Cuentos en Aventuras Literarias

De Versos Sencillos

Preguntas1. Quien escribió “De Versos Sencillos”?

José Marti escribió “De Versos Sencillos”.

2. En que siglo se escribió “De Versos Sencillos”?

Se escribió “De Versos Sencillos” en el siglo de 19.

3. De donde es el autor?

El autor es de Cuba.

4. Cuando nació?

Nació en 1895.

5. En el primer verso, que palabras usa Marti para dar la idea de que su poesía es ligera?

Marti usa “Un abanico de plumas”.

Preguntas Cont.6. Que echa el puñal por el puno?

Mi verso es como un puñal que por el puno echa flor; mi verso un surtidor que da un agua de coral.

7. De que color es el agua que brota del surtidor?

El color del agua es azul.8. Con que comprar Marti el vigor de su poesía?

Funde la espada.

Hombre Pequeñito

P 50

Preguntas1. ¿Quién escribió el “Hombre Pequeñito”?

Alfonsina Storni escribió el “Hombre Pequeñito.”

2. ¿De dónde es la autora? La autora es de Argentina.

3. ¿Con quién se comprara la poetisa en este poema?

La poetisa se comprara con el canario.

4. ¿Cómo se ve, en este poema, la idea de la autora, di que la mujer está en una posición de esclavitud con respecto al hombre?

La autora piensa que la mujer estuve en una jaula y el hombre pequeñito no se entiende a ella.

Preguntas Cont.5. ¿Quién no entiende a la mujer en este

poema? El hombre pequeñito no entiende

a la mujer.6. ¿Qué símbolos usa Alfonsina Storni en

su poema para expresar la idea de la falta de libertad?

Alfonsina Storni usa una jaula.

La Nina Fea

Preguntas1. Quien el autor de “La Nina Fea”?

Matute es el autor de “La Nina Fea”.

2. De donde es Matute? Matute es de Barcelona, pero

vive en España.3. Que es la descripción de la niña

fea? La niña tenia la cara oscura y los ojos como endrinas.

4. Que comía siempre la niña? La niña fea siempre comía la

manzana brillante de la merienda.

Preguntas Cont.5. Que le dijo la tierra un día a la

niña fea? La tierra dije, “Tu tienes mi

color.”6. Que paso a la niña?

La niña murió.

El MoralejaA la niña le pusieron flores de espino

en la cabeza, flores de trapo y papel rizado en la boca.

Ahora, la niña esta muerte en las sombras y en la tierra.

Leyenda

By Jorge Luis Borges

Jorge Luis Borges

• Jorge Luis Borges es de Argentina.

• Borges nacio en 1899 y murio en 1986.

Vocabulario

• Advertir- to notice• Asi es- so it is• El cielo- sky• Desde lejos- from the distance

• Despacio- slowly • La estrella- star• La frente- forehead

• El fuego- fire• Guardar silencio- to remain silent

• La llama- flame• Matar- to kill• La muerte- death• Perdonar- to forgive

• La pierda- stone, rock

1. Donde y cuando se encontraron Abel y Caín? Abel y Caín se encontraron después de la

muerte de Abel y en el desierto. 2. Por que se reconocieron desde lejos?

Caminaban por el desierto y se reconocieron desde lejos, porque los dos eran muy altos.

3. Donde se sentaron los hermanos y que hicieron?Los hermanos se sentaron en la tierra,

hicieron un fuego y comieron. 4. Hablaban?

No, guardaban silencio.5. Que advirtió Caín a la luz de las llamas?

Caín advirtió la marca de la piedra.

Preguntas

Preguntas6. Quien le pidió perdón a quien?

Caín le pidió perdón a Abel.7. Como supo Caín que Abel lo había perdonado?

Supo que el había sido perdonado porque olvidar es perdonar.

8. Según Abel, que pasa mientras dura el remordimiento?

Mientras dura el remordimiento dura la culpa.

