Revista 25 aniversario - eoi de salamanca - Junta de Castilla y León

IRISH LEGENDS
Anywhere in the world there is a culture of popular
legends and mythology that makes a place fantastic
and that attracts and makes people interested in a
village, region or country. This has been my case.
During my brief trip to the island of Ireland, I heard
several of its stories and legends associated with the
Celtic culture. Fairies, goblins, elves, druids and giants
have accompanied the Irish throughout their history.
Among these, there are two popular legends that
have drawn my attention. One is about giants, The
Giant's Causeway, and the other one is about goblins,
The Leprechaun.
The Giant's Causeway
Once upon a time, in Northern Ireland, there lived a
giant called Finn McCool. Finn was a braggart and he
used to fight others to improve his strength and
continue showing that he was the strongest. He had
heard of the Scotish giant Benandonner, who said he
was the strongest in Scotland, and Finn challenged him
to come to Ulster to fight.
In order that Benandonner couldn't refuse combat,
Finn built a causeway between Ireland and Scotland.
During its construction, Finn saw that Benandonner
was much bigger than him, and hurried back to Ireland
to tell his wife Oonagh. Oonagh, who was very smart,
decided to disguise Finn as a baby and lay him in a cot.
So when Benandonner came to Ireland through the
causeway and went to Finn's home, Oonagh said that
Finn had gone out for a while, but he could wait at
home if he didn't wake Finn's child, who was sleeping
in the crib. When the Scotish giant saw the baby's size,
he was scared and said he didn't want to know his
father, and hurried back to Scotland, wrecking the
causeway in his passing so that Finn couldn't follow
him. That is why, nowadays, there is a part of the
causeway which goes into the sea in Northern Ireland,
in the Antrim council, and another one in Scotland,
although less spectacular.
The Leprechaun
Have you ever heard that if you follow the rainbow,
at the end of this there is a pot full of gold? Well, this
pot full of gold is the treasure of a leprechaun.
The leprechaun is a little goblin who looks like an
elderly Irishman dressed in green, who spends his time
making shoes. It's said they are very difficult to see,
and if you catch one, you can force him to reveal
where the pot with gold is hidden.
So here begins the story I am going to tell, and that
is about a traveller who arrives in Ireland and hears the
sound of a hammer in a thick forest.
The curious traveller, as he knows the leprechaun's
legend well, tracks the sound of hammering until he
discovers, in a small clear into the forest, a leprechaun,
who was working hard.
Being caught, he is kind to the traveller until he asks
him where his treasure is hidden. At first, he absolutely
denies possessing any treasure, but the traveller doesn't
give in. Then, the astute leprechaun tries by all means
to distract the traveller, pointing at an imaginary
swarm of bees and a tree on the brink of falling down.
As the traveller doesn't give in and does not free him,
the leprechaun decides to bribe the traveller with a bag
full of gold. At this moment, the greedy traveller
accepts the bag, drops the leprechaun and starts
counting the gold. But in a few seconds, the bag and
the gold turn into dust, and the traveller gets angry
with the leprechaun. However the leprechaun is no
longer there, has vanished, like the bag, the gold and
his working tools. The traveller could only hear a
mocking laughter in the air, and then nothing else.
These and many other stories are part of the
mythology and legends of Ireland, this magical island.
Israel García, Inglés
Correo Electrónico de Magdalena
Queridos companeros de Salamanca,
sé que ya pasaron unas seis semanas que estoy en
Alemania, pero de alguna manera la vida cotidiana me
roba el tiempo. Pues, llegué bien en Alemania y
después de pasar algunos días con mi familia en
Stuttgart me fui a Leipzig para buscar piso. Enfin
encontré algo bueno pero no era tan fácil de encontrar
algo como pensaba. Ahora vivo en una constelación
parecida a Salamanca dos chicos y dos chicas, pero
sin animales. Aunque ya estoy acostombrada de estar
en Alemania, echo de menos muchas cosas de
Salamanca. Bueno, esto es lo que mi profesora de
idioma siempre llamaba "hispanización". En primer
lugar la vida aqui me parece sobreorganizada y no hay
tanto plazo para cosas espontáneas. Por ejemplo no
tengo bastante tiempo para hacer excursiones durante
el fin de semana como en Salamanca. En segundo
lugar todo se pasa demasiado temprano. Me levanto
más temprano, como más temprano, tengo que hacer
compras mas temprano, ...... y a las doce de la noche
todos mis companeros ya están a menudo en la cama
y en tercer lugar (de verdad es lo más duro) los
alemanes no saben salir como los espanolesa. Una
noche fui a una fiesta y estuve bastante sorprendida
que había música espanola ahi (era una fiesta serbo
alemana) pero casi nadie bailaba y a las dos la
mayoridad se fue. qué raro, no? También me falta el
idioma y mi curso de idioma. Hago un curso de idioma
en mi universidad, pero hasta ahora no he aprendido
nada de nuevo. Y los que hablan aleman imaginaisos
tíos que hablan espanol con un acento sajón. Ay,
socorro! Todavía estoy buscando un intercambio pero
tampoco es muy fácil. Hay demasiado personas que
aprenden el espanol y relativamente pocos
hispanohablantes en Leipzig. Bueno, estoy pensando si