The Troublesome Slippers
Abukashan was a wealthy merchant, notorious for his stingy nature. He had a pair of slippers that were famous in town because they were completely worn out. The slippers had outlived their lives but Abukashan simply refused to buy a new pair.
One day he went to a public bath, visited by all the rich and famous people. He left his slippers outside and went into the shower. A few minutes later a judge entered the bath leaving his new and shining slippers outside. When Abukashan came out of the bath, he could not find his slippers, but saw a pair of new slippers instead. He thought, some friend of mine must have left these as a gift for me. So Abukashan wore the new slippers and went about his business.
Meanwhile, when the judge came out of the bath, he found his slippers missing. His attendant said "Sir I can’t find your slippers, but here are Abukashan’s. He must have taken your slippers."
When Abukashan was found, wearing the Judge’s slippers, he was brought to court. Abukashan tried to explain his side of the story, but nobody believed him. The judge imposed a heavy fine on Abukashan in light of his great wealth and stingy nature. So he paid the fine, took his old slippers back, and went home.
Abukashan was angry with his slippers for causing him so much trouble. So he threw them out of his window into the river below. Unfortunately, the slippers got caught in a fisherman’s net, who was fishing nearby. The old, worn out slippers damaged the net. Naturally, the poor fisherman was angry and he threw the slippers back into Abukashan’s house. The slippers flew through an open window, dashed against some valuable crystal displayed in the house, and in a moment, Abukashan lost his favorite expensive vase.
Now Abukashan was really very upset with his slippers. He knew he had to get rid of them immediately. So he went to a nearby pond and threw the slippers in. But as luck would have it, the slippers logged themselves in a pipe that supplied water, and blocked the supply. When the water supply people finally found what was blocking the pipes, they recognized Abukashan’s famous slippers. So, once again, he was produced in court. And, again, a very heavy fine was imposed on him.
A rather unhappy Abukashan looked with disgust at his slippers. Throwing they away just didn’t seem to be working. He decided he would burn them instead. So he picked up the wet slippers and put them out on the roof of his house for drying. As they were drying, the neighbors’ cat saw them and started playing with them. Just then, a women carrying a heavy load on her head was walking by Abukashan’s house. As the cat was playing with the slipper, it fell off the roof and landed on the head of the passing woman. Unfortunately the woman was pregnant and had to rush to the hospital. Once again Abukashan was produced in court and once again a very heavy fine was imposed.
This time Abukashan decided to bury his slippers. So he came home and immediately started digging a hole in his backyard. A neighbor saw Abukashan digging and thought that he must be burying a treasure. According to the law of that land, citizens were required to notify the government and pay a tax on all treasures. The neighbor informed the government and once again Abukashan was produced in court.
By now the Judge was quite fed up of Abukashan, so he imposed an even heavier fine. Abukashan was now in tears and pleaded to the judge, "Sir, I am tired of my slippers. I have lost all my wealth just trying to get rid of them. Please take my slippers and me into custody. At least that should prevent the slippers from getting me into more trouble."
The judge was a kind-hearted man, and he could understand Abukashan’s troubles. He said "As we go through life we acquire different things and positions in life. We should thank god for showering them on us. But at the same time we should not get attached to them. We must realize that just as good things come, they must go. We should welcome them and enjoy them, when they come. And when it is time for them to go, we should not hold on to them. We must learn to give up our old shoes at the right time".
The Wise Doves
Once upon a time, there lived many doves in the jungle. One day they went out in search of food. They flew long distances but did not get anything to eat. All of them were now completely exhausted.
A young dove asked the King Dove, "Your majesty, please permit us to take some rest."
The king replied, "Have courage, my dear young fellow. We shall definitely get something to eat very soon."
The young dove started flapping his wings with force and soon left everyone behind.
After sometime, he turned back and spoke to others, "Hey, I see lots of grains down there."
Hearing this, all the doves started rushing towards the scattered rice under a banyan tree. Suddenly the King Dove said, "It is too good to be true. There is something amiss. Don’t rush towards the grains, it may be a trick. Some hunter must have laid a trap."
But the doves were ravenous. The sight of the grains were too tempting. Without giving a thought to the king's advice, they swooped down and started eating the grains. After having their fill they tried to fly only to realise that they were caught in a net.
The King Dove said, "I told you before that it is a trick of some hunter."
All of them felt ashamed and scared.
One of them said, "O, King of doves, Kindly save us. We’re sorry for what we did. This has happened for the first time with us. We won’t do it again. Do anything but just save us."
