Book: Filipino Popular Tales

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Poor Juan then began walking toward the country where the general
lived. Before he could reach that country, he had to cross three
mountains. While he was crossing the first mountain, a cat came
running after him, and knocked him down. He was so angry at the
animal, that he ran after it, seized it, and dashed its life out
against a rock. When he was crossing the second mountain, the same
cat appeared and knocked him down a second time. Again Juan seized the
animal and killed it, as before; but the same cat that he had killed
twice before tumbled him down a third time while he was crossing the
third mountain. Filled with curiosity, Juan caught the animal again:
but, instead of killing it this time, he put it inside the bag he
was carrying, and took it along with him.

After many hours of tiresome walking, Juan arrived at the castle of
the general, and knocked at the door. The general asked him what he
wanted. Juan answered, "I am a poor beggar, who will be thankful if I
can have only a mouthful of rice." The general, however, recognized
Juan. He called his servants, and said, "Take this wretched fellow
to the cell of rats."

The cell in which Juan was imprisoned was very dark; and as soon as
the door was closed, the rats began to bite him. But Juan did not
suffer much from them; for, remembering his cat, he let it loose. The
cat killed all the rats except their king, which came out of the hole
last of all. When the cat saw the king of the rats, it spoke thus:
"Now you shall die if you do not promise to get for Juan his magical
stone, which your master has stolen."

"Spare my life, and you shall have the stone!" said the king of
the rats.

"Go and get it, then!" said the cat. The king of the rats ran
quickly to the room of the general, and took Juan's magical stone
from the table.

As soon as Juan had obtained his stone, and after he had thanked the
king of the rats, he said to his stone, "Pretty stone, destroy this
house with the general and his subjects, and release my father-in-law
and wife from their prison."

Suddenly the earth trembled and a big noise was heard. Not long
afterwards Juan saw the castle destroyed, the general and his subjects
dead, and his wife and his father-in-law free.

Taking with him the cat and the king of the rats, Juan went home
happily with Maria his wife and the king his father-in-law. After the
death of the king, Juan ascended to the throne, and ruled wisely. He
lived long happily with his lovely wife.


Notes.

These two stories belong to the "Magic Ring" cycle, and are connected
with the well-known "Aladdin" tale. Antti Aarne (pp. 1-82) reconstructs
the original formula of this type, which was about as follows:--

A youth buys the life of a dog and a cat, liberates a serpent, and
receives from its parent a wishing-stone, by means of which he builds
himself a magnificent castle and wins as his wife a princess. But a
thief steals the stone and removes castle and wife over the sea. Then
the dog and the cat swim across the ocean, catch a mouse, and compel
it to fetch the stone from out of the mouth of the thief. Upon their
return journey, cat and dog quarrel, and the stone falls into the
sea. After they have obtained it again with the help of a frog,
they bring it to their master, who wishes his castle and wife back
once more.

In nearly every detail our stories vary from this norm: (1) The hero
does not buy the life of any animals, (2) he does not acquire the charm
from a grateful serpent that he has unselfishly saved from death, (3)
the dog does not appear at all, (4) castle and wife are not transported
beyond the sea, (5) the cat does not serve the hero voluntarily out
of gratitude, (6) the hero himself journeys to recover his stolen
charm. And yet there can be no doubt of the connection of our stories
with this cycle. The acquirement of a charm, through the help of which
the hero performs a difficult task under penalty of death, and thus
wins the hand of a ruler's daughter; the theft of the charm and the
disappearance of the wife; the search, which is finally brought to a
successful close through the help of a cat and the king of the rats;
the recovery of wife and charm, and the death of the hero's enemies,
these details in combination are unmistakable proofs.

Most of the characteristic details, however, of the "Magic Ring"
cycle are to be found in the Philippines, although they are lacking
in these two stories. For instance, in No. 26 the hero buys the life
of a snake for five cents, and is rewarded by the king of the serpents
with a magic wishing-cloth (cf. E. Steere, 403). In a Visayan pourquoi
story, "Why Dogs wag their Tails" (see JAFL 20 : 98-100), we have a
variant of the situation of the helpful dog and cat carrying a ring
across a body of water, the quarrel in mid-stream, and the loss of
the charm. In the same volume (pp. 117-118) is to be found a Tagalog
folk-version of the "Aladdin" tale. [35]

