Juan and Rosalie

Accordingly, next night when the girl was fast asleep by his side, Juan got up and lit a light. But the girl woke up and rushed out of the hut, crying to Juan that now he would never see her again.

Nevertheless Juan had seen her face, but he was overwhelmed with grief.

Next morning the grandmother called him. “Juan, Juan, come and eat, the tortillas are all nice and hot in the calabash.”

“0 go to the devil, you’ve lost me my girl. I don’t want your beastly tortillas,” replied Juan.

Then, in answer to her questions, Juan explained how badly her advice about the light had resulted. He decided to set forth in search of the girl. After he had been walking some time, he espied a tiger and a lion, who were quarreling over the division of a deer they had killed. Juan was frightened and climbed up into a tree. The lion and the tiger saw him, and called to him to climb down and arbitrate between them. Juan would only do so after they had promised not to do him any harm. The tiger and the lion were very pleased with Juan’s decision, and gave him not only a piece of the deer, but also each of them pulled out one of his claws and presented it to Juan. Now these claws contained magic, for with the tiger’s claw he could turn himself into a tiger and with the lion’s claw into a lion.

Juan thanked his new friends and continued on his journey. Soon he met a hawk. “Juan,” cried the hawk, “give me a piece of that meat you are carrying.”

“All right,” replied Juan. Then the hawk pulled out a toenail and gave it to Juan. This toenail also was magical, for with it Juan could turn himself into a hawk. A little later Juan met an ant who also asked him for some of the meat. Juan gave him a piece, whereupon the ant told him to take one of his legs, but to take care not to tear out his entrails as he removed the leg. Nevertheless Juan pulled too hard and tore open the ant’s stomach. He traveled a bit farther until he arrived at a hut in which was an old lady. He inquired of the old lady if she had seen the girl he was seeking. The old lady said that she had not, but she would ask her eldest son. She hid Juan under four large barrels, and then proceeded to call her eldest son by whistling on her flute. “Pi piri pi piri pipi,” sung the flute, and shortly her eldest son arrived with much noise, for he was one of the wind giants.

“I smell ripe chicosapote,” he cried. Now chicosapote is the smell human beings have. The old lady denied that there was any human hidden there, but the wind god insisted so much that the old lady took a stick and soundly thrashed him for disrespect. Later when he was eating, she asked him if he had seen anything of the girl. Her grandson replied that he knew nothing of the girl, and wanted to know why his grandmother wanted to know. Then the old lady explained that he had been quite right, there was a man hidden away, and if he would promise not to eat him, she would bring him out. The wind god promised, and Juan was brought forth and described the girl. Then the old lady summoned her second grandson with her flute. He did not know anything about the girl either. The youngest was summoned. He said he knew where the girl lived and promised to show Juan if he was given plenty to eat on the journey, for it was a journey of two or three days, and as he was a giant, his appetite was immense.

Juan was busy for some time getting food ready for the journey, but at last all was prepared, and they set forth. After two days’ traveling they reached the edge of a big lake, in the center of which was an island in which the girl lived in a large palace. Juan took the wind god’s shoe, a hair from his head, and his handkerchief. The shoe served as a boat, the hair as the mast, and the handkerchief as the sail. In this Juan sailed across the lake. When he arrived at the palace, he espied the girl sitting at an upper window. With the ant’s leg he turned himself into an ant and proceeded to crawl up the wall of the building and into the girl’s room. As soon as he was safely in the room, he turned back into a man once again and started to talk to the girl. Later he sought out the girl’s father and asked for work. The father told him he would set him four tasks to do. If he completed them, he could have the girl. The first task was to clear a piece of forest and sow it with watermelons, harvest it, and bring him the fruit within twenty-four hours. Juan was very disheartened, as he realized the task was impossible. He told the girl of his trouble, but she told him not to worry, just to think of her, and she would do the work. Next day the girl, whose name was Rosalie, brought Juan the watermelons, and he took them to her father. The next task he was set was to make another milpa in which this time tobacco was to be planted, and within twenty-four hours fresh cigars made from the plants that were sown were to be brought by Juan to the girl’s father. That night, while he slept, Rosalie did the work, with the result that next day the cigars were all ready to be taken to her father. The next task was to bring plantains sown, grown, and harvested in the same miraculous way. Again Rosalie did the work while Juan slept. The next and final task was to prepare a dish of young corn in the same miraculous fashion. Once more Rosalie succeeded, with the result that next day Juan was able to take the dish to his taskmaster and claim his reward, Rosalie, for the fulfilment of the four tasks that had been set him. This was granted him. And in the usual way they lived happily ever after.

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