This story was first published in this blog on December 26, 2011. It is a written recollection of a folktale told by Don Francisco Castillo, the owner of Hacienda El Carrizal, located at the Andean Merida State in Venezuela. This is my English version.
There
once upon a time when three young peasants (Roberto, Juan, and Jose) left their
hometown to look for a way to earn a living. Only one of them was married. He
reluctantly said good-bye to his young wife and three-month baby boy. The
friends walked for many days throughout the mountains and moors, under the
vigilant sight of the eagles and condors. Finally, they arrived to a rich farm
in a valley where they found jobs tending the animals and crops. They did not
know it, but the place was bewitched. After
working hard for 22 days, they decided to ask for their payments but they did
not know that there have not passed 22 days but 22 years.
Roberto
was the first one to ask for his salary, but the patrons made him a strange
proposal, they asked him if he wanted the money or three advices. Roberto
immediately asked for the money and they gave it to him, but later made him
enter a room where he saw an old lady tied to the leg of a bed. Roberto asked
them what was the lady doing there. As an answer to his curiosity, the patrons
let him working in the farm for the rest of his life.
Then
it was the turn of Juan. They asked him the same question: if he wanted his
money or three advices. Juan answered exactly as Roberto. He was invited to the
room where it was the old lady tied to the leg of a bed, and when he asked
about her, he followed the same destiny as Roberto.
When
it was Jose’s turn, he was asked the same question. He meditated for a minute
and answered in a different way. He wanted to listen the three advices. The
patrons then told them to listen carefully: “These are the three advices: don’t
ask what is not your business, don’t walk through detours, and don’t react
without thinking”.
Before
leaving, the patrons made him enter the room with the old lady tied to the leg
of a bed. He saw her with curiosity but remembered the first advice and did not
ask anything. The patrons rewarded him at passing this proof. They gave him his
money, and even handed him a gun to defend himself in his journey.
Feeling
very happy, Jose walked during many days the royal path that he had walked with
his mates before. Sometimes, he felt that the path was very long and he was
tempted to take a detour that found alongside, but he did not do it because he
remembered the second advice and did not want to deviate from the main path. In
this way, without knowing it, he avoided being robbed by some thieves that used
to assault the ones who deviated from the royal path.
Finally,
he arrived to his hometown. He noticed new changes in the town. The bushes in
his street were now big trees, the dirt roads were now paved and his house had
a new fence. But throughout its window, he looked a scene that perturbed him.
He saw a young man combing the hair of Jose’s wife. Enraged, Jose took his gun
and was ready to shoot at whom he supposed was the lover of his wife. But then,
he remembered the third advice. He realized that 22 years had passed and not 22
days as he and his friends thought. He also realized that the young man was his
own son, now 22 years old.
That
night there was a party in the town. Everybody was happy celebrating the return
of the lost friend. Jose’s wife cooked Andean food, the neighbors made a barbecue,
there was dancing and happiness everywhere.
When
the new day was dawning, Jose called his son apart and told him: “There’s
something that I would like to share with you, and I hope it would be as useful
for you as it was for me. It’s about three advices…”.
