Latin American Folktales : Stories from Hispanic and Indian Traditions

by BIERHORST, JOHN

• ISBN13: 9780375420665
• ISBN10: 0375420665
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2001-12-01
• Publisher: Pantheon

Summary

The wisdom and artistry of Latin America's storytellers preserve one of the world's richest folktale traditions--combining the lore of medieval Europe, the ancient Near East, and pre-Columbian America. Among the essential characters are the quiet man's wife who knew the Devil's secrets, the tree daughters who robbed their father's grave, and the wife in disguise who married her own husband--not to mention the Bear's son, the tricksters Fox and Monkey, the two compadres, and the classic rogue Pedro de Urdemalas. Gathered from twenty countries, including the United States, the stories are here brought together in a core collection of one hundred tales arranged in the form of avelorio, or wake, the most frequent occasion for public storytelling. The tales are preceded by a selection of early Colonial legends foreshadowing the themes of Latino folklore and are followed by a carefully chosen group of modern Indian myths that replay the basic stories in a contrasting key. Riddles, chain riddles, and folk prayers, part and parcel of thevelorioalong with folktales, are introduced at appropriate junctures. The collection is unprecedented in size and scope, and most of the tales have not been translated into English before. The result is the first panoramic anthology of Hispano-American folk narratives in any language--meant to be dipped into at random or read straight through from "Once and twice makes thrice upon a time" to "They were happy as the dickens and ate chickens."

Author Biography

John Bierhorst's books on Latin American lore include <b>The Mythology of South America</b> and <b>The Mythology of Mexico and Central America</b>. A specialist in the language and literature of the Aztecs, he is the translator of the <b>Cantares Mexicanos</b> and the author of a Nahuatl-English dictionary. He currently serves as an editor of <b>The Norton Anthology of World Literature</b> an has received grants and fellowships from the Americas Society, the National Endowment for the Humanities, and the National Endowment for the Arts.