9. Hizo bien Abel en perdonar a su hermano? Si, Abel hizo bien al perdonar a su

hermano.10. Caín dijo que “olvidar es perdonar.” Esta Ud.

de acuerdo con esa idea? Si, estoy de acuerdo con olvidar es

personar.

Moraleja

OLVIDAR ES PERDONAR!

Una Carta A Dios

Gregorio Lopez and Fuentes

English Translation of Una Carta A Dios

Questions to think about while reading:1. Que se veía desde la casa de Lencho?2. Que necesita la tierra?3. Que estaban haciendo Lencho y su

familia antes de ir a almorzar?4. Que representaban las gotas de agua

para Lencho?5. Al principio, Lencho está muy

contento con la lluvia, pero que pasa después?

6. Como quedó el campo después del granizo?

English Translation of Una Carta A Dios

Questions to think about while reading cont.7. Cual era la situación de Lencho y su

familia y cual era su única esperanza?

8. A quien le escribió Lencho y que le pidió?

9. Que hizo el jefe de correos después de leer la carta de Lencho?

10. Que le dice Lencho a Dios en su segunda carta?

Lencho’s House

The house, the only one in the whole valley, was on top of a low hill. From there you can see the river, and next to the corral, the field of ripe corn with bean plants that always promised a good harvest The only thing the land needed was a shower or at least a heavy downpour. During the morning, Lencho, who knew the land very well, didn’t have to do much more than look at the sky towards the northeast. “Yes, now the rain comes old woman” And the old woman who was preparing the meal responded: “God willing” The older men worked in the fields while the young ones played around the house until the wife cried out: “Come and eat”

The StormIt happened during dinner, like Lencho said, the large rain drops began to

fall. Towards the north east you could see clouds that looked like mountains. The air was cool and pleasant.

The man out in the corral just to give himself the pleasure of feeling the rain hitting his body, and he exclaimed: “These aren’t drops of water that fall from the sky, they’re new coins. The large drops are 10 cents and the small drops are 5 cents.

He looked with satisfied eyes on the field of ripe corn with the bean plants that was covered in a transparent curtain of rain. But all of a sudden, a strong wind began to blow and hail began to fall. They looked like coins of silver. The men, who were exposed to the rain, ran to pick up the frozen pearls.

“This is very bad” exclaimed the mortified man “I hope it passes soon”It didn’t pass soon. During the hour, the hail fell on the large vegetable

garden, the mountain, the corn, and the whole valley. The farm was white, like covered in salt. The trees were without leaves. The corn was destroyed. The beans were without flowers. Lencho cried his soul out with sadness. The storm passed, and he said to his sons:

“A cloud of locusts would have left more than this. The hail left nothing. We don’t have neither corn nor beans this year” The night passed with worries:

“All our work is gone”“No one can help us”“This year we shall be hungry” But in everyone’s heart on the farm, they still had one hope: the help of God.

“Don’t worry too much even if the destruction is a lot. Remember that no one will starve to death!”They said: “no one will die of hunger…”

Lencho’s IdeaAnd throughout the night, Lencho thought much

about his only hope: the help of God, whose eyes, without exception, sees everything, even those on the bottom.

Lencho was an uneducated man, who worked like an animal in the fields, but he did know how to write. The following Sunday, with the light of day, and after strengthening himself in the idea that God would help him, he began to write the letter which he would mail on his next trip into town.

It was nothing less than a letter to God.“God, if you don’t help me we will starve this

year. I need 100 pesos to plant the crops and live until the new harvest comes in. Because the hail…”

He wrote “to God” on the envelope, put the card inside, and went to the town. At the post office, he put a stamp on the envelope and put it in the mailbox.

The Post Office A mailman who was also working at the post office, went laughing to his boss and showed him the card addressed to God. Never in his existence as a mailman has he known of something like this. The boss of the office, fat guy, also began to laugh, but suddenly he became serious. And while he tapped the table with the card he said:

“The faith! I wish I had the faith of the man who wrote this card. Believe, how he believes. He has full confidence. He began a correspondence with God.”

