This is a story about the dolphins, bufeos. Take it with a grain of salt – it is the story as I understood it, which may not be the same as the story that was told me.
There once was a man who wanted to kill a manatee. All night, he waited and waited, harpoon in hand. But when he finally threw the weapon, he did not hit a manatee – instead, he hit one of many dolphins that were swimming around agitatedly.
He pulled back his harpoon, but the tip was left behind in the creature’s back.. Since his harpoon was ruined, he went home.
“Did you catch the manatee?” asked his wife, who wanted to cook the beast.
“No,” replied the man. “I harpooned a dolphin by accident.”
“Oh, ok,” said his wife.
They went to sleep. But at 2 a.m., there was a knock at the door.
“Police!” came the voice from the threshold.
The man went to his door.
“You are under arrest,” said the two officers.
“But why?” asked the man.
“For assault and torture of a doctor,” said the police. “You are coming with us.”
The man protested that he had harpooned a dolphin that evening but had not hurt a human being, but the officers were insistent. He was handcuffed and led to the their boat, and told that they were going to the hospital in Iquitos, where he could see the victim.
The boat was swallowed by a whirlpool as they were traveling. At the bottom, they came to a beautiful city, full of lights. They went to the hospital, and there they saw the doctor – a big tall white man with really broad shoulders. The doctor had the tip of a harpoon embedded in his back. The officers gave the fisherman a knife and told him to cut the spear point out of the doctor’s back, and he did so.
They were then going to take him to the court. Figuring he was in trouble so he might as well enjoy what he could, the man took out some tobacco, rolled a cigarette, and began to smoke. Now, tobacco is a friend to man, but dolphins detest it. The people demanded he put it out, but he simply blew the smoke and replied that if he was under arrest, he was going to enjoy a cigarette before he went to jail. Pretty soon, all the people began vomiting spectacularly – the doctor, the police, everyone.
The man ran away and was able to get on the police boat. He started back for his own home, but as he traveled, still smoking, the boat and everything on it regained its true form. The boat itself was a crocodile! The paddle was an anaconda! The benches were turtles. Nevertheless, the man gained the surface of the water, leaving the city, and returned to his own home. He went to bed and later awoke there, as if from a dream.
The End
– The Private Eye
The Professor and the Private Eye: Adventures Abroad 