The Singing Satchel / El Zurrón que Cantaba

by Fernán Caballero, Paul Blair (Editor)

This is a dual language short the second in a series of traditional short stories from Spain, available in both Spanish and English, designed to provide the student studying either language with an engaging vehicle for language learning and practice.Improve your Spanish while enjoying a traditional folk tale from Spain. This is one of the most popular Spanish short it tells of a young girl who is kidnapped by a ragged beggar and forced to help him make money with his magical, singing satchel. How did it happen that an impoverished old man came upon such a wonderous treasure? Find out in this short story.Dual-language books are an ideal way to gain mastery of Spanish language by trying to first read the story in Spanish, and then looking at the 'answers' in the English translation at the same time. Once your Spanish reaches a higher level, these stories can be read by switching between the Spanish and English versions every paragraph (for read the first paragraph in English to get the idea, then only read the second paragraph in Spanish, then go back to the English for the third paragraph, etc.). The ultimate goal is to be able to read an entire story in Spanish, just 'peeking' at a few word translations in English when needed. Having the expertly-translated English text available at all times greatly enhances reading pleasure as it obviates the need for a dictionary and the accompanying tedium of looking up potentially numerous unknown words and idiomatic expressions.After spending sufficient time reading dual-language books from our ever-expanding collection, you will become quite fluent in your second language while also learning a great deal about the cultures of the people from the countries where the language is natively spoken.

14 pages, Kindle Edition

First published October 16, 2010

About the author

Cecilia Francisca Josefa Böhl de Faber y Ruiz de Larrea, under the pen name Fernán Caballero, wrote about the folklore of rural Andalusia.

Her father was Johann Nikolaus Böhl und Lütkens (Juan Nicolás Böhl de Faber), a German businessman, married with Spanish Frasquita Larrea, who converted to Roman Catholicism and instaled on 1813 in Andalusia, his wife's native land.

In 1816 Cecilia married Antonio Planells, an infantry officer who was killed in action just a year later. In 1822 she married the Marqués de Arco Hermoso. He died in 1835, leaving Cecilia widowed for a second time. In 1837 she married a much younger man, Antonio de Ayala, who committed suicide in 1859.

Cecilia had to publish her writings to help her desperate situation and improve her income. Her first and best-known novel, "La gaviota" was a great success. It is considered one of the first examples of the literary spanish movement "costumbrismo".

She was a very popular writer in Spain for many years. Her death was considered a great loss to the Spanish community.