Sleeping Beauty of Chile - Fairy Tales in Different Cultures

I have been MIA for a couple of weeks. I have decided to put an end to Crafty Weekends since there was not much participation in the link parties, but keep an eye out for all my fun crafts and craft reviews in the future. A few weeks ago I promised to bring back Fairy Tales in Different Cultures and since today is the last day of Hispanic Heritage Month I thought I would share a Hispanic version of a fairy tale. We decided to focus on Sleeping Beauty so today we are sharing a Sleeping Beauty tale from Chile. I have shared various stories, information and crafts related to Chile previously. Including two fairy tales from the same book which I found today's. It is Folktales of Chile edited by Yolando Pino-Saavedra. I took it out of the library, but it available used on Amazon.

Flamingo Friday: Chilean & Caribbean Flamingos

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Continuing on looking at the species of flamingos, I thought I would give you some information about the last two that live in the Americas: the Chilean and the Caribbean Flamingos. Now these are the only flamingos I have seen live since our local zoo and Sea World have these kinds.

Source: By Kevin Walsh from Bicester, England, UK.
(flamingoscene.Uploaded by PDTillman.) [CC-BY-2.0], via Wikimedia Commons

The Chilean Flamingo:

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The Chilean Flamingos range from 31 to 51 inches in height. Their weight ranges from 4.2 to 6.6 pounds. It is closely related to the Caribbean and the Greater Flamingos. Their plumage is pinker than the Greater flamingos but lighter than the Caribbean. Their legs are also grey with pink joints and a large amount of black on their bills. Their young are grey and remain grey for two to three years. Both male and female Chilean flamingos produce the "milk" to feed their young.

Chilean and Caribbean Flamingos at Stone Zoo, Stoneham, Massachusetts

Here is a YouTube Video of some Chilean flamingos at the Atlantic Zoo.

They breed in temperate South America: from Ecuador and Peru to Chile and Argentina and east to Brazil. They also have been introduced in Germany and the Netherlands and have a small population in Utah and California in the United States.

Hazel and a flamingo at Sea World

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Sources:  Sea World Animal Bytes and  Wikipedia

The Caribbean Flamingo:

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A Parent feeding a Young Chick at Stone Zoo

 The Caribbean flamingo is also known as the American flamingo. It is the only species of flamingo that inhabits North America naturally. The Caribbean flamingo is one of the larger and the brightest of the flamingos. Their height ranges from 31 to 57 inches and their weight ranges from 4.2 to 6.6 pounds. Their feathers are pink with  red wing coverts. They have black flight feathers (like most flamingos). Their beaks are pink and white with a black tip and their legs are completely pink.

Source: By Martin Pettitt from Bury St Edmunds, UK
(Caribbean flamingo) [CC-BY-2.0], via Wikimedia Commons

The Caribbean flamingos are found in the North Coast of South America, the Yucatan Peninsula of Mexico, and a range of Caribbean islands. There is also a small population in the Galapagos Islands. They are the only species of flamingos that breed in small groups (sometimes as small as 3-4 pairs).
Sources: Wikipedia, Sea World Animal Bytes, and Flamingo Resource Centre

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Here is a video from YouTube of a Caribbean flamingo chick taking its first steps.


That is what we have for this week's Flamingo Friday. Soon we will talk about the Greater and the Lesser flamingos. Enjoy!!

Fairy Tales in Different Cultures: Maria Cinderella a Chilean Cinderella Tale

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In honor of Hispanic Heritage Month, we have been sharing fairy tales from Hispanic countries. A couple of weeks ago we shared a Snow White tale from Chile. Today we are sharing Maria Cinderella. This is a Cinderella tale from Chile. I found it translated in English in Folktales of Chile edited by Yolando Pino-Saavedra and translated by Rockwell Gray.