And not to disillusion this treasure of faith, uncovered through a card that could not be delivered, the boss of the office had an idea: to answer the letter. But when he opened it, it was evident that to answer it, he would need more than good will, ink and paper. But he followed through with determination: he asked for money at his work, took some out of his salary, and asked various friends who were obliged to give him money.

It was impossible to gather all the money Lencho asked for so they were only able to send him a little more than half. He put the bills in an envelope addressed to Lencho and also put in a card that had only one word on it: “God”

Lencho’s ReactionThe following Sunday, Lencho went to go see,

earlier than usual, if there were any letters for him at the post office. The same mail man who took the card from Lencho was there, while the boss, with much joy, looked on from his office door.

Lencho didn’t seem surprised when he saw the bills, so great was his certainty. But he became angry when he counted the money. God can’t be wrong, nor could he deny what Lencho asked for.

Immediately, Lencho approached the window to ask for a pen and paper. On the table, he began to write, wrinkling his forehead because he was struggling to express his ideas. At the end, he moistened a stamp and affixed it with the blow of his fist.

As soon as the card fell in the box, the boss went to open it. It said: “God. You only sent me more or less 60 pesos. Send me the rest because I need it very much. But don’t send it through the post office because they are crooks. – Lencho”

Answers to Questions1. Se veía los campos, el río, y el

maíz ya a punto de brotar. 2. La tierra necesita agua por lluvia. 3. Lencho está examinando el cielo

porque no había hecho más. Su familia arrancaban hierbas.

4. Las gotas grande son de a diez y las gotas chicas son de a cinco. La lluvia representaban dinero que Lencho usara.

5. Después de la lluvia, Lencho era preocupante con el estado de la tierra.

Answers to Questions6. El campo era helado porque de la

tormenta. 7. Lencho pensó mucho en lo que había

visto en la iglesia del pueblo los domingos: un triangulo y dentro del triangulo un ojo, un ojo que parecía muy grande.

8. Lencho le escribió su carta a Dios y le pido cien pesos.

9. El jefe de correos le consiguió el dinero a Lencho.

10. Lencho le da gracias a Dio en su segunda carta.

Información sobre el Autor

• Gregorio López y Fuentes nació en la región de Veracruz en México en 1897.

• Gregorio López y Fuentes escribió esta cuenta en el siglo XX o veinte siglo.

• Gregorio López y Fuentes murió en 1966.

Cuadrados y Ángulos

Alfonsina Storni

Vocabulario

• Enfiladas- in a line• Cuadrados- squares• Alma- soul• En fila- in a row• He vertido- have shed• Lágrima- tear

El Autor

El escritor es Alfonsina StorniElla escribió “Cuadrados y ángulos” en el siglo 20La autora es de ArgentinaElla nació en 1892

PreguntasHaga su primera lectura de “Cuadrados y ángulos” en voz alta. ¿Cómo se relaciona el estilo empleado con el tituló del poema? Storni fue una feminista. El tituló del poema expresa su opinión porque el tituló dice que todas las cosas y personas en el mundo son igual.¿Qué le sugieren a Ud. las palabras “Cuadrados y ángulos”?Las palabras le sugieren que todas las personas son igual.1. Según la poetisa, ¿cómo es el alma de la gente?El alma de la gente es cuadrada2. ¿Cómo ve el mundo la poetisa?La poetisa ve que todas las personas son igual del mismo modo

Preguntas Cont.

3. ¿Qué crítica hace Alfonsina Storni en su poema?Alfonsina Storni crítica que nadie es perfecto4. ¿Cómo ves tú las casas?Yo veo que las casas son idéntico a los almas de las personas. Cada casa es igual con una otra casa y no importa lo que pase y cada persona es igual con una otra persona y no importa lo que pase.