So the king Dove said , "all of you must try to fly with the net in unison, all of you."
Just then they saw a hunter approaching towards them. The King Dove said, "Now all of you, fly together".
So all the doves flapped their wings together and flew with the net. The hunter stood dazed. He couldn't believe what he had just seen.
As the doves approached a temple, the King Dove said, "Get down near the temple. A rat, who is an old friend of mine, lives there. He will nibble the net with his sharp teeth and get us free."
So everyone was thrilled at their success. They headed for the temple and descended near it along with the net. Then the King Dove called the rat, "O my friend! Come out and help us. We are in trouble."
The rat recognised his friend’s voice. He peeped out of his hole.
He said, "Just wait for sometime, I’ll call some of my friends who will set you free."
Saying so he went to get his friends.
After sometime a number of rats came and began to nibble the net.
They nibbled all the strings of the net. Soon the rats set the doves free.
The doves thanked the rats and flew back to their nests.
The Mango Charm
A wandering youth once met Bholu, an illiterate villager, who knew how to perform a miracle. Everyday Bholu would go into the forest, stand under a mango tree and utter a charm. The tree would immediately become heavy with fruit. The next moment the mangoes would ripen and then they would fall to the ground. Bholu would collect them, eat some and distribute the rest among his neighbours who were poor.
Keshav the youth fell at Bholu’s feet, even though the latter belonged to a lower caste, and begged him to teach him the charm. The man reluctantly agreed but warned him, "You must never use the charm to satisfy your greed. Moreover, the charm will only work as long as you do not tell a lie."
As soon as Keshav was back in his village he repeated the charm several times daily and got large quantities of delicious mangoes. These he sold in the market and in few months he became very rich.
The king heard of the miracle. He summoned Keshav and asked, " Where did you learn your charm?".
The proud youth, unwilling to confess that he had learnt it from a man of a lower caste, replied, " O king, I learnt it after much study under a group of great scholars in a famous far away university!"
"Well, perform the miracle in front of us," ordered the king.
The king, his family and a crowd of ministers and officers followed the youth into the royal orchard. Keshav selected a big mango tree and recited the charm. But nothing happened, for he had told a lie.
Greatly humiliated, Keshav confessed the truth to the king. The king said, "You have been ungrateful to your teacher out of vanity. Go and apologise to him and perhaps the charm will work again."
The young man did so. But the charm did not work ever again because he had misused it to satisfy his greed.
How the First House was Built
A long time ago, humans were only as tall as hens and rabbits.
These tiny "humans", if you can call them that, lived under trees.
Living in trees was not very nice.
During rains they got wet. In summers they sweated madly, and in winter they almost froze into ice.
Life was tough.So they started living in burrows, just the way rabbits do.
They thought that at least this way they will be dry in the rains. And in summer, they will be safe from the hot sun.
But, often, the roofs fell upon them without warning. They would get trapped inside, unable to come out.
Life was still tough.Then the humans decided to make a tree house.
They created an umbrella of branches and leaves and lived under them.
The roof did not fall upon them.
Life became a bit better.
But the houses did not have any walls.
People continued to feel the heat and cold. Finally, they learnt the trick of making walls.
They made the first real houses.
There was no doubt any more that it was a good life.
It became even better when the humans made houses close to each other so that they would never feel alone.
The Jaguar and the Little Skunk
Once there was a gentleman jaguar and a lady skunk. Mrs. Skunk had a son, who was baptized by Mr. Jaguar, so Mrs. Skunk became his comadre (godmother). And as Mr. Jaguar had baptized the little skunk, he was Mrs. Skunk's compadre (godfather).
Mr. Jaguar decided to go looking for food and came to Mrs. Skunk's house.
"Well, compadre, what are you looking for? What have you come here for?" the skunk asked the jaguar.
"Comadre, what I have come to do is to look for some food," said Mr. Jaguar.
"Oh," said Mrs. Skunk.
"I want my godson to come with me so that he can learn to hunt," said Mr. Jaguar.
"I don't think your godson ought to go; he's still very small and something could happen to him. He better not go, compadre," said Mrs. Skunk. But the little skunk protested:
"No, mother, I had better go. What my godfather says is true. I need to get some practice, if I'm going to learn to hunt," said the little skunk.
"But if you go, you'll be so far away," said Mrs. Skunk.
"I'm going, I'm going. Come on, let's go." So they set off on a long walk.