Taruca--National Animal of Chile
Source: Chris Fryer [CC-BY-2.0], via Wikimedia Commons

Puma
Source: By Ltshears - Trisha M Shears (Own work) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

Two weeks ago we gave you an overview of Chile.  Today we will share briefly a bit about the wildlife in Chile. A reminder that Chile's climate ranges from desert to alpine tundra. The north is known as the driest area in the world. Chile's geographical isolation (Andes Mountains to the west, desert to the north, ocean to the east and south) there are only a few of South American animals that have migrated there. (Source) There are pumas or cougars, llama-like guanaco, fox-like chilla, minks and a small deer called pudu. There are also rheas, opossums and of course, flamingos. The national bird of Chile is the Andean Condor. There are many species of birds in Chile as well. They also have many marine life like elephant seals, sea lions, Magellanic penguins, sea otters, blue, sperm and humpback whales and dolphins. (Source)

Andean Condor--National Bird of Chile
Source: By Keven Law from Los Angeles, USA (A real Condor moment...)
 [CC-BY-SA-2.0 or CC-BY-2.0], via Wikimedia Commons

Magellanic Penguins in Chile
Source: By Liam Quinn from Canada [CC-BY-SA-2.0], via Wikimedia Commons

 
This story begins like many of the Cinderella stories. There is a widower who lives with his only daughter. Her name is Maria. Like some of the other Cinderella tales, the fire goes out and the father sends Maria to the neighbor's house for some coals. While at the neighbor's house (who happens to be a widow) the neighbor insists on Maria resting and serving her honey soup. After such treatment, Maria begins to wake early and put the fire out, so she can go back to the neighbor's for some fire and honey soup. One day the neighbor suggests to Maria she should tell her father to marry the neighbor so she wouldn't bother her all the time for fire. The father is skeptical, but Maria talks him into it, but he does warn her she will regret it.

The stepmother then has a baby with Maria's father. He names the new baby girl, Maria, in honor of  his first daughter. As the stepsister grows up she becomes meaner. She tells her father to send the first Maria to the field as a shepherdess. He does this. One of the cows died while giving birth to a calf under Maria's care. Maria begins to mother the calf and raise it as her pet. The stepsister gets annoyed and tells her mother that they should make Maria do more work like spinning. The stepmother takes the wool to Maria and tells her to spin it or she will pay with her head.

Maria begins to cry, but the calf tells her not to and offers to spin the wool. They arrange the spindle over the calf's horns and the calf is able to spin the wool for Maria. The stepmother continues to give Maria wool to spin and the calf continues to spin it for her. The stepsister begins to get suspicious and goes to spy on Maria and the calf. She gets angry to see the calf doing all the work and tells her mother they must kill the calf.

The stepsister pretends to be sick and won't get better without eating the meat of Maria's calf. The father kills the calf. The stepmother takes the intestines and cuts them into even slices. She tells Maria to take them to the stream to wash them and not to lose one bit of them. She has measured and counted them. A eagle takes off with a piece of it and now Maria is sure she is done for and cries even harder than she was with grief over the loss of her calf. She tries to follow the eagle and comes to a cottage where a woman is coming out. The woman asks Maria why she is crying. Maria tells her about the eagle who is now in the treetop near the house. The woman tells Maria to care for her children and to do some cleaning while she goes to mass and she will help her when she returns. Maria does as asked and more. The woman is very happy when she returns and gives Maria some intestine that she has plus a magic wand that will grant her anything she wants, but she is to show it to no one. Then she gives her instructions for the way home to look up and down at certain animal sounds. When Maria arrives home there is a gold star on her forehead. Maria does not know it and her stepmother tells her she is a dirty disgrace and covers her head in dirty rags.

The stepsister is jealous of the beautiful gold star and schemes to get one of her own. So she and her mother put together a plan to have the stepsister do the same things. The stepmother pretends to be sick and will not get better without eating the stepsister's calf. The father kills it. The stepmother takes the intestines and has her daughter go wash them with the same instructions. An eagle takes a piece again and she follows the eagle to the cottage. The woman is walking out and they have a similar conversation though the instructions are very different to do while she is at mass. She tells the stepsister to beat her children and to gather all the junk around the house to be burned in the oven. The woman comes home and asks if it is all done. Then she gives the stepsister a piece of intestine and the opposite instructions about going home. The stepsister ends up with a big hunk of burro dung on her head. The mother is upset when she gets home with it and wraps her daughter's head in beautiful silks.

