Adaptation of a Caribbean Folk Tale

A boy named Pánfilo lived in a small indigenous community in Nicaragua. He had grown up without a father and had no siblings, so his mother, from a very young age, had indulged his every whim. As Panfilo got older he became a selfish, insolent and moody being who believed himself better than the others.

The boy disobeyed at home and did not respect anyone, not even his teachers. As if this were not enough, he always got into fights that, luckily for him, he came out the winner because he was taller and stronger than his opponents.

One day he faced a boy named Rufino and beat him when he punched him four times in the chest. The news spread like wildfire among the neighbors and reached his mother’s ears. The poor thing was very upset because she was fed up with her son being a boastful fool who was throwing his life away.

Determined to put an end to the situation, she left home and went to the cabin of a sorcerer who was famous for being a good fortune-teller and remedying all ills.

– Sir, I come for help. My son is a good boy, I know, but he is used to always having his way and he is going astray. If it continues like this, I am afraid that one day a tragedy will occur. What can I do?

The sorcerer, an old man with small eyes and tired eyes, stared into infinity for a few seconds. Then he said:

– Don’t worry, I’ll tell you what to do to solve this unpleasant problem.

He turned around, opened a thick burlap sack and took out a very rare stone with a pointed shape.

– Have this stone that the God of Thunder has thrown to the earth. It has magical powers! Put it in a large bucket filled with water. In the morning when your child wakes up, have him bathe with the water from the bucket. That’s it.

– I will do so. Thank you very much for attending me, sir.

The woman found the sorcerer’s method very strange, but at this point magic was the only hope she had left and she should at least try.

When he got home he followed the instructions step by step: he filled a huge cauldron that he kept in the attic, filled it to overflowing, and allowed the stone to sink and settle to the bottom.

Hours later, in the morning, he woke up the boy and invited him to take a refreshing bath in the huge basin. He did not know that it was part of a plan and since it was very hot, he accepted confidently. Then he had breakfast and went out to the streets to be lazy like every day.

He happened to come across Rufino and he didn’t have time to hit him. Pánfilo is in trouble again!

Yes, the same story again, but this time something happened that Pánfilo did not count on: for the first time he lost the fight and ended up defeated on the ground and full of bruises all over his body.

He had to crawl home with an excruciating headache. As he did so, he wondered how a skinny, clumsy guy like Rufino could have knocked him down so easily. He was a natural winner and no one had ever done it!

His mother felt very sorry when he showed up in pain and with a face of failure, but on the other hand she was happy because she understood that it had been because of the magical effect of the Thunder God stone! The boy deserved a good lesson and losing the fight would make him reflect !

The woman was not wrong. For a long time Pánfilo looked for a logical explanation for that defeat, but he never found it, she always kept quiet and kept the secret. The positive part of all this was that the boy realized that he had to change his attitude towards life, towards others and, first of all, with himself.

He promised his mother that things would change and since he was a good boy deep down, he succeeded. Pamfilo became a lovable young man who everyone began to respect but not for his strength, but for his good behavior.