Canutito learns about ‘los obituarios’
Esa mañana, when Canutito got up, ya el grampo y la grama were sitting en la cocina looking at the newspaper. Estaban hablando about people Canutito didn’t recognize pero los dos seemed shocked por lo que estaban leyendo. Grampo Caralampio was saying: “¡Mira nomás! Yo lo conocí desde que comía greve blanco; we were buddies since we were drinking baby bottle milk.” And Grama Cuca was saying: “Yo iba pa’la escuela con ésta. Siempre era muy buena conmigo; that girl and I were in school together and she was very nice to me.” Canutito sneaked over pa’la mesa donde estaban and he peaked para ver what they were looking at. No habían any pictures en el periódico, just words in boxes.
Canutito nudged in entre medio del grampo y la grama and he asked them: “¿Qué están leyendo? Are these people personas famosas?”
“¡Ay, m’hijo!” Grama Cuca cried out toda startled. “You almost scared the living daylights out of me; ¡yo pensé que eras uno de los muertos!”
“Why would you think que yo era una dead person, grama?” Canutito asked.
“¡Ay, m’hijo! Grampo Caralampio stammered. “We were just reading todos los obituarios aquí en el newspaper and thinking about qué tanta gente se ha muerto here within the last two weeks! Pero lo que nos preocupaba was the fact that most of them grew up en la escuela con nosotros and now they are all gone. Cada día we are getting closer y luego soon va a ser our turn de tirar la vuelta; kick the bucket.”
“Pero, I don’t want you to die!” Canutito shouted, llorando at the thought.
“Ay, m’hijo,” said Grama Cuca, hugging him. “No me voy a morir mañana or next week o falta que no por munchos años. Pero it is all parte de la vida. Entonces es when I will go to heaven a esperarte a ti and when your time comes, yo voy a estar allí para abrirte la puerta and have your bed ready. La Biblia dice que there is a time and purpose para todas las cosas under heaven: un tiempo to be born y un tiempo para morir, un tiempo para reir and a time to cry. Canutito smiled sabiendo que whenever he got para el Cielo, Grama Cuca would already be there esperándolo.
Grampo Caralampio also noticed que el niño had gotten un poco de miedo so he thought de hacerle una adivinanza to take the edge off. He asked him: “M’hijo, ¿Qué será? Él lo hizo no lo quizo. Él que lo compró, no lo usó. Y el que lo usó, no lo vio.”
Canutito stopped to think por un momento y luego he translated: “What is it? The one who made it, didn’t want it. The one who bought it, didn’t use it. The one who used it, didn’t see it.” Pero try as he might, no podia saber what grampo was talking about. Finalmente, grampo said: “Es un cajón o un ataúd como dicen en España; a coffin donde descansan los cuerpos de las personas while their souls go up to heaven.
Es como una cradle for old people. Cuando somos babies tenemos una cuna and when we go, tenemos another cradle just like when we started living. Todo es muy natural.”
Canutito smiled. Ya no tenía miedo. Grampo Caralampio tenía una manera de consolarlo. Grampo said: “Yo tengo un amigo who works en el funeral home y cada vez that he shakes my hand, tengo la impresión que he is measuring me for a coffin. Una little voice en mi cabeza me dice: ‘Alright now, look alive, look alive!”
Canutito le dio un smile bien grande. He went pa’trás pa’su cuarto. He was whispering “There is a time para toda cosa debajo del Cielo; a time to de born y un tiempo para morir, a time to laugh y un tiempo para llorar …