THE MAID OF DON AMPARO
By: Diego Cerveza (April 15, 2013)
There once lived a man named Don
Amparo who resided in a house often frequented by guests. These guests would
indulge themselves in his food and his company before staying the night in one
of his magnificent rooms. In order to cope with the various persons who brought
with them a most peculiar set of wants, Don Amparo hired himself a maid named Kuting
– a woman well versed in the art of cooking, cleaning, and caressing. Of all
her lovely traits, it was this last one of caressing that endeared her to him,
securing for her a job that would never be under threat.
Things
would have been swell and the pair would have lived happily ever after but
alas, like all good women, Kuting had in her a deep and wretched flaw. She had
what is known as an obsession with shiny things – not just any shiny object but
only those that were already possessed by another. And though in most people’s
books she would automatically qualify as a thief, her master only saw her as
his kind and faithful servant. True, she would pilfer rings, watches, jewelled
mirrors, and other belongings owned by the unwitting guests of Don Amparo but
that did not change the fact that she also cooked, cleaned and caressed – who
could stay mad at a woman like that?
And
so life continued in this manner without much fuss. Food would be cooked, the
house would be cleaned, Don Amparo would be caressed, and items would go
missing. At times, the guests would directly complain to Don Amparo of the
wretched behaviour of his most trusted employee but he turned a deaf ear and
refused to do anything – as far as he was concerned, he would rather lose his
guests than lose his maid.
