Book: Filipino Popular Tales

D >> Dean S. Fansler >> Filipino Popular Tales




The "magic flight" is discussed by Cosquin (1 : 152-154) and Macculloch
(167 ff.). Two kinds of transformation are to be noted in connection
with this escape: the pursued either transform themselves, and
thus escape detection by the pursuer, or else cast behind them magic
objects, which turn into retarding and finally insurmountable obstacles
in the path of the pursuer. In our story the transformations are of
the second type, as they are in the story of "Pedro and the Witch"
(No. 36). So far as I know, the first type does not occur in Filipino
folk-tales. Both types are found frequently in Occidental Märchen,
but in Oriental stories the second seems to predominate over the first
(see Cosquin's citations of Oriental occurrences of this incident). In
Somadeva (Tawney, 1 : 355 ff.) we have two flights and both types
of escape. As to the details of the flight itself in our story,
we may note that the comb becoming a thicket of thorns has many
analogues. The ring becoming seven mountains suggests with its magic
number an Oriental origin. With spittle turning into a lake or sea,
compare similar transformations of drops of water and a bladder full
of water (Macculloch, 171-172).

The incident of the "forgetting of the betrothed" is usually motivated
with some sort of broken taboo. When the hero desires to visit his
parents, and leaves his sweetheart outside the city, she usually
warns him not to allow himself to be kissed. In a Gaelic Märchen he
is forbidden to speak; sometimes he is warned by his wife not to eat,
etc. (Köhler-Bolte, 172). In our story the taboo is somewhat unusual:
the hero is to allow no tears of joy shed by his parents to fall on
his cheeks. The idea behind this charge, however, is the same as that
behind the forbidden kiss. With the taboo forbidding the partaking
of food, compare the episode of the "Lotus-Eaters" in the Odyssey.

In most of the Märchen of this group the re-awakening of the memory
of the hero is accomplished through the conversation of two birds
(doves or hens) which the forgotten betrothed manages to introduce
into the presence of her lover just before he is married to another
(Köhler-Bolte, 172; Rittershaus, 150). In our story the heroine asks
a dog questions about the tasks she had helped the hero perform. I
can point to no exact parallel of this situation, though it agrees
in general with the methods used in the other members of the group.





For the first part of our story (with the exception of the
introduction), compare Köhler-Bolte, 292-296, 537-543; Gonzenbach,
No. 58 and notes; F. Panzer's "Beowulf," passim. See also the notes
to Nos. 3 and 4 of this collection.

In connection with our story as a whole, I will cite in conclusion two
native metrical romances that preserve many of the incidents we have
been discussing. The first is a Pangasinan romance (of which I have not
the text) entitled "Don Agustin, Don Pedro, and Don Juan." This story
contains the pursuit by the three princes of a snake to cure the sick
king their father (the "quest" motif), the descent into the well by
the youngest brother, his fight with monsters in the underworld and
his rescue of three princesses, the treachery of the older brothers,
the final rescue of the hero by the youngest princess. While this
story lacks the "forgotten-betrothed" motif, it is unquestionably
related with the first part of our folk-tale, [63]

The second romance, which is one of the most popular and widespread
in the Islands, having been printed in at least five of the
dialects,--Tagalog, Pampango, Visayan, Ilocano, and Bicol,--I will
synopsize briefly, because it is either the source of our folk-tale
or has been derived from it. The fact that not all the literary
versions agree entirely, and that the story as a folk-tale seems to
be so universally known, makes it seem more likely that the second
alternative expresses the truth; i.e., that the romance has been
derived from the folk-tale. In the Tagalog version the title runs
thus: "The Story of Three Princes, sons of King Fernando and Queen
Valeriana in the Kingdom of Berbania. The Adarna Bird." The poem is
long, containing 4136 octosyllabic lines. The date of my copy is 1906;
but Retana mentions an edition before 1898 (No. 4169). Briefly the
story runs as follows:--

