The Gardener Child |
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Translated by Lizeth Enríquez
It is said there was a lady who had a son. When he was born he cried a lot, he didn't even want to breastfeed, would just cry. His mother began to pat him, searching for what could be hurting him.
Then his mother ordered a white atole to be prepared for him. They immediately did as she had ordered. While they prepared what the child had to take to please him, since he cried a lot, the mother was restless. As soon as the white atole was cooked, the maid ran immediately for the child to take it. They started pampering him so he would drink it to be taken and he didn't want to; They thought he wanted it sweetened. "Let it be sweetened" [ordered], and they sweetened it. But he didn't want to take it either.
The maid said:
“I will go to make corn atole.”
She prepared it for him, but he didn't want to take it either. And as he cried more and more, she feared [the mother] that the child could die, and ordered the maid:
“Go call the healer, to come and see the child who cries so much and does not want to eat.”
The woman left in search of the healer to come see or to cure the child, since nobody knows why he cries so much.
The woman arrived at the healer's house, greeted her, entered and said:
“I'm tired. We live far from here.
“Where do you live?”
“I live in the house of a lady called Mrs. Lizard and she ordered me to come and beg you to cure her son who is sick. If you are going, go as quickly as possible.”
“Wait for me. We will go together. I Will take what is necessary.”
She put all the medicinal herbs in his basket and they went out and left.
They arrived at Mrs. Lizard's home and as soon as the healer saw how the sick child was, she asked:
“What do you give him to drink?”
“He doesn't want to take anything, he just cries.”
The healer felt the pit of the stomach of the child, it very thin, and said:
“Get a bit of pulque.”
And as soon as she started giving it to him, he was happy [the boy]. Before she had seen that he had painted with blood, a maguey, on his stomach and said:
“Look, madam, this maguey that appears painted on his stomach means that he should be raised with pulque. As he grows, give him what I have told you, when he reaches the age of seven, we will change his diet. In the meantime, let's cure him.”
She began to cure him. She sucked the blood on his stomach, smoked him with hypericum, palm, incense and many other medicinal herbs; the blood of a rooster was smeared on his stomach, which would erase the maguey the boy had painted; she smoked it then so he would no longer cry.
Since she healed him he did not cry again, he was always calm, once he was given pulque he no longer had to be given again, he would fall asleep and they didn't have to give him a drink until the next day.
When he turned seven, that healer went to see him again and returned to smoke him with cedar, incense and white incense. When she finished, she let some time pass and then pated his body again, and on his back, she found many fruits painted, and said to his mother:
“Look, madam, what appears here. There are many fruits which indicate that he should be fed with fruit, and here, on the right hand, it has a cob, and on the left hand, you see, it has a pumpkin guide with a small pumpkin, which means that he will be hardworking when he grows up. Now give him only fruit; go and cut the best fruit in the ravine, where the wind passes; That is the one he should eat.”
And that's how they raised that child with fruit.
Then the healer said:
“Now I'm going to cure him.” She sucked on the little hands and on his back. After three days passed, she boiled rose of castile, cempasúchil, tea from the mountain; then she boiled everything with cedar wood, she left it for three days in a cave in the ravine and lit candles night and day, and after nine days she washed his back with that scented water, blessed by the air. As soon as she washed the child or, rather, the healer bathed it, the fruits that had been painted on his back were erased immediately, everything disappeared, and since then he was called "the gardener child."
There was not a single farmland, not a single pot that did not have fruit trees, and it is said that it was he who planted them everywhere, that without him there would be no fruit trees.
Man blessed by the air, wherever he went, everyone bowed to him.
It is said there was a lady who had a son. When he was born he cried a lot, he didn't even want to breastfeed, would just cry. His mother began to pat him, searching for what could be hurting him.
Then his mother ordered a white atole to be prepared for him. They immediately did as she had ordered. While they prepared what the child had to take to please him, since he cried a lot, the mother was restless. As soon as the white atole was cooked, the maid ran immediately for the child to take it. They started pampering him so he would drink it to be taken and he didn't want to; They thought he wanted it sweetened. "Let it be sweetened" [ordered], and they sweetened it. But he didn't want to take it either.
The maid said:
“I will go to make corn atole.”
She prepared it for him, but he didn't want to take it either. And as he cried more and more, she feared [the mother] that the child could die, and ordered the maid:
“Go call the healer, to come and see the child who cries so much and does not want to eat.”
The woman left in search of the healer to come see or to cure the child, since nobody knows why he cries so much.
The woman arrived at the healer's house, greeted her, entered and said:
“I'm tired. We live far from here.
“Where do you live?”
“I live in the house of a lady called Mrs. Lizard and she ordered me to come and beg you to cure her son who is sick. If you are going, go as quickly as possible.”
“Wait for me. We will go together. I Will take what is necessary.”
She put all the medicinal herbs in his basket and they went out and left.
They arrived at Mrs. Lizard's home and as soon as the healer saw how the sick child was, she asked:
“What do you give him to drink?”
“He doesn't want to take anything, he just cries.”
The healer felt the pit of the stomach of the child, it very thin, and said:
“Get a bit of pulque.”
And as soon as she started giving it to him, he was happy [the boy]. Before she had seen that he had painted with blood, a maguey, on his stomach and said:
“Look, madam, this maguey that appears painted on his stomach means that he should be raised with pulque. As he grows, give him what I have told you, when he reaches the age of seven, we will change his diet. In the meantime, let's cure him.”
She began to cure him. She sucked the blood on his stomach, smoked him with hypericum, palm, incense and many other medicinal herbs; the blood of a rooster was smeared on his stomach, which would erase the maguey the boy had painted; she smoked it then so he would no longer cry.
Since she healed him he did not cry again, he was always calm, once he was given pulque he no longer had to be given again, he would fall asleep and they didn't have to give him a drink until the next day.
When he turned seven, that healer went to see him again and returned to smoke him with cedar, incense and white incense. When she finished, she let some time pass and then pated his body again, and on his back, she found many fruits painted, and said to his mother:
“Look, madam, what appears here. There are many fruits which indicate that he should be fed with fruit, and here, on the right hand, it has a cob, and on the left hand, you see, it has a pumpkin guide with a small pumpkin, which means that he will be hardworking when he grows up. Now give him only fruit; go and cut the best fruit in the ravine, where the wind passes; That is the one he should eat.”
And that's how they raised that child with fruit.
Then the healer said:
“Now I'm going to cure him.” She sucked on the little hands and on his back. After three days passed, she boiled rose of castile, cempasúchil, tea from the mountain; then she boiled everything with cedar wood, she left it for three days in a cave in the ravine and lit candles night and day, and after nine days she washed his back with that scented water, blessed by the air. As soon as she washed the child or, rather, the healer bathed it, the fruits that had been painted on his back were erased immediately, everything disappeared, and since then he was called "the gardener child."
There was not a single farmland, not a single pot that did not have fruit trees, and it is said that it was he who planted them everywhere, that without him there would be no fruit trees.
Man blessed by the air, wherever he went, everyone bowed to him.
