“The Cute Little Cockroach”

La Cucarachita

Original version by Cecilia Böhl de Faber, a.k.a. Fernán Caballero

Adapted by Prof. Constancia

illustrated by Jodie Aznar

There was once a fine little cockroach, she was bright and curious, caring and careful, adored by all who had the pleasure to know her. One day she was sweeping the outside steps to her house and she found a silver dollar. She thought to herself: ¿Qué haré con esto? What shall I do with this silver dollar? Shall I buy some turrón? Ay que rico. But no, I shall not for they are much too hard on my teeth.

Shall I buy some pasteles de guayaba? Mmmmmm…yummy. But no, I don’t want to overdo it with la azúcar. She thought about it long and hard and finally decided to go to the store downtown. Once there, she bought unos preciosos pendientes de plata. That’s Spanish for a precious pair of silver earrings.

She washed and combed her hair. She got dressed, put on a little colorete on her cheeks and sat down by la ventana. Since she was so delicate, emanating a certain serenidad about her and looked so beautiful, everyone who walked by the window of her house could not help but fall in love with her.

Un lobo passed by and said: “Exquisite one so fair…today you truly are a breath of fresh air.” To this she replied, you must have noticed my preciosos pendientes de plata.

–Cucarachita, ¿Te casas conmigo? Would you like to marry me? said el lobo.

–¿Why should I fall in love with you?—Cucarachita responded.

–The wolf began to howl… , Cucarachita only covered her ears with both patas.

–You can go your own way—she said to el lobo. You startle me, you surprise me and you scare me.

The same thing happened with un perro that barked.

Un gato that meowed,

Un cochino that grunted,

And un gallo that cockadoodled.

All of the suitors caused Cucarachita to run away: she accepted none.

Until one day Ratoncito Pérez, showed up, well dressed, with two other mouse friends, three little guitarritas, and without even asking, began to sing una serenata to Cucarachita.

The frogs, crickets and one centipede that was slowly walking…stopped and took a look at the performance. (Music: Happy Enchilada by Thomas Glenn Smith. You can listen at the TeachThemSpanish.com website)

Mi mami told me a story regarding that song, Happy Enchilada. That was the song that played…in the taxi…when mi mami and mi papi eloped…What a beautiful song.

He talked with her, she talked with him and soon they came to understand each other as he wooed her with his peaceful heart. In just a few weeks, Cucarachita, gave her hand in marriage to Ratoncito Pérez.

They lived enamorados, in love, feliz, and happily, a love like this had not been seen since forever. And, they lived with amor like this for many many years.

But one day Cucarachita, who was now a lot older went to mass by herself, because Ratoncito Perez was not well. He decided to stay home and rest.

After she placed the soup pot on the burner, she gave Ratoncito Pérez a warning that he should stir el asopao or soup with a big ladel and not the smaller one. But Ratoncito Pérez did the opposite of what his wife told him to do. He took the small spoon to stir el asopao and that is when her biggest fears came true. Ratoncito Pérez in his senile state, fell to the pot, as if sinking into a well and there he drowned.

When Cucarachita returned to her house, she called to the door. Nobody answered, nobody came to the door. Then she took her small key that she carried in her bag, placed the key in the keyhole, opened the lock and the door, and she ran straight for the kitchen. She took one look at the pot and there he was. How painful! Ratoncito Perez was floating around in the broth.

Cucarachita began to cry and cry. Pajarito came over to see what was wrong.

–Why are you crying?

–She responded.

–Because Ratoncito Perez without his glasses fell in the pot.

–Well I Pajarito, will cry with you just a little…and Cucarachita cried a lot.

Then came Paloma, and said:

–¿Why are you crying Pajarito?

–Because Ratoncito Pérez, without his glasses, fell in the pot, and Cucarachita feels sad and is crying a lot.

–Well I, Paloma, will cry for a little while with you and a little while longer with Señora de Pérez.

–Then asked the well:

–¿Why Paloma, are you crying?

–Because Ratoncito Pérez, without his glasses, fell in the pot, and Cucarachita feels sad and is crying a lot. Pajarito cried a little and I, Paloma, cried a little with Pajarito and a lot more with Señora.

–Well, I Fuente will cry even louder and I will never stop the flow of my water.

–Then along came Doña Josefa to fill the pitcher.

–¿Why Fuente...do you let your water overflow so?

–And…what is with all of this crying?

–Because Ratoncito Pérez without his glasses, fell in the pot, and Cucarachita de Pérez feels very sad and cries a lot. Pajarito cried for a little while. Paloma cried even more with the two of them, and I Fuente will cry even louder and will allow my water to overflow more and more each hour…

–Well I, Doña Josefa, will try and find the words of a prophet:

Now that I am aware of what is going on, and it is my turn to sing this song, I will end this sadness for once and for all.

With a prayer for poor Ratoncito Pérez, who fell in the pot; and for Cucarachita who feels sorry and cries a lot. May he rest in peace. Now we must all console Cucarachita de Pérez with love and care, knowing that Ratoncito Pérez now with San Pedro is at rest. He will not miss his glasses. He is now happy and at his best.

And so it was. The crying in the village soon began to diminish and in poor Cucarachita de Pérez’s face we soon began to see a glimpse of a smile. If you look at her carefully you may begin to see it too. Do you?

Snip, snap, snout, my tale is all told out.

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I always liked this story…

The very first story I heard must have been “La Hormiguita” by Fernán Caballero (1796-1877). I have wonderful memories and images of this story. This story has been adapted since it was first published in Spain in the 19th century. It has been passed down from generation to generation, from country to country and now belongs to everyone. Every one of us makes the changes that most closely resembles our interpretation of the story and our interpretation of life, which can be the highest art form there is.

I took the liberty of making a few changes. First of all, I like to make her into a cute little cockroach because it is a bit therapeutic to the children who are in terror of them. With a little laughter that terror has a chance of diminishing.

To the happy couple I added a few years also because I think that it would be nice to give them both a nice long well lived life. To give hope to the next generation that you can find love on this earth and not lose it at such a young age. (As in the original version). This is also a natural way of teaching the child the concept of mortality. Just about every child at nine or ten is dealing with this concept, and trying to understand. To me, personally, it is important to give hope to a young one, to let him know that we continue to exist but in another form, whether that be in Heaven with god, or to be welcomed by Saint Peter or as they say “the never never land.” I think that this hope is planted at an early age. It becomes idealism or positive thinking in adulthood. But it is an early seed in childhood that must be nourished.

The birds and pigeons in this version do not get to cut their beaks, nor their tales, etc. (does not seem appropriate…) but on the contrary I thought it would be more productive to demostrate that it is o.k. to cry, and the support that they want to give each other is touching. There is much about the sense of life that can be learned from a story.

Many have changed the ending to the story. There are versions that exist where the mouse does not die at the end. But I think the lady prophet at the end may help in leading the way to closure to the tragedy. It is good to believe that things always do seem to work out at the end, no matter what.

I hope you like it.

If you like this story, please share with your friends, especially the little ones. Let us know if you would like to see this story published. In fact, if you know of a publishing company that could be interested we are accepting offers to publish this story. Please write to us at: TeachThemSpanish@gmail.com