"We're going to where there's a river. That's where we're going," Mr. Jaguar explained to the little skunk, his godson.
"When are we going to get there?" asked the little skunk.
"We're getting close. Follow me so you won't get lost," said Mr. Jaguar.
"All right," answered the little skunk. They finally came to the river.
"This is where we're going to eat," said Mr. Jaguar to the little skunk.
"All right," said the little skunk.
"Come on over here. I'm going to sharpen my knife," said Mr. Jaguar.
"All right," said the little skunk, looking at his godfather.
Mr. Jaguar sharpened his claws, which he called his "knife."
"I sharpened my knife. Now you're going to be on guard, because I am going to sleep. When you see them come, wake me up," said Mr. Jaguar.
"All right," said the little skunk, "all right, godfather."
(Skunk wakes Mr. Jaguar when prey is sighted)
Then Mr. Jaguar told him: "Don't shout. Just scratch my belly when they come. Scratch my belly, so I won't alarm them. But don't wake me up if just any little old animals without antlers come along, only when the one with big antlers gets here. That's when you'll wake me up."
"All right," said the little skunk. Then the one with the big antlers came, and the skunk awakened Mr. Jaguar. He scratched his belly, and pointed out the deer to Mr. Jaguar, who attacked the animal with big antlers. He went after him and seized him.
"All right, my godson, let's eat. We're going to eat meat," said the jaguar.
"All right," said the little skunk. And so they ate and ate.
"Now we're going to take whatever leftovers there are to your mother," said the jaguar.
"Since we are full, we can take something to your mother. Your mother will have meat to eat, just as we did. We will take some to your mother," said the jaguar. When they came back to the mother's house, he told the lady:
"Look at the food here. Look, we've brought you some food, the food that we hunted. Eat your fill of the meat, comadre," the jaguar said to Mrs. Skunk.
"All right," said the skunk, and ate the meat.
"I'm full," she said.
"It's good that you're satisfied. I've seen that you are, so I'll be leaving now," said Mr. Jaguar to Mrs. Skunk. And so he left.
After the jaguar left, the little skunk stayed with his mother.
When they ran out of meat, Mrs. Skunk said to her son: Dear, our meat is all gone."
"Yes, the meat is all gone. I better go and get us some more food," said the little skunk.
"How can you, son? Do you think you're big enough? You're very small. Don't you think you'll be killed?" asked Mrs. Skunk.
"No, mother, I already know how to hunt, my godfather taught me how," replied the little skunk.
"I'm leaving now." He left, and Mrs. Skunk was very worried.
Her son came once more to the river, the place to which he had come with his godfather to get the meat.
"This is how my godfather did it. Why shouldn't I be able to do the same thing?" said the little skunk.
"This is how you sharpen a knife," said the little skunk. He sharpened his "knife."
"This is the way my godfather did it. I'm not going to hunt the little animals, I'm just going to hunt the one with the great big antlers. I'm going to hunt one for myself just like the one I ate with my godfather. I have my knife here and I'm going to sleep for a little while." The little skunk lay down to sleep, but then he awakened. He was waiting for the one with the big antlers, and when he came, he attacked him, thinking he was as strong as his godfather. But he just hung from the neck of the one with big antlers. His claws had dug into his skin. He was hanging from his neck and was carried far away and fell on his back. He was left with his mouth wide open.
Since he had not come home to his mother, she wondered: "What could have happened to my son? Why hasn't he come back yet? Something must have happened to him. I better go and look for him."
And so Mrs. Skunk went as far as the bank of the river. She was looking everywhere for her son, but couldn't find him. She began to cry when she found the tracks where the one with the big antlers had come by running.
"They must have come by here," said Mrs. Skunk, and began to follow the tracks.
She came to the place where her son had been left lying on his back. When the mother caught sight of him, she noticed that his teeth were showing and shouted at him: "Son, what are you laughing at? All your teeth are showing," she said to him before she had gotten very close. When she did get close she told him: "Give me your hand. I've come to get you, but you're just laughing in my face." She put her hand on him, thinking that he was still alive, but when she noticed that he was already dead, she began to cry.
The Rabbit Throws Out His Sandal
The rabbit was in the cave that was the abode of all the animals: the snake, the turkey vulture, the buzzard, the deer, the lion, the skunk and the coyote. They began to get together there to discuss how they could kill the rabbit mayor (the rabbit is often called the "mayor".)
But the rabbit mayor was very clever and was looking for a way to escape. They began to keep watch on him in that house because they intended to kill him, but they were not able to kill him as they had planned. They had wanted to smash him to pieces.