De lo que aconteció a un hombre que se casó

con una mujer muy brava y muy fuerte

Juan Manuel

English TranslationMany years ago there lived in a certain village a Moor who

had an only son. This young man was as good as his father, but both were very poor. In that same village there lived another Moor, who was also very good, but rich; he was the father of a daughter who was completely unlike the youth. While the young man was courteous, and had the best of manners, she was crude and had a wicked temper. No one wanted to marry that devil!

One day the young man went to his father and told him that he realized how poor they were; and as he did not relish spending his like in such poverty, or leaving his village to earn a living, he would prefer to wed a wealthy women. The father agreed. Then the young man proposed to marry the rich man’s bad-tempered daughter. When his father heard this, he was much amazed and said no: for no person of intelligence, however poor he might be, would dream of such a thing. “No one,” he told him, “will marry her!” But the youth was so insistent that at last his father agreed to arrange the wedding.

The father went to see the good, rich man and told him everything he had spoken of with his son and requested that, as his son had the courage to marry his daughter, the wedding be permitted.

English Translation Cont.When the rich man heard this, he said:

“Good Heavens, if I did such a thing I would be a false friend, for you have an excellent son and I do not wish for his injury or death. I am sure that if he marries my daughter he will either die or his life will be very trying. But if your son wants her, I shall give her to him, or to anyone who will get her out of the house for me.”

His friend thanked him profusely and as his son was so desirous of the marriage, asked him to arrange it.

The wedding took place, and the bride was brought to her husband’s house. It is a custom among the Moors to prepare a supper for the bride and groom and set the table for them, leaving them alone in their house until the following day.

This is what was done, but the parents and relatives of the bride and groom were very much afraid that the next day they would find the groom either dead or badly injured.

As soon as the bride and groom were alone in their house, they sat down at the table. Before she could say a word, the groom looked about the table, spied his dog and said angrily:

“Dog, fetch water for our hands!”

English Translation Cont.But the dog did not do it. The young man began to get

irritated and told it more fiercely to fetch water for their hands. But the dog did not move. When he saw the dog was not doing as he said, he rose furiously from the table, drew his sword, and went after it. When the dog saw him coming, it began to run. Both leaped over the table and over the fire until at last the young man caught up with it and cut off its head.

This, in a great fury and drenched with blood, he returned to the table, looked about and saw a cat which he order to fetch water for their hands. When it did not he said:

“What, Sir false traitor, didn’t you see what I did to the dog when it refused to do what I told it? I swear to Gold that if you do not do as I order, I will do the same to you as I did to that dog.”

But the cat did not do it, because neither is it his custom to fetch water for the hands. When it did not obey him, the young man arose, seized it by the legs, and dashed it against the wall.

And thus, furious and raging, the young man returned to the table and looked about on all sides. His wife, who had been watching, thought he was crazy , and said nothing.

English Translation Cont.When he had looked everywhere about him, he spied his

horse, the only one he had. Ferociously, he told it to fetch water, but the house did not do it. When he saw it had not done so, he said:

“What, Sir House! Do you imagine that because you are my only horse I will leave you alone? Look, if you don’t do what I tell you, I swear to God that I will do the same to you as to the others, for there is no creature on each who would dare to disobey me.”

But horse did not budge. When the young man saw it was not obeying, he went over to it and cut off its head.

And when his wife saw him kill the only horse he had, and heard his say he would do the same to anyone who would not obey him, she realized he was not joking. She grew so frightened that she did not know whether she was dead or alive.

And he, angry, furious, and drenched with blood, returned to the table, swearing that if there were a thousand horses and women and women in the house who wouldn’t not obey him, he would kill them all. Then he sat himself down and looked everywhere about him, holding the gory sword in his hand.

English Translation Cont.After looking right and left and seeing no living thing, he started fiercely at his wife, and in a fury with his gory sword aloft, he said:

Get up and fetch me water for my hands!”His wife, who thought he would cut her to pieces if she failed

to obey him, jumped up in a great hurry and gave him water for his hands.

“How I thank God you’ve done as you were told,” he told her, “or else I’d have done the same to you as to the others!”

