Carmen Naranjo
Like Pastor in Carmen Lyra’s “Pastor’s Ten Little Old Men,” don Fulminante, also known as the Fulminating Fib, is a storyteller. Carmen Naranjo’s tale about this character, “Believe it or Not,” is the opening story in Costa Rica: A Traveler’s Literary Companion. Don Fulminante, who tells his stories in La Fortuna, begins each tale with, “You’ll never believe this…”
From his story about killing a guan, three rabbits, a deer, and eight fish with one shot to his story about how he earned the nickname “Lord of the Frogs,” don Fulminante brings happiness to his community with his storytelling:
…when a lie is an obvious exaggeration, it’s as welcome as fresh fruit on a hot day. It spreads happiness, and that acknowledges what great tales don Fulminante told us. He would repeat old favorites without sparing any details or expressions.
Carmen Naranjo, of course, is a storyteller herself. She is the author of many books of poetry and fiction, including There Never Was a Once Upon a Time. Her stories can be found in Latin American anthologies And We Sold the Rain, When New Flowers Bloomed, Short Stories by Latin American Women: The Magic and the Real, and Women’s Fiction from Latin America.
Photo Credit: Benjamin Keen / CC by SA-3.0
Source: Ras, Barbara, ed. Costa Rica: A Traveler’s Literary Companion. San Francisco: Whereabouts, 1994.
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