"Make him come out so that he will die right now. Don't let him escape; that good-for-nothing mayor has deceived us too many times. Well, now he's surely going to be finished, we're going to finish him off. Be on your guard and don't let him get away. When he comes out of the cave we're going to smash him to pieces, for there's a lot of us. Pity him. Compared to all of us, he's nothing. We are many against one. I hope now he's going to pay for all the crimes he has committed against us. That's why he must to die now. You, turkey vulture, go and watch for him to come out, and you deer, go right after him. Since you can run as fast as the mayor, you'll be able to catch up with him. Be on guard, all of you."
"All right," they said.
"Snake, you look to see when he comes out, and we'll all pile on top of him. You snake, call him."
"Come on out, hurry," said the townspeople.
"Wait," said the rabbit, "I'm taking off my sandal."
"But hurry," said the snake.
"Wait, I'm coming out. Wait for me there, I'm coming out."
"Well, hurry," said the townspeople.
"Come on out," the snake said to the rabbit.
"I'm coming out. Wait," said the rabbit.
"Well, hurry," said the townspeople.
"All right," said the rabbit. "I'm coming out now. Please catch my sandal, I beg you."
The townspeople answered: "Catch his sandal, throw it over there. It's not as if it were your father's sandal, that you're obliged to carry it."
"All right, mayor. Throw out your sandal." And the turkey vulture caught the sandal. He gave it to the deer and the deer threw it away, as they thought that it was the rabbit's sandal. They were all shouting in the cave. They didn't know it was the mayor they had thrown away.
Rabbit outwits animals
"Come on out," shouted the snake into the cave, "come out right away." When they realized that he wasn't answering them they were sad. They sent the snake into the cave and the snake shouted: "He's not here, he's not here."
"Throw it far away."
"He's not here, he's not here. He came out," said the snake. "
He's not here. Maybe it was him we threw."
"Did you notice if it was his sandal that you threw away?" the lion asked the deer.
"Come on out, snake."
"All right." The snake came out.
Afterwards they began to kill each other on account of the mayor rabbit. He managed to go free, and when he was far away he laughed at them: "Some day you'll pay for the crimes you committed against me, the mayor. You wanted to kill me, but you weren't able to. Just wait and see what's going to happen to you later on."
The Rabbit and The Coyote
This is a story of Uncle Rabbit and the coyote. The rabbit came to a big rock, and there he deceived the coyote. He was leaning on the rock when the coyote came by.
"What are you doing, brother?" the coyote asked the rabbit.
"Come here quickly, brother, the sky is falling down on top of us. Lean against the rock and hold it up while I go for a stick. We'll prop it up with that," said the rabbit to the coyote.
(Coyote holding rock up)
"All right," said the coyote and began holding it up with all his might. Since the coyote was so stupid, he did exactly what the rabbit told him to. The rabbit had said that he was going to get a stick, but he went and left the coyote holding up the rock. When the rabbit didn't return the coyote shouted:
"Come back, brother! The weight of the rock has made me tired."
The rabbit still didn't come back.
"No matter, I'm going to leave even though the sky may fall down on top of us," said the coyote. But when he ran away he fell into a ravine. The rabbit never came back to the rock and the coyote was lost.
Later the rabbit came to a pond and saw the reflection of the moon in there. As the rabbit was very tricky, he was always deceiving the coyote. The dumb coyote always followed him and didn't know that the rabbit was deceiving him. The coyote came to the pond where the rabbit was. When he saw the coyote coming he began to drink the water from the pond.
"What are you doing, brother? The coyote asked the rabbit:
"Look, brother, there's a lot of food down there," answered the rabbit.
"What kind of food?"
"Look," the rabbit told the coyote.
The coyote looked in the water and said: "I see it. What is it?"
"There's a cheese in the water," the rabbit said to the coyote.
"If we drink all the water we can get the cheese. Drink it, you're big and you can finish all the water."
"All right, brother," he said, and began to drink the water.
"I'm going for a walk," said the rabbit, and left. The coyote continued to drink the water, but the rabbit was gone. The coyote's stomach began to hurt him, and he got the runs. He wasn't able to finish the water, so the coyote abandoned the effort and left.
The Disobedient Son
There was once a boy who was rude and wouldn't obey his mother. He would go out for a walk, without having eaten. He wouldn't come back until late, about ten or eleven o'clock at night. At ten o'clock his mother was still waiting up and worrying about him.
