Los tres tontos

Érase una vez un granjero y su esposa que tenían una hija, y ella era cortejada por un caballero.

Once upon a time there was a farmer and his wife who had one daughter, and she was courted by a gentleman.

Todas las noches él solía venir a verla y quedarse a cenar en la granja, y a la hija la enviaban a la bodega a sacar la cerveza para la cena.

Every evening he used to come and see her, and stop to supper at the farmhouse, and the daughter used to be sent down into the cellar to draw the beer for supper.

Así que una noche, ella había bajado a sacar la cerveza y, mientras lo hacía, le dio por mirar al techo y vio un mazo clavado en una de las vigas.

So one evening she had gone down to draw the beer, and she happened to look up at the ceiling while she was drawing, and she saw a mallet stuck in one of the beams.

Debía de haber estado allí mucho, mucho tiempo, pero de alguna manera nunca lo había notado antes, y empezó a pensar.

It must have been there a long, long time, but somehow or other she had never noticed it before, and she began a-thinking.

Y pensó que era muy peligroso tener ese mazo allí, pues se dijo a sí misma: “Supongamos que él y yo nos casamos, y tenemos un hijo, y él crece hasta convertirse en hombre, y baja a la bodega a sacar la cerveza, como estoy haciendo yo ahora, y el mazo se le cae en la cabeza y lo mata, ¡qué cosa tan terrible sería!”

And she thought it was very dangerous to have that mallet there, for she said to herself: “Suppose him and me was to be married, and we was to have a son, and he was to grow up to be a man, and come down into the cellar to draw the beer, like as I’m doing now, and the mallet was to fall on his head and kill him, what a dreadful thing it would be!”

Y dejó la vela y la jarra, se sentó y empezó a llorar.

And she put down the candle and the jug, and sat herself down and began a-crying.

Bueno, arriba empezaron a preguntarse por qué tardaba tanto en sacar la cerveza, y su madre bajó a ver qué pasaba, y la encontró sentada en el banco llorando, y la cerveza derramándose por el suelo. “¿Pero qué es lo que pasa?”

Well, they began to wonder upstairs how it was that she was so long drawing the beer, and her mother went down to see after her, and she found her sitting on the settle crying, and the beer running over the floor. “Why, whatever is the matter?”

dijo su madre. “¡Oh, madre!”, dice ella, “¡mira ese horrible mazo!

said her mother. “Oh, mother!” says she, “look at that horrid mallet!

Supongamos que nos casamos, y tenemos un hijo, y él crece, y baja a la bodega a sacar la cerveza, y el mazo se le cae en la cabeza y lo mata, ¡qué cosa tan terrible sería!” “¡Ay, ay!

Suppose we was to be married, and was to have a son, and he was to grow up, and was to come down to the cellar to draw the beer, and the mallet was to fall on his head and kill him, what a dreadful thing it would be!” “Dear, dear!

¡qué cosa tan terrible sería!”, dijo la madre, y se sentó al lado de la hija y empezó a llorar también.

what a dreadful thing it would be!” said the mother, and she sat her down aside of the daughter and started a-crying too.

Luego, al poco tiempo, el padre empezó a extrañarse de que no volvieran, y bajó él mismo a la bodega a buscarlas, y allí estaban las dos llorando, y la cerveza derramándose por todo el suelo. “¿Qué es lo que pasa?”, dice él.

Then after a bit the father began to wonder that they didn’t come back, and he went down into the cellar to look after them himself, and there they two sat a-crying, and the beer running all over the floor. “Whatever is the matter?” says he.

“Bueno”, dice la madre, “mira ese horrible mazo.

“Why,” says the mother, “look at that horrid mallet.

Solo supón que nuestra hija y su prometido se casan, y tienen un hijo, y él crece, y baja a la bodega a sacar la cerveza, y el mazo se le cae en la cabeza y lo mata, ¡qué cosa tan terrible sería!”

Just suppose, if our daughter and her sweetheart was to be married, and was to have a son, and he was to grow up, and was to come down into the cellar to draw the beer, and the mallet was to fall on his head and kill him, what a dreadful thing it would be!”

“¡Ay, ay, ay! ¡Así sería!”, dijo el padre, y se sentó al lado de las otras dos, y empezó a llorar.

“Dear, dear, dear! so it would!” said the father, and he sat himself down aside of the other two, and started a-crying.