Table of Contents

Preface	xi
Introduction	3	(16)
Prologue: Early Colonial Legends	19	(26)
Montezuma / Nahua (Mexico)	22	(12)
The Talking Stone	22	(3)
Montezuma's Wound	25	(1)
Eight Omens	26	(2)
The Return of Quetzalcoatl	28	(4)
Is It You?	32	(2)
Legends of the Inca Kings / Quechua (Peru)	34	(8)
Mayta Capac	34	(2)
The Storm	36	(2)
The Vanishing Bride	38	(2)
A Messenger in Black	40	(1)
The Oracle at Huamachuco	41	(1)
Bringing Out the Holy Word / Mexico (Nahua)	42	(3)
Folktales: A Twentieth-Century Wake	45	(4)
PART ONE	49	(32)
In the City of Benjamin / Ecuador	49	(2)
Antuco's Luck / Chile	51	(5)
Don Dinero and Dona Fortuna / Dominican Republic	56	(1)
Mistress Lucia / Mexico	57	(6)
St. Peter's Wishes / Cuba	63	(1)
The Coyote Teodora / Honduras	64	(1)
Buried Alive / California	65	(2)
The Three Gowns / Puerto Rico	67	(5)
The Horse of Seven Colors / Venezuela	72	(6)
The Cow / New Mexico	78	(3)
PART TWO	81	(30)
Death and the Doctor / Dominican Republic	81	(1)
What the Owls Said / Mexico (Mazatec)	82	(2)
Aunt Misery / Puerto Rico	84	(1)
Palm-tree Story / Colombia	85	(3)
Pedro de Urdemalas	88	(6)
The Letter Carrier from the Other World / Chile	88	(1)
The King's Pigs / Guatemala	89	(1)
The Sack / Chile	89	(3)
Pedro Goes to Heaven / Argentina	92	(2)
A Voyage to Eternity / Bolivia	94	(4)
Mother and Daughter / Colombia	98	(1)
The Bird Sweet Magic / Costa Rica	98	(5)
Death Comes as a Rooster / Cuba	103	(1)
The Twelve Truths of the World / New Mexico	104	(7)
Folk Prayers	107	(4)
PART THREE	111	(26)
The Mouse and the Dung Beetle / Colorado	111	(2)
The Canon and the King's False Friend / New Mexico	113	(2)
The Story That Became a Dream / Chile	115	(3)
St. Theresa and the Lord / Mexico	118	(2)
Rice from Ashes / Argentina	120	(4)
Juan Maria and Juana Maria / Guatemala	124	(2)
The Witch Wife / Colombia	126	(3)
O Wicked World / Argentina	129	(1)
The Three Sisters / Colombia	130	(4)
The Count and the Queen / Colorado	134	(3)
PART FOUR	137	(36)
Crystal the Wise / Chile	137	(4)
Love Like Salt / Mexico	141	(3)
The Pongo's Dream / Peru (Quechua)	144	(3)
The Fox and the Monkey / Bolivia (Aymara)	147	(2)
The Miser's Jar / Guatemala (Kekchi Maya)	149	(3)
Tup and the Ants / Mexico (Yucatec Maya)	152	(3)
A Master and His Pupil / Guatemala	155	(2)
The Louse-Drum / Panama	157	(2)
The Three Dreams / Guatemala	159	(2)
The Clump of Basil / Puerto Rico	161	(12)
Riddles	164	(9)
PART FIVE	173	(28)
The Charcoal Peddler's Chicken / Puerto Rico	173	(1)
The Three Counsels / New Mexico	174	(2)
Seven Blind Queens / Chile	176	(5)
The Mad King / Florida	181	(2)
A Mother's Curse / Puerto Rico	183	(1)
The Hermit and the Drunkard / Ecuador	184	(1)
The Noblewoman's Daughter and the Charcoal Woman's Son / Cuba	185	(3)
The Enchanted Cow / Chile	188	(4)
Judas's Ear / New Mexico	192	(3)
Good Is Repaid with Evil / Venezuela	195	(1)
The Fisherman's Daughter / Colombia	196	(5)
PART SIX	201	(18)
In the Beginning / Mexico (Mazatec)	201	(1)
How the First People Were Made / Mexico (Zapotec)	202	(1)
Adam's Rib / Mexico (Popoluca)	203	(1)
Adam and Eve and Their Children / New Mexico (Isleta)	203	(1)
God's Letter to Noeh / Mexico (Zapotec)	204	(1)
God Chooses Noah / Mexico (Mixe)	205	(2)
The Flood / Mixe (Mexico)	207	(1)
A Prophetic Dream / Mexico (Mazatec)	208	(1)
The White Lily / Ecuador (Quichua)	209	(1)
The Night in the Stable / Guatemala (Quiche Maya)	209	(1)
When Morning Came	210	(1)
Why Did It Dawn? / Mexico (Nahua)	210	(1)
That Was the Principal Day / Mexico (Tzotzil Maya)	211	(1)
Three Kings / New Mexico (Isleta)	211	(1)
The Christ Child as Trickster / Ecuador (Quichua)	212	(1)
Christ Saved by the Firefly / Cakchiquel Maya (Guatemala)	213	(1)
Christ Betrayed by Snails / Belize (Kekchi Maya)	214	(1)
Christ Betrayed by the Magpie-jay / Mexico (Tzotzil Maya)	214	(1)
The Blind Man at the Cross / Mexico (Mazatec)	214	(2)
The Cricket, the Mole, and the Mouse / Mexico (Mazatec)	216	(2)
As If with Wings / Mexico (Mazatec)	218	(1)
PART SEVEN	219	(32)
Slowpoke Slaughtered Four / Puerto Rico	219	(2)
The Price of Heaven and the Rain of Caramels / Mexico	221	(3)
Pine Cone the Astrologer / Panama	224	(1)
The Dragon Slayer / Mexico	225	(4)
Johnny-boy / Nicaragua	229	(1)
The Rarest Thing / Guatemala	230	(2)
Prince Simpleheart / Costa Rica	232	(4)
The Flower of Lily-Lo / Mexico	236	(2)
My Garden Is Better Than Ever / Mexico (Popoluca)	238	(1)
Juan Bobo and the Pig / Puerto Rico	239	(1)
The Parrot Prince / Chile	240	(11)
Chain Riddles	245	(6)
PART EIGHT	251	(26)
A Dead Man Speaks / Texas	251	(1)
The Bear's Son / Honduras (Lenca)	252	(7)
Charity / Argentina	259	(1)
Riches Without Working / Mexico (Nahua)	260	(2)
Let Somebody Buy You Who Doesn't Know You / Guatemala	262	(2)
The Mouse King / Bolivia	264	(2)
Mariquita Grim and Mariquita Fair / Cuba	266	(4)
The Compadre's Dinner / Dominican Republic	270	(2)
The Hog / Colorado	272	(1)
Two Sisters / Puerto Rico	272	(2)
The Ghosts' Reales / Dominican Republic	274	(3)
PART NINE	277	(30)
The Bad Compadre / Guatemala (Cakchiquel Maya)	277	(6)
Black Chickens / Mexico (Tepecano)	283	(3)
Doublehead / El Salvador (Pipil)	286	(2)
Littlebit / Chile	288	(5)
Rosalie / Mexico (Yucatec Maya)	293	(4)
A Day Laborer Goes to Work / Mexico (Otomi)	297	(6)
The Moth / Peru (Quechua)	303	(1)
The Earth Ate Them / Argentina	304	(3)
Epilogue: Twentieth-Century Myths	307	(22)
Why Tobacco Grows Close to Houses / Kogi (Colombia)	310	(1)
The Buzzard Husband / Tzotzil Maya (Mexico)	310	(4)
The Dead Wife / Miskito (Nicaragua)	314	(1)
Romi Kumu Makes the World / Barasana (Colombia)	315	(1)
She Was Thought and Memory / Kogi (Colombia)	316	(1)
Was It Not an Illusion? / Witoto (Colombia)	317	(1)
The Beginning Life of the Hummingbird / Mbya Guarani (Paraguay)	318	(1)
Ibis Story / Yamana (Chile)	319	(1)
The Condor Seeks a Wife / Quechua (Bolivia)	320	(2)
The Priest's Son Becomes an Eagle / Zuni (New Mexico)	322	(3)
The Revolt of the Utensils / Tacana (Bolivia)	325	(1)
The Origin of Permanent Death / Shuar (Ecuador)	326	(3)
Notes	329	(34)
Register of Tale Types and Selected Motifs	363	(6)
Glossary of Native Cultures	369	(4)
Bibliography	373	(12)
Permissions Acknowledgments	385