"What have you been doing, son?" his mother asked him. "I'm going to bed because it's late and I have just been waiting for you. You don't pay any attention to anything I tell you. I'm going to send you to your godfather. You don't pay any attention to what I tell you. The boy's mother went to see her compadre* the priest
"Compadre, what can be done about your godson? He is quite a scoundrel and doesn't obey me. You're a priest, and you can counsel and discipline this godson of yours; I can't do anything with him. This godson of yours is a rascal, compadre. Let him come to stay here with you to see if he will learn to behave."
"All right, comadre, have him come here. Why shouldn't he do what I tell him? I'm indeed a priest. I'll teach my godson to work. Don't worry, comadre, my godson is going to obey me." The woman said to her son:
"Go with your godfather, my son. He'll teach you. Since you won't obey me, go and work there."
"All right, mother, I'll go to my godfather's. Since I'm not of any use to you, I'll go and work with my godfather."
"I have come, godfather. What can I do for you? 'Go stay with your godfather', my mother said. That's why I came here to you. My mother is the one who sent me. 'Go to your godfather, you're no longer of any use to me,' my mother said."
"All right, godson," the priest said to him, "You're going to work for me."
"All right, godfather, I'm going to work. I'm going to do whatever you tell me to do; everything you tell me, I will do, godfather."
"All right. Now I'm going to tell you something," said the priest. "Godson, tomorrow morning early you're going to sweep; at three o'clock in the morning. I'm not going to awaken you, I'm just telling you now."
"All right," said the boy. At dawn he went and swept. When he was finished sweeping he went to tell his godfather the priest.
"Godfather, I've finished sweeping all of the church. So I've come to tell you."
"All right, godson, I'm glad you've finished. Now rest." Another day passed and the godfather gave him his next task:
"Now godson, I'm going to tell you what you have to do tomorrow morning. You're going to ring the bell at six o'clock. I want you to ring three times and when you're finished, come and tell me and I'll go to say Mass."
"All right," said the boy. When the next day was over the boy went to ring the bell. He went to tell his godfather:
"Godfather, I rang the bell three times. It's time to get up and go and say Mass," he told his godfather.
"All right," said the godfather. Another day was over and the priest spoke once more to the godson:
"Now I'm going to tell you once more what you have to do tomorrow."
"All right," said the boy.
"Ring the bell again early at three o'clock in the morning."
"All right," said the boy. The boy got up and remembered to ring the bell. He went to ring the bell in the belfry, but the priest, his godfather, had given the boy a test. He had left a skeleton in the belfry. The boy got there at three o'clock in the morning and found a skeleton standing in his way. He said to the skeleton:
(Boy encounters skeleton)
"Get out of my way! I'm coming to ring the bell. Don't get in my way. Get out of my way, for my godfather sent me to ring the bell. Get out of my way or I'll kill you!" He didn't get out of the way, he didn't move and he didn't answer. "Answer, or do you want me to kill you?" the boy asked the skeleton. "If for the third time you don't answer me, I'm going to smash you to pieces. That's what you want. That's why you got in my way, so now you're going to die. I'm going to throw you all the way down from here." And he pushed the skeleton out of the belfry. When he had smashed the skeleton he rang the bell and came down from the belfry. He went to his godfather's bedroom and knocked on the door to awaken him. The godfather woke up and answered the door:
"What is it?" the priest asked the boy.
"Get up, I've already rung the bell," the boy told the priest. The priest heard this and was surprised.
"Oh, did you ring the bell?" asked the priest.
"Yes, I rang the bell, godfather," the boy said.
"Didn't you see anything in the belfry?" asked the priest.
"Yes, godfather," the boy answered, "I saw something."
"What did you see?" the priest asked the boy.
"I saw someone who was standing in my way who wouldn't let me get by to ring the bell," the boy answered.
"Oh, so what did you do?" asked the priest. "Weren't you afraid of him?
"No, godfather."
"So what did you do?"
"I pushed him and he fell and broke into pieces on the floor."
"Oh, your mother told me the truth about you being a rascal," the priest said to the boy. "So you weren't afraid of him. You're a rascal of a godson. Rest. Tomorrow you will work once more." Another day came and his godfather called the boy:
"Now godson, I'm going to tell you what you're going to do tonight. You're going to take care of the sexton, who is very ill. He's about to die," the priest told the boy. "I'm tired of taking care of him."
"All right, Godfather, I'll do everything you tell me to, I'm not afraid," the boy said.