The stepmother always went to church with her daughter on Sunday. Maria wondered why she could never go. She used her magic wand to have a fine coach, horse and coachman as well as a new dress to wear to mass. Maria knelt down near her stepmother and sister and the stepsister thought she recognized her, but her mother told her she was being silly. Maria left right at the end of mass and waved the wand to have everything back to normal before the stepmother and stepsister returned home. The next Sunday was the same except that Maria caught the eye of prince as she was leaving the church.

The following week the prince ordered his servants to stand guard and to stop Maria before she left. One of guards caught her foot, but all he got was her golden slipper and Maria rode off home. The guards combed the town looking for a noblewoman that the slipper fit, but could not find anyone. The prince set out to the country to find her. The stepmother dressed her daughter in her finery and told Maria to hide in the corner since she was in no condition to receive a prince. She told her to get inside the oven while the visitors were there.

The stepsister happened to have the same size foot as Maria, so the slipper went on easily. The prince was ready to marry her when a dog began to bark a rhyme about the burro dung on her head and the gold star was the one he wanted. One of the servants caught what the dog said and mentioned it to the prince. The stepmother tried to chase the dog away and explain it was just a nuisance, but the prince insisted on searching the house and finally found Maria in the oven. Maria told the prince the slipper was hers and that her stepsister and she have identical feet, but asked if her stepsister could produce the companion slipper. Maria went to wash up and used her wand again to be dressed the same as last Sunday and brought the companion slipper to the prince. He now knew she was his wife. The servants pulled the other Maria from the prince's saddle and beat her a bit.

The prince asked Maria to climb into his saddle and she refused since burro dung had sat there. The prince took Maria and her father on other horses for a beautiful wedding. 

This story reminds me of the Spanish American Cinderella tale called, Little Gold Star. I am sure they have the same source at some point. One of the things I have noticed about the Hispanic fairy tales is the importance of the church, God and Holy Family. One of the three seem to play an important part in each one.

Fairy Tales in Different Cultures--Blanca Rosa and the Forty Thieves: a Chilean Snow White Tale

In honor of Hispanic Heritage Month, I am going to share a few of the fairy tales from Hispanic areas of the world during the month. Today we will visit Chile to hear a version of Snow White, it is called Blanca Rosa and the Forty Thieves and I found it translated in English in Folktales of Chile edited by Yolando Pino-Saavedra and translated by Rockwell Gray. This is a story I shared with Hazel and we colored a Chilean flag together, but did not do any other craft.

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Before we get to the story, let's look at Chile a bit. It is officially the Republic of Chile and is in South America. It is a long narrow strip between the Andes Mountains and the Pacific Ocean. (For more info on life in the Andes visit my post here.) It is one of two South American countries that does not border Brazil.It also claims several islands and part of Antarctica. (Source) The country is more than 2700 miles long which is about the distance from San Francisco to New York City and its width never exceeds 150 miles wide. This makes the length more than 18 times the widest part of the country. (Source)

View Larger Map

To the north Chile is desert and to the south it is mountainous with volcanoes and lakes and twisting peninsulas. The small central part of the country is where the majority of the population and agricultural resources are. In the desert there is high amounts of copper as well as other mineral wealth. 

Coloring Page Source: World Flag Coloring Pages

Prior to the 16th century Spanish arrival, northern and central Chile were under Inca rule and southern Chile was inhabited by the independent Mapuche. In 1818, Chile gained its independence from Spain. Today Chile is one of South America's most stable and prosperous countries. (Source)

Now onto our story. I found the similarities to so many of other versions of Snow White interesting. From the title, Blanca Rosa and the Forty Thieves we see the similarity to the Egyptian version that also had forty thieves.

In this story, the mother has recently died and left her daughter, who looked just like her mother, a magic mirror in which she could still see her mother and converse with her. The daughter's name is Blanca Rosa, which means White Rose. The father remarries and the stepmother thinks she is the most beautiful woman in the world and gets upset that Blanca Rosa spends all her time talking to her mirror. She takes the mirror from her and asks the mirror who is the most beautiful woman in the world. The mirror tells her it is Blanca Rosa. The woman gets very angry and orders servants to kill Blanca Rosa. The men take Blanca Rosa away and abandon her. A little old man helps her. 

