I’ve caught you, you wretch! I told you not to bring anything from home, and here you are with matches. Your easy days in this house are finished. You’ll soon know what hard labor is. No breakfast tomorrow. Instead there’ll be trousers, a shirt, a hat, sandals, and a machete.”

  In the morning she found the clothes laid out on the table. She was given an order: “Put them on. For your disobedience you must go to the king’s palace and ask for work. Take the road on your right.” She did as she was ordered and left the house.

  When she came before the king, she saw that he was not an old man but still young. She greeted him, and he answered her tenderly, “What can I do for you?”

  “I’m looking for work.”

  “My pleasure,” said the king. He could see that she was not a man but a woman in men’s clothing. Everything about her was womanly. She was given a room.

  In the morning she asked, “Now what must I do?”

  “Pay close attention,” said the king, “I’m going to give you a task. You will find it hard because of the traveling and the long distance. But here it is: I must have a strand of hair from the mother of all the animals.”

  She started out, with no idea which way to go. After many hours she met an old woman and a little boy. She herself was headed up the road, the old woman was coming down.

  “Where are you headed, my dear?” asked the old woman.

  “To get a strand of hair from the mother of all the animals.”

  “That isn’t hard. I can help you,” said the woman. “And since I see you are carrying food and water, could you let me have a little for myself and my child?”

  “Yes, of course,” she replied. And when they had taken the water and eaten the food, the old woman said, “You see this mountain? When you get to the top you will find the mother of all the animals. A meadow is there. If it’s covered with grass, the mother is asleep. Step on her without fear, and pick one strand. But if the meadow is bare, keep away. It will mean she’s awake.”

  When the young woman reached the meadow, it was covered with grass. She picked one strand, rolled it up, and came away.

  The king was delighted when he saw what she had brought and began to unroll it. It unrolled and unrolled, making a heap that kept on growing. It had no end. The strand was infinitely long.

  “What ever can I pay you?” cried the king.

  “It’s up to you.”

  He gave her thousands and thousands of pesos. A nice little sum! “Now you’re free to work elsewhere,” he said. And off she went, carrying the money.

  On the road she met another old woman. Really the same old woman as before. And she said, “I’m lost! How do I get home to my mother and father?”

  “Don’t worry about a thing,” said the little old woman. “Just take this wand and hold it in front of you as you walk along. Whenever you’re lost, say, ‘Little wand, little wand, by the power that’s yours and that God allows you, show me the way to go home.’ It will take you directly.”

  And so it did. She pointed it straight ahead until she reached her own house. And there was her mother, happy to see her, and her father, too. Although she was dressed as a man, they knew her face. Her mother complained, “What are these men’s clothes?” She took them off, put on the clothes she had worn before, and was their daughter again. With the money she’d brought they were rich. They set themselves up as storekeepers and had whatever they wanted from that time on.

  Colombia

  PART SIX

  55. In the Beginning

  Ah, think of it, friends!

  Once there was nothing to be seen, once there was only water.

  At last God spoke: “This water must be dried away. Let the world grow.”

  And so the world grew, but still there were no mountains.

  Again God spoke: “Tomorrow is a day of work. Monday. Let us begin our work. We will build the mountains, so the plants can grow.”

  It was done.

  The second day, Tuesday. More work! God made the channels where all the water would run; river and stream.

  The third day, Wednesday. God shaped the clouds. “Let the rivers fill with water. Let the plants be born.”

  The fourth day, Thursday. Fishes it was that God made. Now the water has animals, now the water is clean.

  Friday, the fifth day. God built the mountainsides.

  Saturday, the sixth day. All the animals of the world He made, and man.

  The seventh day, Sunday. Now God spoke: “Now our work is over. Let us hold a Mass. Let us go to the church to pray. So the work we have done will last through all the many thousands of years that are still to come on this earth. And just so shall our sons, who come the day of tomorrow, do as we are doing now.”

  Here ended the work of God.

  Mexico (Mazatec) / Melchor García

  56. How the First People Were Made

  The true God took up one ounce of earth and began to work it. “What are you doing?” asked God’s sister.

  God answered, “Something that you may not know more about than I know.” He made an image in the shape of a man and set it to dry. He blessed it with the sign of the cross, and it changed into a man.

  “What were you doing?” asked God.

  The man answered, “I was sleeping.”

  God gave him a pick and a shovel and took him to a spring and told him to make a ditch. The man dug the ditch, and water flowed through the ditch into a garden that God had made. In a little time the garden began to give fruit.

  Then God made an oven. He made images of oxen in clay and put them into the oven. When he took them out they had turned into live animals. God said to San Lucas, “You will be the patron saint of animals, so they will abound.”

  San Lucas said, “If you want them to abound, you will have to make a cow.” God agreed to this and gave all the animals to San Lucas. And so San Lucas is the patron of the animals. And in time the animals abounded.