"All right," said the godfather, "at nine o'clock tonight it will be your turn to take care of the sexton by the altar. That's where he is."
"All right, godfather, I'll go and take care of him." The boy went to where the sexton was and spoke to him:
"Are you really sick?" the boy asked the sexton.
"Yes, I'm very sick, I feel like I'm going to die," the sexton told him.
"If you please, I'm going to take care of you," the boy said to the sexton. The sexton was complaining loudly, and the boy would go every so often to see him:
"Oh, you're dying," the boy told the sexton.
"I feel like I'm dying," the sexton told the boy.
"Poor thing, you had better die right away. You're just suffering. I better kill you once and for all so that you will be relieved of your suffering," the boy said to the sexton.
"Not yet, later on," the sexton said to the boy.
"No, I'm telling you that you're going to die now, for it's hard taking care of you," the boy said to the sexton. "You're going to have to forgive me, but I'm going to wring your neck."
(Boy tends sick sacristan)
"No," said the sexton.
"Oh yes I am, give me your neck, because you're going to die right now; you're just suffering. He wrung the sexton's neck. When the boy saw that the sexton had died, he went to tell his godfather. He came to his godfather's bedroom and knocked on the door:
"Get up, godfather." The priest got up and opened his door. "Hurry up godfather," the boy said, "come quickly." The boy went into the priest's bedroom. "Godfather, come with me quickly, I killed the sexton."
"Oh, why did you kill him? He wasn't sick."
"I killed him because he was suffering so much."
"Why did you kill him? He was perfectly all right."
"I'm the one who took his life."
"Oh, you bad godson, my sexton was fine, he wasn't sick," the priest told the boy again.
"So why did you send me to do that job?" the boy asked his godfather.
"You're not a good godson," said the priest. "My sexton was fine. He wasn't sick, but you didn't have anything to do. That's why I looked for a job you could do. I didn't know you were going to kill him. Now you're going to take a letter to a certain place. It will take you four years to get there."
"All right, godfather," said the boy, "I'll go. But first make me an iron rod with pincers and I'll take it along as my companion."
"All right." The letter was written and handed to the boy for him to take to that place, to the underworld.
"You're going right now," the priest told the boy. As the priest believed the boy was stupid he thought he was gone for good.
The boy took the letter and came to the place where he was supposed to deliver it. It was that place in the underworld where the devil lived. The boy arrived with the letter, came to his house and knocked on the door.
"Is the master here?" the boy asked the doorman.
"No, the master isn't here. Wait for him," he told the boy.
"All right, I have a letter to deliver," the boy said to the doorman. "Wait for him, sit down in this chair."
"I'm not going to sit down. This chair is bad. I'm going to stand for a while. When is the devil coming?"
"He's coming right away."
"I'm going to wait for him a little while longer. If he doesn't come, can I leave this letter with you?"
"Yes, you can," said the doorman.
"All right, here's his letter. Give me the answer."
"I'm not going to give you an answer; only the little devil who's in the dormitory can. I'll go bring the little devil," said the doorman.
"Go ahead and he himself will answer."
"All right," said the doorman. The little devil came to where the boy had the master's letter.
"You're going to give me an answer, because the master isn't in. That's why you're going to give me an answer."
"All right," said the little devil. "Wait a minute." As he was just saying that and not giving him an answer, the boy became angry:
"Are you going to give it to me or not?"
"Wait a moment longer," said the little devil.
"Are you going to give it to me or not?"
"Wait another moment."
"Now, are you going to give me the answer or not? Oh, aren't you ever going to give me the answer? I better take you back as an answer. Now, come with me."
"I won't go," said the little devil. You're not the one giving the orders around here."
"Come with me!" said the boy as he seized the little devil's ear with the pincers and took him by the hand. The boy set off and came back to his godfather four years after having left to take the letter. He came back one night and awakened his godfather.
"Oh," the godfather was taken aback when he saw that the boy had returned.
"Who are you?" the priest asked the boy.
(Little Devil)
"It's me, godfather, it's me. Get up right away, for I have brought you your answer. Get up right away." The priest was perplexed, because he thought that the boy was never going to return. He got up and opened the door. When he saw the boy he was frightened.
"Here's your answer, godfather. Here I brought you your answer, because the master wasn't there. That's why I brought you this little devil as your answer."
* The term compadre refers to the godfather of one's child or the father of one's godchild. The term comadre refers to the godmother of one's child or the mother of one's godchild.