Neither "Juan Manalaksan" nor "Juan the Poor, who became Juan the
King," can be traced, I believe, to any of the hundred and sixty-three
particular forms of the story cited by Aarne. The differences in
detail are too many. The last part of Pedroso's Portuguese folk-tale,
No. xxx, is like (b), in that the hero himself seeks the thief, takes
along with him a cat, is recognized by the thief and imprisoned, and
by means of the cat threatens the king of the rats, who recovers the
charm for him. But the first part is entirely different: the charm
is an apple obtained from a hind, and the hero's wife is not stolen
along with the charm. No Spanish version has been recorded. It is not
impossible that the story in the Philippines is prehistoric. "Juan
Manalaksan," which the narrator took down exactly as it was told to
him, clearly dates back to a time when the tribe had its own native
datu government, possibly to a time even before the Pampangans migrated
to the Philippines. The whole "equipment" of this story is primitive to
a degree. Moreover, the nature of the charm in both stories--a piece
of glass and an oval stone instead of the more usual ring--points to
the primitiveness of our versions, as does likewise the fact that the
charm is not stolen from the hero by his wife, but by some other person
(see Aarne, pp. 43, 45).

For further discussions of this cycle of folk-tales, and its relation
to the Arabian literary version, see Aarne, 61 et seq. Compare also
Macculloch, 201-202, 237-238; Groome, 218-220; Clouston's "Variants
of Button's Supplemental Arabian Nights," pp. 564-575; Bolte-Polívka,
2 : 451-458; Benfey, 1 : 211 ff. Add to Aarne's and Bolte's lists
Wratislaw, No. 54. See also Dähnhardt, 4 : 147-160.

In conclusion, I may add in the way of an Appendix, as it were, a brief
synopsis of a Tagalog romance entitled "Story of Edmundo, Son of Merced
in the Kingdom of France; taken from a novela and composed by one who
enjoys writing the Tagalog language. Manila 1909." This verse-form of
a story at bottom the same as our two folk-tales is doubtless much
more recent than our folk-tales themselves, and is possibly based
on them directly, despite the anonymous author's statement as to the
unnamed novela that was his source. In the following summary of the
"Story of Edmundo," the numbers in parentheses refer to stanzas of
the original Tagalog text.


"Edmundo."

In Villa Amante there lived a poor widow, Merced by name, who had to
work very hard to keep her only son, the infant Edmundo, alive. Her
piety and industry were rewarded, however; and by the time the
boy was seven years old, she was able to clothe him well and send
him to school. Her brother Tonio undertook the instruction of the
youth. Edmundo had a good head, and made rapid progress. (7-41)

One day Merced fell sick, and, although she recovered in a short time,
Edmundo decided to give up studying and to help his mother earn their
living. He became a wood-cutter. (42-53)

At last fortune came to him. In one of his wanderings in the forest in
search of dry wood, he happened upon an enormous python. He would have
fled in terror had not the snake spoken to him, to his amazement, and
requested him to pull from its throat the stag which was choking it. He
performed the service for the reptile, and in turn was invited to the
cave where it lived. Out of gratitude the python gave Edmundo a magic
mirror that would furnish the possessor with whatever he wanted. With
the help of this charm, mother and son soon had everything they needed
to make them happy. (54-91)

At about this time King Romualdo of France decided to look for a
husband for his daughter, the beautiful Leonora. He was unable to pick
out a son-in-law from the many suitors who presented themselves; and
so he had it proclaimed at a concourse of all the youths of the realm,
"Whoever can fill my cellar with money before morning shall have the
hand of Leonora." Edmundo was the only one to accept the challenge,
for failure to perform the task meant death. At midnight he took
his enchanted mirror and commanded it to fill the king's cellar
with money. In the morning the king was astonished at the sight,
but there was no way of avoiding the marriage. So Leonora became the
wife of the lowly-born wood-cutter. The young couple went to Villa
Amante to live. There, to astonish his wife, Edmundo had a palace
built in one night. She was dumfounded to awake in the morning and
find herself in a magnificent home; and when she asked him about
it, he confided to her the secret of his wonderful charm. Later,
to gratify the humor of the king, who visited him, Edmundo ordered
his mirror to transport the palace to a seacoast town. There he and
his wife lived very happily together. (92-211)