  The man began to cultivate his field. San Javier would go to the field to take him a breakfast of tortillas, and one day the man did not want to eat. God asked San Lucas and San Javier why the man was not eating.

  San Javier said the man would not eat because he wanted a wife. God said, “I will give him a wife, but today I will not send him any food.”

  San Miguel went to the man and said that God agreed to give him a wife but that today he would not send him any food. The man said that would be all right. The man went to sleep in his field and as he was sleeping God came and opened his left side and took out a rib and put it alongside the man, and when the man awoke his arm was around the woman.

  Now when you die, there stands San Miguel with a balance. The dead who weigh one ounce go to heaven, and the dead who weigh more than one ounce go to hell.

  Mexico (Zapotec) / Miguel Mendez

  57. Adam’s Rib

  Said God, “You are the first man. Since I am very busy, you are going to take care of the garden that I have planted.”

  “Very well,” said the man. But after a few days he said to God, “Well, I am not able to cook, because I spend all my time working in the garden. If you would listen to me, I would like a cook to prepare my food.”

  “It can be done,” said God. “Next Friday at noon knock on your rib seven times and in this way a cook will appear.”

  The man returned and did as he was told, but no cook appeared. The man was very sad. Then God appeared and said, “Knock again.” The man began to knock on his ribs. Said God, “Now you see a woman is coming out. She is going to be your wife.”

  “But I only wanted a cook,” replied the man.

  Mexico (Popoluca) / Leandro Pérez

  58. Adam and Eve
and Their Children

  God created the sun and the moon and the stars and the world. He created man and called him Adam. But Adam was not satisfied and God made Eve from one of his ribs. Then he put Adam and Eve in the Garden. He told them not to eat of the fruit of a certain tree. The serpent tempted Eve and they ate. God then told Adam that they had to work now and that they had to die. And he told Eve that she had to give birth to her children with pain.

  And Eve had twenty-four children. When they grew up, God told Eve to bring out the children to be baptized. And Eve took only twelve children to be baptized. She was ashamed and hid the other twelve in a cave. So God baptized only twelve of the children.

  From the twelve that were baptized came all the white people. And from the twelve that Eve hid in the cave and that were not baptized came the Indians. When God found out that Eve had hidden them in a cave he put them in Mount Blanca in Colorado. From there the Indians came out later and went to the different pueblos. Some went to Taos, some went to Isleta, some to Sandía, others to San Juan, and others to Santa Clara and Laguna and the other pueblos.

  New Mexico (Isleta)

  59. God’s Letter to Noéh

  There was a man called Noéh who was much respected by the people. As Noéh was a Catholic he went to church. He did not forget God, nor was he forsaken by God.

  God sent a letter to Noéh. The angel came down from the sky and gave it to him, at seven in the evening. The letter said that if the people did not go to church God was going to put an end to the world. The people were unmannerly and gross. Noéh was to hold a meeting so that all might hear that if they did not go to Mass, God would put an end to the world.

  Sunday morning Noéh went with his letter to the town secretary, who was busily writing. All assembled to hear what Noéh had to say— to hear the letter. The secretary read from the letter Noéh had brought, “God says you are to hold Mass and say the rosary. If not, Holy God will put an end to the world.”

  They laughed. “Noéh is crazy!” They did not believe God had sent the letter. “Noéh himself has sent the letter. He is crazy. Let us kill him.”

  Noéh said, “I am going now. I will explain to God that you do not believe what he says.” At seven that night the angel came again. The angel was Gabriel. He asked, “What do the townspeople say?”

  “They are going to kill me because I am crazy. They do not believe what the letter says.”

  “Very well, go and see them again, and if they still do not believe, God will put an end to the world, next week.”

  Mexico (Zapotec) / Agustín Santiago

  60. God Chooses Noah

  Father God, when he was old, went from house to house, asking the farmers, “What work do you do? What do you plant, my children?”

  There was one who answered contemptuously, “I’m planting stones.” Father God went on his way. The next day, where there had been corn, there were stones all over the field. The repentant farmer said to himself, “It was the Holy One who came to my house.”

  The old Father journeyed on. He came to another of our ancestors, and he asked, “What do you plant, my child?”

  The man answered rudely, “I plant phalluses.” The next morning when the man awoke, his corn plants had been changed into phallic stones. He said to himself, “It was the Holy One who was here.”

  The Father went on. He asked a third man, “What work do you do?”

  “I plant a little corn and a few beans. Would you like some meat broth to drink?”

  “Yes, my son,” said the Holy One. “I will take it.” The farmer gave him a dish of broth. Then God said, “Do you have room for me to spend the night?”

  “Yes, I would be glad.”

  “My child, I hope you will not be disgusted,” said the Old One. “I am sick with a rash.”

  “Father, don’t worry,” said the farmer. “I will nurse you.”

  “Then stay here,” said the Father. “Don’t go out to your field.”

