OTE: A Puerto Rican Folk Tale
By
Right smack on the jacket, poor Ote's got a devil on his back. . . and you've got a hit on your hands. Warned not to let the nearsighted devil tempt him, Ote (truly the fool of the world) reaches from behind the devil into his food bowl and finds himself caught, forced to carry the devil home and feed him. The devil has a spell that makes the family fall down at mealtime but the wise old woman beyond the hill has another to counter it--if only Ote will remember not to eat first and forget the words. His smallest child Chiquitin is the hero of this tale: hiding behind Ote and matching his strides, he brings the words back to bury the devil under ""a trail of smoke and a heavy smell of sulphur."" Pungent, and the pictures add to the pleasure.