The mother asks the mirror again and learns that Blanca Rosa is alive and find the little old man. She demands he kill her and bring her Blanca Rosa's eyes and tongue. The old man has a dog with blue eyes which he kills instead and brings the dog's eyes and tongue on a silver platter to the stepmother, but also sends Blanca Rosa into the woods on her own.

Blanca Rosa has a horrible time surviving until she finds the hideout of forty thieves. She is high in a tree when they leave and she drops down and discovers all sorts of jewels, treasures and food. All she cares about is the food. She helps herself and then goes back to the tree top to sleep. The thieves arrive home and wonder who has been through their hideout. The leader has one man stay behind the next day. This man watches as this beautiful woman comes down from heaven and is sure it is the Virgin Mary as he has never seen anyone so beautiful in his life. He is sure she is there to have them repent their sins of stealing. He runs to find the others in his group. They do not believe him and the next day, the leader has five men stay behind. All five have the same story as the first and finally the leader stays behind and meets Blanca Rosa. She tries to tell them she is not the Virgin Mary, but they do not believe her and they dress her with beautiful gowns and jewels. They give her whatever she wants. 

There is a rumor in the village about a beautiful woman living with forty thieves, but the stepmother refuses to believe it. She decides to ask the mirror though her question again. Again the answer is Blanca Rosa. The stepmother hires a sorceress to kill her stepdaughter once and for all. The sorceress dresses as an old poor woman and tries to give Blanca Rosa a basket of fruit to thank her for past kindness. Blanca Rosa refuses it since the thieves give her whatever her heart contents. The old woman asks to at least be able to touch her dress and hair. Blanca Rosa allows her and the old woman jabs her with a needle in her hair. The thieves come home to find Blanca Rosa dead or at least they thought she was. The put her in many beautiful clothes and jewels and into a casket made of silver and gold and sent it in the ocean. 

A prince who loves to fish was out fishing and sees the sparkle in the water and asks other fisherman to help him get it. He brings it home. He lives with his two old maid sisters, so he takes it directly to his own room. There he opens the casket to see Blanca Rosa, the most beautiful woman he has ever seen and she is dressed in such riches. He slowly takes off all her jewelry and clothing trying to find what could have stopped her breathing. Once she is naked he combs her hair and find the needle. He takes out the needle and immediately Blanca Rosa comes to live and is very confused waking to be naked with a strange man. She asks where her thieves are and he tries to explain what has happened. She just wants her thieves, so he sticks the needle back in and goes to think about what to do. His sisters are curious as to what he is doing in his room since he does not come out even for meals.

He wakes Blanca Rosa up again and tells her he could not find her thieves, but asks her to stay with him and marry him. He tells her that she does not have to leave her room if she does not want to. She agrees and does not leave the room. One day while the prince was out on business, the sisters break into the room to see what their brother has been up to and they find Blanca Rosa. They strip her of all her jewelry and fine clothes and throw her into the street naked. She wanders until she finds a kind cobbler who takes her in. The prince comes home to find his love gone and he goes and wanders aimlessly looking for her. He finds her and joyfully brought her back and began preparations for their wedding. He punished his sisters with a horrible death. The forty thieves came to the wedding at Blanca Rosa's instance and of course brought her many gifts. Blanca Rosa and the prince lived their lives happily together. 

As you can see there are some similarities to several versions, the fruit and the needle. Sending her in her casket to wander around aimlessly is similar to the Egyptian one, the Algerian one, and the Moroccan one. It is interesting to see how the versions are similar and how they differ.

I will be sharing this at the Multicultural Kid Blogs Hispanic Heritage Month Blog Hop and Giveaway. I hope you will join us at it as well and also visit all the great ideas linked up there! Remember each post shared is an entry for the amazing prizes and for those who do not have something to share, there is another way to enter!