One day Leonora noticed from her window two vessels sailing towards the
town. Her fears and premonitions were so great, that Edmundo, to calm
her, sank the ships by means of his magic power. But the sinking of
these vessels brought misfortunes. Their owner, the Sultan of Turkey,
learned of the magic mirror possessed by Edmundo (how he got this
information is not stated), and hired an old woman to go to France
in the guise of a beggar and steal the charm. She was successful
in getting it, and then returned with it to her master. The Sultan
then invaded France, and with the talisman, by which he called to his
aid six invincible giants, conquered the country. He took the king,
queen, and Leonora as captives back with him to Turkey. Edmundo was
left in France to look after the affairs of the country. (212-296)

Edmundo became melancholy, and at last decided to seek his wife. He
left his mother and his servant behind, and took with him only a
diamond ring of Leonora's, his cat, and his dog. While walking along
the seashore, wondering how he could cross the ocean, he saw a huge
fish washed up on the sand. The fish requested him to drag it to the
water. When Edmundo had done so, the fish told him to get on its back,
and promised to carry him to Leonora. So done. The fish swam rapidly
through the water, Edmundo holding his dog and cat in his breast. The
dog was soon washed "overboard," but the cat clung to him. After a
ride of a day and a night, the fish landed him on a strange shore. It
happened to be the coast of Turkey. (297-313)

Edmundo stopped at an inn, pretending to be a shipwrecked
merchant. There he decided to stay for a while, and there he found
out the situation of Leonora in this wise. Now, it happened that
the Sultan used to send to this inn for choice dishes for Leonora,
whom he was keeping close captive. By inquiry Edmundo learned of the
close proximity of his wife, and one day he managed to insert her
ring into one of the eggs that were to be taken back to her. She
guessed that he was near; and, in order to communicate with him,
she requested permission of the king to walk with her maid in the
garden that was close by the inn. She saw Edmundo, and smiled on him;
but the maid noticed the greeting, and reported it to the Sultan. The
Sultan ordered the man summoned; and when he recognized Edmundo,
he had him imprisoned and put in stocks. (314-350)

Edmundo was now in despair, and thought it better to die than live;
but his faithful cat, which had followed him unnoticed to the prison,
saved him. In the jail there were many rats. That night the cat began
to kill these relentlessly, until the captain of the rats, fearing
that his whole race would be exterminated, requested Edmundo to tie up
his cat and spare them. Edmundo promised to do so on condition that
the rat bring him the small gold-rimmed mirror in the possession of
the Sultan. At dawn the rat captain arrived with the mirror between
its teeth. Out of gratitude Edmundo now had his mirror bring to life
all the rats that had been slain. (351-366)

Then he ordered before him his wife, the king, the queen, the crown and
sceptre of France. All, including the other prisoners of the Sultan,
were transported back to France. At the same time the Sultan's palace
and prison were destroyed. Next morning, when the Grand Sultan awoke,
he was enraged to find himself outwitted; but what could he do? Even
if he were able to jump as high as the sky, he could not bring back
Leonora. (367-376)

When the French Court returned to France, Edmundo was crowned successor
to the throne: the delight of every one was unbounded. (377-414)

The last six stanzas are occupied with the author's
leave-taking. (415-420)


Groome (pp. 219-220) summarizes a Roumanian-Gypsy story, "The Stolen
Ox," from Dr. Barbu Constantinescu's collection (Bucharest, 1878),
which, while but a fragment, appears to be connected with this cycle
of the "Magic Ring," and presents a curious parallel to a situation in
"Edmundo:"--

"... The lad serves the farmer faithfully, and at the end of his term
sets off home. On his way he lights on a dragon, and in the snake's
mouth is a stag. Nine years had that snake the stag in its mouth, and
been trying to swallow it, but could not because of its horns. Now,
that snake was a prince; and seeing the lad, whom God had sent his way,
'Lad,' said the snake, 'relieve me of this stag's horns, for I've been
going about nine years with it in my mouth.' So the lad broke off the
horns, and the snake swallowed the stag. 'My lad, tie me round your
neck and carry me to my father, for he doesn't know where I am.' So
he carried him to his father, and his father rewarded him."

It is curious to see this identical situation of the hero winning his
magic reward by saving some person or animal from choking appearing in
Roumania and the Philippines, and in connection, too, with incidents
from the "Magic Ring" cycle. The resemblance can hardly be fortuitous.


TALE 11


Lucas The Strong.

Narrated by Paulo Macasaet, a Tagalog, who heard the story from a
Tagalog farmer.

