A housefly breaks ‘la pata del Grampo’
Una mañanita Canutito got up un poco tarde. Como siempre, he wandered over pa’ la cocina where he saw Grama Cuca sitting there en su silleta tomándose una copa de café. He came closer adónde estaba su grama y cuando ella hizo feel que there was someone else en el cuarto, she asked, “¿Quién es?”
“What’s the matter, grama?” Canutito asked her. “Are you blind?” Pero el minuto que he had asked her si estaba ciega ,he looked at her glasses and saw que estaban bien empañãos with the steam de su café.
“You’d better wipe your glasses, antes de hacer get up de la silleta, grama,” Canutito told her, “otherwise you might trip y caerse.”
“You are so right, m’hijo,” Grama Cuca said, removing her glasses y limpiándoselos en su delantar. Es un poco dangerous de andar walking around sin poder ver bien. Pero sometimes, even when you can see well, todavía puedes trompezar. I remember una vez cuando yo estaba chiquita que I was running to school pa’ pescar el bós and I tripped en una gallina and I fell flat en el zoquete.”
“Really, grama?” Canutito asked her. “Did you really trip on a chicken, while trying to catch the school bus and fall bien flate in the mud? Not only that, m’hijo, When I fell en el zoquete, I broke mis dos muñecas y cuando llegué a la escuela, estaban las dos bien swollen.”
“I don’t understand, grama,” Canutito said. “What are ‘muñecas’? — I thought que they were ‘dolls’.”
“Muñecas does mean ‘dolls’, m’hijo,” Grama Cuca replied, “pero ‘muñecas’ can also mean ‘wrists’. I broke mis wrists all because trompezé con una gallina.”
“My goodness, grama!” Canutito exclaimed. “What did you do?”
“Pues,” said Grama Cuca, I was en tanto dolor que I had to go a ver a la nodriza. The school nurse me examinó and then she took me a ver al Doctor Domínguez. Él me encalotó las dos muñecas.”
“Uh grama,” Canutito stammered, “what does ‘me encalotó las muñecas’ mean?”
“Eso hace mean que the doctor put plaster casts on both my wrists,” she replied.
“It must have sounded real strange cuando el doctor found out que una gallina was responsible for breaking your wrists, grama,” Canutito teased.
As Canutito was speaking, Grampo Caralampio happened to come inside la cocina y oyó what he was saying. He chimed in, “Uuu, eso no es nada, m’hijo,” he began. “A chicken might have broken las muñecas de tu grama, pero I can top that: una vez un mosco me quebró una pata a mí.”
“Now I know you are teasing me,” Canutito replied. “Grampo, ¿cómo es posible for a fly to have broken your foot? I’m sure que no trompezó en un mosco.”
“Well, let me tell you,” dijo su grampo, sentándose a tomar café. “Un día when I was sitting at this very table. I was trying to drink my morning coffee. I tried to swat him con el periódico but that housefly was too fast. I couldn’t get him.”
“How did you catch a ese mosco, grampo?” Canutito asked him.
“Pues, m’hijo,” Grampo Caralampio said, “I watched al mosco volando until he finally stopped en el globo de la luz. I spotted him there en el light bulb and so I slowly stood en la silleta con el newspaper en la mano. I whacked the fly yal mismo tiempo the chair slipped under me and I fell de puro fregaso on the floor y me quebré la pata.
“It must have been real hard to explain to the doctor cómo un mosco le quebró la pata, ¿qué no, grampo?” Canutito asked.
“At least mi gallina era más grande que tu mosco,” grama teased.