The Day It Rained Tortillas

The Day It Rained Tortillas

A long time ago, a woodcutter lived in New Mexico. He loved to talk and tell tall tales. He talked to his wife. He talked to his neighbors. He talked to everyone in town. When he ran out of people to talk to, he talked to his goat and mule. One day, the woodcutter found three bags of gold in the forest and took them home. His wife quickly figured out that so much gold could only belong to robbers. She worried that they would find her husband.

" Don't worry, " the woodcutter said, grinning. " I only told the baker, the butcher, the fish seller, the candlestick maker, and her daughter, " he added. “ Ay! You talk too much. Now the robbers will know we're the ones who have their gold, " his wife wailed. " We really need that gold to fix our broken roof, " she added. So, she came up with a plan.

First, she told the woodcutter to hurry into town and buy one hundred pounds of flour. Meanwhile, she buried the coins in the backyard. When he returned, she told him the gold disappeared. She explained that she had left the gold on the porch while thinking of a good place to stash it. Someone must have snatched it then.

After her husband went to bed, she cooked pile after pile of tortillas. Then she threw them all around the house. Tortillas covered the floors, were spread on the kitchen table, and hung from the curtains!

In the morning, the woodcutter awoke to see tortillas all over his bed. One even sat on top of his head! His wife yawned, stretched, and then exclaimed, “ Ay! It rained tortillas last night. They must have come down through the broken roof. " " Tortillas! How can that be?" the woodcutter asked.