A Poor Man Nearly Kissed Her

I’ve just posted another translation/retelling of a Mexican folktale over at *Ephemera*: A Poor Man Nearly Kissed Her (Ya mero la besa un pobre) — A poor shepherd aspires to marry a princess. The problem is, she intends to marry the richest man in the land. What can the shepherd do? Maybe those three strange glowing stones he acquired can help him out. The title of this tale comes from a Mexican idiomatic expression, Ya mero la besa un pobre, nomás la pared divide: literally, “A poor man almost kissed her, but the wall divided them.” Often, the expression is shortened to just the first half. It basically means “almost, but not quite.” One might say it about an unattainable person or other object of desire. Or, when you’ve tried to accomplish a goal, and nearly gotten there, but come up just a little short. Equivalent English expressions might be “So close, and yet so far…” or “Close, but no cigar!” The hero of the story actually uses the expression, when he’s locked in a room next…