Once there was a man who had three sons,--Juan, Pedro, and
Lucas. His wife died when his children were young. Unlike most of
his countrymen, he did not marry again, but spent his time in taking
care of his children. The father could not give his sons a proper
education, because he was poor; so the boys grew up in ignorance
and superstition. They had no conception of European clothes and
shoes. Juan and Pedro were hard workers, but Lucas was lazy. The
father loved his youngest son Lucas, nevertheless; but Juan and Pedro
had little use for their brother. The lazy boy used to ramble about
the forests and along river-banks looking for guavas and birds' nests.

One day, when Lucas was in the woods, he saw a boa-constrictor
[Tag. sawang bitin]. He knew that this reptile carried the centre of
its strength in the horny appendage at the end of its tail. Lucas
wished very much to become strong, because the men of strength in
his barrio were the most influential. So he decided to rob the boa
of its charm. He approached the snake like a cat, and then with his
sharp teeth bit off the end of its tail, and ran away with all his
might. The boa followed him, but could not overtake him; for Lucas
was a fast runner, and, besides, the snake had lost its strength.

Lucas soon became the strongest man in his barrio. He surprised
everybody when he defeated the man who used to be the Hercules of
the place.

One day the king issued a proclamation: "He who can give the monarch
a carriage made of gold shall have the princess for his wife." When
Juan and Pedro heard this royal announcement, they were very anxious
to get the carriage and receive the reward.

Juan was the first to try his luck. He went to a neighboring mountain
and began to dig for gold. While he was eating his lunch at noon,
an old leper with her child approached him, and humbly begged him to
give her something to eat.

"No, the food I have here is just enough for me. Go away! You are
very dirty," said Juan with disgust.

The wretched old woman, with tears in her eyes, left the place. After
he had worked for three weeks, Juan became discouraged, gave up his
scheme of winning the princess, and returned home.

Pedro followed his brother, but he had no better luck than Juan. He
was also unkind to the old leper.

Lucas now tried his fortune. The day after his arrival at the mountain,
when he was eating, the old woman appeared, and asked him to give her
some food. Lucas gave the woman half of his meat. The leper thanked
him, and promised that she would give him not only the carriage made
of gold, but also a pair of shoes, a coat, and some trousers. She
then bade Lucas good-by.

Nine days passed, and yet the woman had not come. Lucas grew tired
of waiting, and in his heart began to accuse the woman of being
ungrateful. He repented very much the kindness he had shown the old
leper. Finally she appeared to Lucas, and told him what he had been
thinking about her. "Do not think that I shall not fulfil my promise,"
she said. "You shall have them all." To the great astonishment of
Lucas, the woman disappeared again. The next day he saw the golden
carriage being drawn by a pair of fine fat horses; and in the carriage
were the shoes, the coat, and the trousers. The old woman appeared,
and showed the young man how to wear the shoes and clothes.

Then he entered the carriage and was driven toward the palace. On
his way he met a man.

"Who are you?" said Lucas.

"I am Runner, son of the good runner," was the answer.

"Let us wrestle!" said Lucas. "I want to try your strength. If you
defeat me, I will give you a hundred pesos; but if I prove to be the
stronger, you must come with me."

"All right, let us wrestle!" said Runner. The struggle lasted for
ten minutes, and Lucas was the victor. They drove on.

They met another man. When Lucas asked him who he was, the man said,
"I am Sharpshooter, son of the famous shooter." Lucas wrestled with
this man too, and overcame him because of his superhuman strength. So
Sharpshooter went along with Lucas and Runner.

Soon they came up to another man. "What is your name?" said Lucas.

"My name is Farsight. I am son of the great Sharp-Eyes." Lucas proposed
a wrestling-match with Farsight, who was conquered, and so obliged
to go along with the other three.

Last of all, the party met Blower, "son of the great blower." He
likewise became one of the servants of Lucas.

When Lucas reached the palace, he appeared before the king, and in
terms of great submission he told the monarch that he had come for
two reasons,--first, to present his Majesty with the golden carriage;
second, to receive the reward which his Majesty had promised.

The king said, "I will let you marry my daughter provided that you can
more quickly than my messenger bring to me a bottle of the water that
gives youth and health to every one. It is found at the foot of the
seventh mountain from this one," he said, pointing to the mountain
nearest to the imperial city. "But here is another provision,"
continued the king: "if you accept the challenge and are defeated,
you are to lose your head." "I will try, O king!" responded Lucas
sorrowfully.

The king then ordered his messenger, a giant, to fetch a bottle of
the precious water. Lucas bade the monarch good-by, and then returned
to his four friends. "Runner, son of the good runner, hasten to the
seventh mountain and get me a bottle of the water that gives youth
and health!"

