cuentos de barro - DSpace Universidad Don Bosco

Le habían tomado en la hacienda como
tercer corralero. No podía negársele
trabajo a este muchacho, de voz
enternecida por su propio des tino.
Nada podía negársele al negro Nayo: así
pidiera un tuco e dulce, como un puro
o un guacal de chicha. Pero, al mismo
tiempo, era —pese a su negrura—
blanco de todas las burlas y jugarretas
del blanquío; y más de alguna vez lo
dejaron sollozante sobre las mangas,
curtidas con el barro del cántaro y la
grasa de los baldes.
Su resentimiento era pasajero, porque
la bondad le chorreaba del corazón,
como el suero que escurre la bolsa de
la mantequilla. Se enojaba con un “no
miablés”... y terminaba al día siguiente el
enojo, con una palmada en la paletiya 344
y su consiguiente: “¡veyan qué chero,
éste!”... y la tajada de sonrisa, blanca y
temblona como la cuajada.
* * *
Chabelo “boteya”, el primer corralero,
era muy hábil. Tenía partido entre las
cipotas del caserío, por arriscado y finito
de cara; por miguele ro y regalón; pero,
sobre todo, porque acompañaba las
guitarras con una su flauta de bambú
que se había hecho, y que sonaba
dulce y tristosa, al gusto del sentir
campesino.
179
At the hacienda he was hired as the
junior farmhand. Nobody could deny a
job to this boy, who had a tender voice
because of his own destiny. Nothing
could be denied to Nayo, whether it be
a piece of candy or a cigar or a glass of
moonshine. At the same time, in spite
of his jovial black nature, he was the
brunt of jokes 343 and a lot of mockery
by the whites. More than once he was
left sobbing into his sleeves that were
dirty with the clay from the jug and the
grease from the buckets.
His resentment was only temporary
because goodness dripped from his
heart, like whey that drips from a bag
of curd. When he got mad, he would
say “don’t talk to me” but it ended the
very next day when others would pat
him on the back and consequently say:
“what a guy.” His slice of smile was white
and jiggly like cuajada 345 cheese.
* * *
Chabelo, nicknamed “Bottle,” the senior
farmhand was a very skillful man. He
was popular among the girls of the
town not only because he was always
well-groomed and well dressed, looked
like Adonis and was a good-time Charlie,
but above all because he accompanied
the guitars with his bamboo flute that
he had made himself. The flute sounded
sweet and sad, the way the peasants
liked it.
343. Salarrué was playing with black/white racial issues. There is no English idiom that translates his
intention.
344. Omóplato.
345. A compact soft, grainy mildly salty cheese similar to cottage cheese, usually spread over tortillas
as a meal.