Later he ordered her to give him something to ear, and she did so. And whenever he said something, he spoke to her so sharply, with his sword aloft, that she thought he was going to chop off her head.

Thus passed that night: she never spoke and she did everything he told her to do. When they had slept a while, he said:

“I haven’t been able to sleep a wink because of what happened last night. Don’t let anyone wake me and prepare a good meal.”

The next morning, when the parents and relatives came to the door and heard no voices, they imagined the groom was not either dead or wounded. Seeing the bride and not the groom, they were convinced of this more than ever.

English Translation Cont.When the bride saw them at the door, she tiptoed

out, and frightened half to death, began saying:“Madmen, traitors, what are you dong here? How do

you dare speak here? Hush, for if you don’t, we’ll all be dead!”

Hearing this, they were all amazed, and help in high esteem the youth who had tamed his headstrong wife.

And from that day on, his wife was most obedient, and they lived happily ever after.

Moraleja:If at the start you don’t show who are you

When later on you wish to, you’ll never get too far

Los Deseos

Fernán Caballero

English TranslationThere was a ancient married couple, nevertheless poor, and all their life had passed very tranquil and cared for their little home. One night in  the winter they were sitting , the man and woman, together at the fire giving thanks to God for their well being and enjoyment, they were enumerating the good things others had and they desired to have also .If I had the ranch of Uncle Polainas – said the old manAnd if I had, said to his wife, I would have the house of our neighbor that is much newer than ours.And I, continued the old man, in place of the burro, I would have the mule of Uncle Polainas.And if, said to nobody, his woman- I was able to kill a pig of 200 pounds like the neighbor.  Those people to have the things, it is only necessary to desire them.How happy it would be to see complete our desires.When the words had barely been said, they saw descend by the chimney, a beautiful woman;  she had the presence of a queen with a crown of gold on her head and a small wand of gold in her hand.

English Translation Cont.I am a fairy Fortune she told them.  I was passing here and heard your complaint.  I am going to grant you three wishes.  One, to you, she said the woman, and the other to the man, and the third for the two of you.  Then finally I will grant them tomorrow at this same time. Until then, think what you will ask for. After she said this, she disappeared.They think about good marriage and the amount of their desires and they think.   There was so much that they were unable to decide for the following day and all night and decided to sleep on it.  They began to talk again about their lucky neighbors.Today I was there; they were making blood sausages, said the husband, but what sausage!  They were magnificent!If I only had one of them here to eat, said the woman.  Immediately there appeared above the coals the sausage more beautiful than any in the world.The woman stayed looking at it with her mouth open.  But the husband woke up and  gave a waling around the room pulling the hair on his head., saying: Because you are a glutton you have wasted one of the wishes.   What a silly woman.  Wake up.  I hope that you would stick the sausage up your nose.

English Translation Cont.When he finished talking, the sausage was suspended where he had indicated.Now the old man was astonished and the woman woke up.Look what you have done exclaimed the woman trying to pull out the sausage.Woman, before God  - the ranch?NoneWoman, before God – the house?NoneWe desired a mine, girl and you made (exchanged) a lot of gold for  sausageWe didn’t thinkWell what now, are going to remain like we are?This is my final wish to remove the sausage.The husband continued to pray, but he could not convince the woman that it is more desperate this time to keep the double nose and she is trying to push away the dog and cat that wanted to eat the sausage.When the night passed the fairy appeared and asked them what their final wish would be, they saidYou see a blind and stupid man, believing that the satisfaction of things will make him happy. You can be rich for the ones you possess.

Un Dia De Estos

English TranslationMonday dawned warm and rainless. Aurelio Escovar, a dentist without a degree,

and a very early riser, opened his office at six. He took some false teeth, still mounted in their plaster mold, out of the glass case and put on the table a fistful of instruments which he arranged in size order, as if they were on display. He wore a collarless striped shirt, closed at the neck with a golden stud, and pants held up by suspenders He was erect and skinny, with a look that rarely corresponded to the situation, the way deaf people have of looking.