Runner ran with all his might, and caught up with the giant; but
the giant secretly put a gold ring in Runner's bottle to make him
sleep. Two days passed, but Runner had not yet arrived. Then Lucas
cried, "Farsight, son of the great Sharp-Eyes, see where the giant
and Runner are!"

The faithful servant looked, and he saw Runner sleeping, and the
giant very near the city. When he had been told the state of affairs,
Lucas called Blower, and ordered him to blow the giant back. The
king's messenger was carried to the eighth mountain.

Then Lucas said, "Sharpshooter, son of the famous shooter, shoot
the head of the bottle so that Runner will wake up!" The man shot
skilfully; Runner jumped to his feet, ran and got the precious water,
and arrived in the city in twelve hours. Lucas presented the water
to the king, and the monarch was obliged to accept the young man as
his son-in-law.

The wedding-day was a time of great rejoicing. Everybody was
enthusiastic about Lucas except the king. The third day after the
nuptials, the giant reached the palace. He said that he was very near
the city when a heavy wind blew him back to the eighth mountain.


Juan and His Six Companions.

Narrated by Vicente M. Hilario, a Tagalog from Batangas, who heard
the story from an old woman from Balayan.

Not very long after the death of our Saviour on Calvary, there lived in
a far-away land a powerful king named Jaime. By judicious usurpations
and matrimonial alliances, this wise monarch extended his already
vast dominions to the utmost limits. Instead of ruling his realm as
a despot, however, he devoted himself to the task of establishing a
strong government based on moderation and justice. By his marvellous
diplomacy he won to his side counts, dukes, and lesser princes. To
crown his happiness, he had an extremely lovely daughter, whose name
was Maria. Neither Venus nor Helen of Troy could compare with her in
beauty. Numerous suitors of noble birth from far and near vied with
one another in spending fortunes on this pearl of the kingdom; but
Maria regarded all suitors with aversion, and her father was perplexed
as to how to get her a husband without seeming to show favoritism.

After consulting gravely with his advisers, the monarch gave out this
proclamation: "He who shall succeed in getting the golden egg from
the moss-grown oak in yonder mountain shall be my son-in-law and heir."

This egg, whose origin nobody knew anything about, rendered its
possessor very formidable. When the proclamation had been made public,
the whole kingdom was seized with wild enthusiasm; for, though the task
was hazardous, yet it seemed performable and easy to the reckless. For
five days and five nights crowds of lovers, adventurers, and ruffians
set sail for the "Mountain of the Golden Egg," as it was called; but
none of the enterprisers ever reached the place. Some were shipwrecked;
others were driven by adverse winds and currents to strange lands,
where they perished miserably; and the rest were forced to return
because of the horrible sights of broken planks and mangled bodies.

Some days after the return of the last set of adventurers, three
brothers rose from obscurity to try their fortunes in this dangerous
enterprise. They were Pedro, Fernando, and Juan. They had been
orphans since they were boys, and had grown up amid much suffering
and hardship.

The three brothers agreed that Pedro should try first; Fernando second;
and Juan last, provided the others did not succeed. After supplying
himself with plenty of food, a good boat, a sword, and a sharp axe,
Pedro embraced his brothers and departed, never to return. He took
a longer and safer route than that of his predecessors. He had no
sooner arrived at the mountain than an old gray-headed man in tattered
clothes came limping towards him and asking for help; but the selfish
Pedro turned a deaf ear to the supplications of the old man, whom he
pushed away with much disrespect. Ignorant of his doom, and regardless
of his irreverence, Pedro walked on with hasty steps and high animal
spirits. But lo! when his axe struck the oak, a large piece of wood
broke off and hit him in the right temple, killing him instantly.

Fernando suffered the same fate as his haughty brother.

Juan alone remained. He was the destined possessor of the egg, and
the conqueror of King Jaime. Juan's piety, simplicity, and goodness
had won for him the good-will of many persons of distinction. After
invoking God's help, he set sail for the mountain, where he safely
arrived at noon. He met the same old man, and he bathed, dressed,
and fed him. The old man thanked Juan, and said, "You shall be amply
requited," and immediately disappeared. With one stroke of his axe
Juan broke the oak in two; and in a circular hole lined with down
he found the golden egg. In the afternoon he went to King Jaime,
to whom he presented the much-coveted egg.

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