HabloroShort Spanish story · A2 · Funny
Un pastel para cuarenta
A Cake for Forty. A short story in everyday Spanish, read aloud sentence by sentence. Tap any sentence for the English, keep the words you didn't know, and practice them below.
Un pastel para cuarenta
A Cake for Forty · 32 sentences · about 2 minutes of audio
Soy Lupita, y el sábado fue el cumpleaños de mi papá. Cumplió setenta años, y tuvimos una fiesta en su casa. Toda la familia llegó: cuarenta personas, más o menos.
Mis hermanos hicieron la comida, y yo tenía que pedir el pastel. Cada año, mi papá come solo un poco de pastel.
En la esquina hay una panadería y un puesto de tacos. El viernes en la noche, busqué el número en mi teléfono y llamé. Contestó un señor, con mucho ruido de fondo.
«¿Bueno? Sí, dígame.»
«Buenas noches, quiero pedir un pastel, por favor.»
«¿Un qué? No la oigo bien, señora.»
«No, señor: pastel, ¡pastel!»
«Ah, sí, claro. ¿Para cuántas personas?»
«Para cuarenta personas, para mañana a las cuatro.»
Luego el señor habló muy rápido, y no le entendí bien. Solo oí «cuarenta» y «mañana».
«Sí, sí, perfecto, ¡muchas gracias!»
El sábado, a las cuatro en punto, alguien tocó la puerta. Abrí, y ahí estaba un muchacho con una gorra blanca. Traía un trompo enorme de carne al pastor, con su piña arriba.
«¡Buenas tardes! ¿Dónde pongo el pastor para cuarenta?»
«¿Pastor? No, no, yo pedí un pastel.»
«Pues a ver, aquí dice pastor, señora.»
Detrás de él llegó otro muchacho con las tortillas y la salsa. No supe qué decir, y me puse roja. Entonces mi papá vio el trompo y se levantó de su silla. Sonrió como un niño.
«Mija, ¿esto lo pediste tú?»
«Sí, papá, bueno, más o menos.»
«Mija, nunca te lo dije, pero odio el pastel.»
«¡Este es el mejor cumpleaños de mi vida!»
Ahora ya sé qué voy a pedir el próximo año: pastor para cuarenta.
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What does Lupita order on the phone?
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Did you get it?
What does Lupita order on the phone?
Show the answer
She orders a cake (un pastel) for forty people. But the line is noisy, the man hears pastor, and a huge spit of al pastor meat for forty arrives instead.
Words and phrases from this story
| Spanish | English |
|---|---|
| pastel | cake |
| trompo | trompo |
| pastor | al pastor |
| ¿bueno? | hello? (on the phone) |
| mija | honey |
| más o menos | more or less |
| a ver | let's see |
| me puse roja | I turned red |
| en punto | sharp |
Pastel or pastor? Why phone calls are hard
The whole story turns on two words that differ by one sound: pastel (cake) and pastor (here, al pastor — pork cooked on a vertical spit called a trompo, with pineapple on top).
On a noisy phone line, your brain fills in the gaps with whatever it expects — in your own language too. That's why phone calls feel harder than talking face to face. Listen to sentences 10–14 again and notice how Lupita repeats the key word: «No, señor: pastel, ¡pastel!»
Also from this story: the man answers the phone with «¿Bueno?» — “Hello?” — and Lupita turns red: «me puse roja».
Full English translation
Show the whole story in English
I'm Lupita, and Saturday was my dad's birthday. He turned seventy years old, and we had a party at his house. The whole family came: forty people, more or less.
My brothers made the food, and I had to order the cake. Every year, my dad eats only a little bit of cake.
On the corner, there's a bakery and a taco stand. On Friday night, I looked up the number on my phone and called. A man answered, with a lot of noise in the background.
“Hello? Yes, go ahead.”
“Good evening, I'd like to order a cake, please.”
“A what? I can't hear you well, ma'am.”
“No, sir: a cake, a cake!”
“Ah, yes, sure. For how many people?”
“For forty people, for tomorrow at four.”
Then the man talked very fast, and I didn't understand him well. I only heard “forty” and “tomorrow.”
“Yes, yes, perfect, thank you so much!”
On Saturday, at four o'clock sharp, someone knocked on the door. I opened it, and there was a young man in a white cap. He was carrying a huge trompo of al pastor meat, with its pineapple on top.
“Good afternoon! Where do I put the al pastor for forty?”
“Pastor? No, no, I ordered a cake.”
“Well, let's see, it says pastor here, ma'am.”
Behind him came another young man with the tortillas and the salsa. I didn't know what to say, and I turned red. Then my dad saw the trompo and got up from his chair. He smiled like a little kid.
“Honey, did you order this?”
“Yes, Dad, well, more or less.”
“Honey, I never told you, but I hate cake.”
“This is the best birthday of my life!”
Now I know what I'm going to order next year: al pastor for forty.
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