Pura Belpré's second collection of folktales, following upon The Tiger and the Rabbit and Other Tales, Once in Puerto Rico contains sixteen stories taken from the indigenous Taino and settler Spanish traditions of the author's native island. A brief introduction outlines the history of "Boriquen" (The Land of Brave Men), originally settled by Arawak Indians from South America, then colonized by the Spaniards under Christopher Columbus - a violent, and often tragic process that eventually resulted in the mixed culture of modern-day Puerto Rico.

The selections presented here range from pourquoi tales like The Legend of the Royal Palm, which tells of the Taino singer Milomaki, whose fame aroused the jealousy of the gods, leading to his persecution at the hands of his fellow men, and his eventual transformation (as a means of escape) into the first Royal Palm; to historical legends such those recorded in the Three Tales of Old San Juan, explaining how The Chapel on Cristo Street came to be built, how The Cistern of San Cristóbal reclaimed its stone figure, and how The Rogativa saved San Juan from the invading English in 1797.

A few of these stories, like The Legend of the Hummingbird - a "Romeo and Juliet" type tale, in which a Taino girl and Carib boy fall in love, and are eventually transformed into a red flower and a hummingbird - were already known to me, through other retellings, but this was my first encounter with the majority of the tales in Once in Puerto Rico. I was fascinated by Amapola and the Butterfly, which tells of a young woman who almost comes to a terrible end when she is tricked by the forest witch - in the guise of a butterfly - into entering the dangerous caves up in the hills. The narrative concludes with the information that mothers still use this story to warn their children away from the caves, and I found myself thinking of Little Red Riding Hood, another cautionary tale meant to keep children out of danger.

Many of the tales here are set during the tumultuous early days of Spanish settlement, and while some turn out better than others, there is a terrible note of violence to them. Yuisa and Pedro Mexias, another cross-cultural love story, involves a Taino woman and Spanish man who fight together against a Carib invasion, Iviahoca concerns a Taino woman who must carry a message from Don Diego de Salazar to Don Ponce de León, in order to free her captive son, and The Legend of the Ceiba of Ponce presents the story of a group of Taino who are saved from the pursuing Spaniards by a massive Ceiba tree.

Here are marvels like The Little Blue Light, which saves a group of Franciscan friars from massacre, or The Miracle of Hormigueros, in which a young girl lost in the mountains of western Puerto Rico is saved by our Lady of Montserrate. Here is the trickster Pedro Animala, who, in Pedro Animala and the Carrao Bird, manages to convince a housewife that his bird can foretell the future, and here is hidden treasure and a restless spirit, in Pablo and the Pirate's Ghost. Finally, the selections also include Guani, a charming Taino tale in which a simple shepherd is given a flute by the Spirit of the Cave, and the humorous The Parrot Who Wouldn't Say Cataño, in which a sailor finally gets his bird to do what he wants, by giving him away.

I enjoyed Once in Puerto Rico immensely, from the historical legends of Old San Juan (I've visited San Cristóbal!) to the tales set in the highland rainforest, which reminded me of our trip to El Yunque. I also learned a little something, about the history and culture of Puerto Rico. I'm glad I requested this through inter-library loan, and look forward to reading Belpré's earlier anthology. ( )