When he had things arranged on the table, he pulled the drill toward the dental chair and sat down to polish the false teeth. He seemed not to be thinking about what he was doing, but worked steadily, pumping the drill with his feet, even when he didn't need it.

After eight he stopped for a while to look at the sky through the window, and he saw two pensive buzzards who were drying themselves in the sun on the ridgepole of the house next door. He went on working with the idea that before lunch it would rain again. The shrill voice of his eleven year-old son interrupted his concentration.

"Papa.”

"What?”

"The Mayor wants to know if you'll pull his tooth.”

"Tell him I'm not here.”

English Translation Cont.He was polishing a gold tooth. He held it at arm's length, and examined it with

his eyes half closed. His son shouted again from the little waiting room.

“He says you are, too, because he can hear you.”

The dentist kept examining the tooth. Only when he had put it on the table with the finished work did he say:

"So much the better.”

He operated the drill again. He took several pieces of a bridge out of a cardboard box where he kept the things he still had to do and began to polish the gold.

"Papa.”

"What?”

He still hadn't changed his expression.

"He says if you don't take out his tooth, he'll shoot you.”

Without hurrying, with an extremely tranquil movement, he stopped pedaling the drill, pushed it away from the chair, and pulled the lower drawer of the table all the way out. There was a revolver. "O.K.," he said. "Tell him to come and shoot me.”

English Translation Cont.He rolled the chair over opposite the door, his hand resting on the edge of the

drawer. The Mayor appeared at the door. He had shaved the left side of his face, but the other side, swollen and in pain, had a five-day-old beard. The dentist saw many nights of desperation in his dull eyes. He closed the drawer with his fingertips and said softly:

"Sit down.”

"Good morning," said the Mayor.

"Morning," said the dentist.

While the instruments were boiling, the Mayor leaned his skull on the headrest of the chair and felt better. His breath was icy. It was a poor office: an old wooden chair, the pedal drill, a glass case with ceramic bottles. Opposite the chair was a window with a shoulder-high cloth curtain. When he felt the dentist approach, the Mayor braced his heels and opened his mouth.

Aurelio Escovar turned his head toward the light. After inspecting the infected tooth, he closed the Mayor's jaw with a cautious pressure of his fingers.

"It has to be without anesthesia," he said.

"Why?”

"Because you have an abscess.”

English Translation Cont.The Mayor looked him in the eye. "All right," he said, and tried to smile. The

dentist did not return the smile. He brought the basin of sterilized instruments to the worktable and took them out of the water with a pair of cold tweezers, still without hurrying. Then he pushed the spittoon with the tip of his shoe, and went to wash his hands in the washbasin. He did all this without looking at the Mayor. But the Mayor didn't take his eyes off him.

It was a lower wisdom tooth. The dentist spread his feet and grasped the tooth with the hot forceps. The Mayor seized the arms of the chair, braced his feet with all his strength, and felt an icy void in his kidneys, but didn't make a sound. The dentist moved only his wrist. Without rancor, rather with a bitter tenderness, he said:

"Now you'll pay for our twenty dead men.”

The Mayor felt the crunch of bones in his jaw, and his eyes filled with tears. But he didn't breathe until he felt the tooth come out. Then he saw it through his tears. It seemed so foreign to his pain that he failed to understand his torture of the five previous nights.

Bent over the spittoon, sweating, panting, he unbuttoned his tunic and reached for the handkerchief in his pants pocket.  The dentist gave him a clean cloth.

"Dry your tears," he said.

English Translation Cont.The Mayor did.  He was trembling.  While the dentist washed his hands, he saw

the crumbling ceiling and a dusty spider web with spider's eggs and dead insects.  The dentist returned, drying his hands.  "Go to bed," he said, "and gargle with salt water."  The Mayor stood up, said goodbye with a casual military salute, and walked toward the door, stretching his legs, without buttoning up his tunic.

"Send the bill," he said.

"To you or the town?”

The Mayor didn't look at him.  He closed the door and said through the screen:

"It's the same damn thing."