  When he had nursed him back to health, three days had passed, and Father God said, “Your field is already planted. The corn is in ear and the little beans are forming.”

  “I don’t believe it,” cried the man.

  “Go see for yourself.”

  The farmer ran to the field and saw the new ears and the beans. When he returned to the house, Father God had already gone. The farmer said to his wife, “Where is he?”

  “He just left.”

  “Then shake the bed!” They did, and out came a little package filled with money. They ran after the Father to tell him he had left his money.

  “My son, my daughter,” said the Old One. “I left it for you, so you could buy something.”

  “Thank the Lord!”

  “Do me a favor,” said the Old One. “The Devil is following me. When he comes, tell him it was three years ago that I passed this way.”

  Then Satan arrived. “Where is he?” he asked. “What road did he take?” The farmer pointed in the opposite direction. Satan went on. The farmer continued his work in the field. The days came, the days went.

  Mexico (Mixe) / Atanasio de Dios

  61. The Flood

  The Old One allowed one man to be in the world, and he said to him, “My son, this is not the time to work at chores. The whole world is going to be destroyed. The land will become water.” He also said, “Plant the seed of the cedar tree, and in the morning look for a carpenter to make a big canoe with a lid. Get into it with all your family and seal yourself inside.”

  In one night, quickly, quickly, the cedar grew up. Wind blew, and the leaves of the tree rustled. From the tree the carpenter made a big canoe.

  Rain came at midnight. In the night the rain filled the earth with water, and with the water the canoe rose to the sky. The earth and the world were destroyed. The land became water.

  Then the water subsided, and the world became dry. There were new people. The Old One allowed others, new people, to exist.

  The man came out of the canoe, caught fish, and ate them.

  The Old One had said, “You must not make fire.”

  But up above, the Old One was smelling fire. He came down to see who had made the fire, asking, “Where is this fire smell?”

  When the Old One arrived, he said, “Who gave you permission to catch fish?

  “And you were not to make fire,” said the Old One, “yet you are doing it. I told you not to make fire, you fool. Now you will have to serve as an example for the new people.” And the Old One hit him over the head.

  “Because you did not listen, I am going to change you into a howler monkey.”

  Mixe (Mexico) / Serapia Ricarda

  62. A Prophetic Dream

  And there was a woman who had planted many flowers, of every kind. And many times people arrived who wanted to take her flowers to decorate their homes.

  One day it was a little girl who came—she wanted a gardenia. Well, quickly the woman went to cut it. But on the bush was growing a flower in the shape of a finger. Out from under the fingernail came words.

  “Do not touch me,” said the flower.

  How that woman ran!

  Soon after arrived another person who also wanted a flower. Well, this time it was a face she found there. And that face, too, told her not to come near. Again the woman—don’t think she hung around there! Well, she told everybody that she was not going to cut that flower, for it was a person who was sprouting there. And a third time she went, but now she could see even its chest.

  This same day she had a dream. The dream told her that the person who is being born is called “God Almighty.” So she said to her husband, “Listen to me, I slept and I dreamt, and my dream told me that God is coming to Earth.”

  He became very angry, her husband. “Ha! It’s God who’s coming, is it? You think that? What if you aren’t fooling me? What if it isn’t your lover who is coming?”

  “And you, hear what I say. What if it be true? What if it be true that it is God, then only you will be speaking
evil,” said his wife.

  Now a fourth person arrives to ask for a flower. She goes again, but the bush is bare, there is no one. Now God is among his people, the angels, telling what will come to pass in the world.

  Mexico (Mazatec) / Melchor García

  63. The White Lily

  My grandmother told me this story. How did it go? The dear virgin mother was one of three sisters. Of the other two, one was a recluse who devoted her life to prayer, and the other was a matchmaker.

  When the virgin mother was ready for marriage, suitors came to look her over. But no one chose her. People kept saying, “Who’s missing? Who’s missing?” No one wanted to marry the virgin mother. Finally someone said, “Joseph is missing,” and they went to look for him. Someone brought him around, and when he came forward, he threw a white lily against the virgin’s breast. Then he turned and ran away.

  After a while he came back, and the two were married. One day, when they had been living together for some time, Joseph gave Mary a hug. Just as he did that, he felt a baby stirring inside her body. He realized what it was and said, “This isn’t my son, this isn’t my daughter. Whose child is inside you? It can’t be mine.”

  Knowing that he could not be the father, he packed his carpenter’s tools on his burro and went away, leaving the virgin mother.

  Ecuador (Quichua)

  64. The Night in the Stable

  Jesus Christ was born in the night in Jerusalem, as we know. His parents were St. Joseph and the Virgin Mary. They were merchants, and they traveled together. They went from house to house asking rich people to give them lodgings, but the people refused because they thought Joseph and Mary were thieves.

  Eventually they came to the house of a rich man who said they could not stay with him, but if they wanted they could spend the night in the stable where the sheep, cows, and other animals were kept with their herders. So that’s where they went.