Long ago there were two hunchbacks. One was kind but the other was mean and spiteful. The two hunchbacks cold not work in the village because everybody made fun of them; therefore they went into the hills to cut wood. That is, the kind one cut all the wood since the mean and spiteful one was very lazy and was always telling his companion;"Ay!, how sick I am today. It is better if you go and cut the wood this week." His partner, being kind-hearted, would go into the mountains and do all the work week after week.
One day, when the mean one had stayed at home as usual, the good woodcutter worked very hard and was very tired. Since his house was far away, he decided1 to camp near a small spring. About midnight, the woodcutter heard someone singing. At first he thought that somebody had camped near by but when he had listened to what was being sung, he realized that the voices he heard were not human.
Very cautiously he arose and silently walked to the place where the singing came from. Imagine his surprise when he saw a group of fairies singing and dancing around a blazing fire.
Monday and Tuesday and Wednesday three,
Monday and Tuesday and Wednesday three.
That was all the fairies sang, they repeated the same line over and over again. It seemed that it was the only song they knew. The woodcutter then decided that he would talk to them. Naturally, as soon as he heard them singing again, he went near the fire and the fairies saw him at once.
"What do you want, oh mortal?" asked the fairies. "Why do you come to bother us?"
"Because I can help you. Listen tome and you will see that your song will sound better this way." Then he sang:
Monday and Tuesday and Wednesday three,
Thursday and Friday and Saturday six.
Oh! The fairies were filled with joy. They noticed then that the good woodcutter was a hunchback. They told him to kneel down and with a magic wand touched his hump. Immediately it disappeared, leaving him strong and strong.
Suddenly the earth began to tremble; the rocks began to share, all with a terrifying sound.
"It is the ogres who come!. Quickly!" the fairies told the woodcutter. "Climb that tree; otherwise the ogres will kill you." And the fairies disappeared.
Quick as the wink2 of an eye, the woodcutter climbed the tree and hid in it foliage3. No sooner had the woodcutter settled himself than three ugly and huge ogres sat themselves at the base of the tree and began to chat.
"Well, amigos, what evil deeds have you performed during the year?" Thus they asked each other.
"Well," said one of the ogres, "I have blinded the entire village. And so blind are they, that not even the sun can they see."
They all laughed and poked4 each other in the ribs5.
The second ogre then said:
"Ha! you think that was work? I have condemned6 the people of my kingdom to silence. And so dumb are they that even the children are unable to cry."
The ogres laughed louder than before.
"Well, senores," said the third, "I haven't been idle either. I have made my people so deaf that they cannot even hear the cries of the souls in purgatory7."
And the ogres laughed more loudly than ever, rolling on the ground with merriment. They were so evil that all human miseries8 caused them joy. The poor woodcutter, hearing them speak thus, trembled with horror.
"However," said the ogre who had spoken first, "if you have done as I have, then everything proceeds well. Those poor unfortunates whom I have blinded don't know how easily they can be cured. Nevertheless, don't think I am going to cure, much less give them the remedy."
"Good," said the second ogre. "You are going to tell us, no? I also have a remedy to cure the deafness of my people and I am sure that our friend here has also a remedy for the dumbness of his people."
"You are right," answered the third ogre, "I also have a remedy."
"Senores," said the first, "to cure the blindness of my subjects all one has to do is to collect the dew during the first week of April. Then by rubbing a finger dipped in this dew over the eyes of the blind, they will be cured."
"You must guard you secret well; it is very ingenious." exclaimed the second ogre. "But listen to my remedy. As I have told you, I have deafened10 my subjects. Do you know how they can be cured? It is certainly more difficulty to cure this deafness than the blindness you spoke9 of. You have heard of the Hill of the Bells; all one has to do is take the person who is afflicted11 with dearness to this Hill, place him next to the rock, and then strike this rock with a hammer. The sound resulting from the blow will cure the deaf person."
"That is nothing," said the third ogre. "To cure the dumbness of my people, one must go into the fields and pick flowers from the cenizo plant, which blooms only after a good rain. These flowers are set to boil, and a tea is made from them. The afflicted is given this tea to drink. Then not only is he cured of dumbness, but of every known ailment12."
The ogres were enjoying themselves a great deal, but since dawn was approaching, they agreed to meet again at the same place a year from that date.
As son as the ogres left. the woodcutter clambered down from the tree saying to himself, "since the fairies have been kind tome, I will repay kindness with kindness. I will go and cure those poor afflicted persons the ogres talked about. However, since it is a long time until April, I will first go and cure the deaf and the dumb."
Walking, walking, the woodcutter finally reached the land of the dumb. The good man picked the cenizo flowers, brewed13 the tea, and gave it to the dumb. Immediately their speech was restored. So grateful were all these people that they loaded the woodcutter's little donkey with bars of gold and silver. From the land of the dumb, the woodcutter traveled to the kingdom of the deaf. He took the deaf to the Hill of the Bells and cured them. Dios mio! what joy! These people also gave the woodcutter a donkey loaded with gold and silver bars. Since April was near, the woodcutter traveled to the country of the blind. Camping on a grass-covered prairie, he waited for the first week of April When the proper time arrived, the good woodcutter collected the dew from the grass, entered the village of the blind, and cured all. As a reward, the previously14 blind loaded their benefactor15 with still more gold and silver.
At last he returned to his home, where his friend the envious16 hunchback, awaited him. The good woodcutter related his adventures but the evil one didn't care about the gold or the silver. He wanted to rid his back of its hump.
"Compadre," the evil one would ask his good friend, "why don't you tell me where this tree is? The ogres will be there soon; maybe I can also be rich like you. But above all, I hope the fairies will straighten my back."
The kind-hearted woodcutter took pity on his friend and agreed to do as he asked. On the morning of the day set for the meeting of the ogres, the good woodcutter took his friend to the tree. The mean hunchback, without even thanking his kind companion, climbed the tree and set himself to await the arrival of the ogres and the fairies.
Before the fairies arrived, the earth and the rocks trembled as in the previous occasion and the ogres met under the tree.
"Amigos", said the largest ogre, "there is a traitor17 amongst us. Someone has cured the blindness of my subjects. We were the only ones who know what was said here a year ago; it must be one of us."
"It wasn't I," said the second, "because in my kingdom the dumb can now talk."
"And my previously deaf people can now hear," called in anger the third. "A woodcutter came to my kingdom and cured everyone."
"He was the one that cured my subjects!" exclaimed the other two ogres.
The fairies appeared then, singing and dancing. Their fear of the ogres was forgotten.
Monday and Tuesday and Wednesday three
Thursday and Friday and Saturday six.
The hunchback, who had seen the fairies come out, was impatient to add to the song, hoping that his hump would be removed. When the fairies reached the word "six" the hunchback yelled the first thing that came to his mind:
"And Sunday seven!"
For an instant the ogres and the fairies stood as if carved from stone. Recovering their faculties18 in an instant, the fairies exclaimed, "Our song has been ruined!" Then they disappeared.
The ogres by this time had also looked around. Yelling "There is the traitor!" they reached into the tree and brought down the hunchback.
"And so it was you, insignificant19 spider, who revealed our secrets! Well, take this!" And the ogres decorated the back of the hunchback with another hump.