King Fernando of Berbania has three sons,--Diego, Pedro, and Juan. One
night the king dreams that Juan was killed by robbers. He immediately
becomes sick, and a skilful physician tells him that the magic Adarna
bird is the only thing that can cure his illness. Diego sets out to
find the bird, but is unsuccessful; he is turned to stone. A year later
Pedro sets out--meets the same fate. At last Juan goes, seeing that
his brothers do not return. Because of his charity a leper directs
the youth to a hermit's house. The hermit tells Juan how to avoid
the enchantment, secure the bird, and liberate his brothers. Juan
successful. On the return, however, the envious brothers beat Juan
senseless, and, taking the bird from him, make their way back to their
father's kingdom alone. But the bird becomes very ugly in appearance,
refuses to sing, and the king grows worse. Juan, meantime, is restored
by an angel sent from heaven. He finally reaches home; and the Adarna
bird immediately becomes beautiful again, and sings of the treachery of
Diego and Pedro. The king, recovered, wishes to banish his two older
sons; but Juan pleads for them, and they are restored to favor. The
king now charges his three sons with the safe-keeping of the bird,
threatening with death the one who lets it fly away.

One night, while Juan is on watch, he falls asleep. His envious
brothers open the cage, and the bird escapes. When Juan awakens and
sees the mischief done, he leaves home to look for the Adarna. Next
day the king, missing both Juan and the bird, sends Pedro and Diego in
search of their brother. They find him in the mountains of Armenia. In
their joint search for the bird, the three come to a deep well. Diego
and Pedro try in turn to go down, but fear to make the descent to
the bottom. Juan is then lowered. At the foot of the well he finds
beautiful fields. In his wanderings he comes to a large house where a
princess is looking out of the window. She tells Juan that she is in
the power of a giant; and so, when the monster returns, Juan kills
it. He likewise liberates her sister Leonora, who is in the power
of a seven-headed snake. All three--Juan and the two princesses--are
hoisted to the top of the well; but when Juan starts back for a ring
that Leonora has forgotten, his cruel brothers cut the rope. Leonora
sends her pet wolf to cure Juan, and the two brothers with the two
princesses return to Berbania. Juana is married to Diego; but Leonora
refuses to marry Pedro, asking for a seven-year respite to wait for
Juan's return.

Meantime Juan has been restored. One day the Adarna bird appears,
and sings over his head that there are three beautiful princesses in
the kingdom "de los Cristales." Juan sets out to find that place. He
meets an old man, who gives him a piece of his shirt and tells him to
go to a certain hermit for directions. The hermit receives Juan on
presentation of the token, and summons all the animals to question
them about the kingdom "de los Cristales;" but none of the animals
knows where the kingdom is. This hermit now directs Juan to another
hermitage. There the holy man summons all the birds. One eagle knows
where it is; and after Juan gets on its back, the eagle flies for a
month, and finally reaches the kingdom sought. There, in accordance
with the bird's directions, while the princesses are bathing, Juan
steals the clothes of the youngest, and will not return them until
she promises to marry him. She agrees, and later helps him perform
the difficult tasks set him by her enchanter father (levelling
mountain, planting wheat, newly-baked bread--recovering flask from
sea--removing mountain--recovering ring from sea [same method as in
our folk-tale]--catching king's horse). Then the two escape, pursued
by the magician. Transformation flight (needle, thorns; piece of
soap, mountain; withe [? coje], lake). The baffled magician curses
his daughter, and says that she will be forgotten by Juan. When Juan
reaches home and sees Leonora, he forgets Maria. On his wedding day
with Leonora, an unknown princess comes to attend the festivities. From
a small bottle which she has she produces a small Negress and Negro,
who dance before the young bridal couple. After each dance the Negress
addresses Juan, and recounts to him what Maria has done for him. Then
she beats the Negro, but Juan feels the blows. Finally, since Juan
remains inflexible, Maria threatens to dash to pieces the bottle,
which contains Juan's life. Juan consents to marry her; but Leonora
protests, saying that her wolf saved Juan's life. Archbishop called
to arbitrate the matter, decides in favor of Leonora. When Maria now
floods the country and threatens the whole kingdom with destruction,
King Fernando persuades Leonora to take his oldest son Pedro. Juan
and Maria are married, and return to the kingdom "de los Cristales."


The Visayan version of the "Adarna Bird" is practically identical with
the Tagalog up to the point where Juan rescues the two princesses
from the underworld. When he and they have been drawn to the top of
the well by the two older brothers, Juan tells Pedro and Diego to
return home with the two maidens, but says that he will continue
the search for the magic bird. He later learns that it is in the
possession of Maria, daughter of the King of Salermo. He directs his
steps thither, falls in love with the princess, and, together with
the bird, they return to Berbania. The three brothers are married at
the same time. It will be noticed that here the "forgotten-betrothed"
motif is lacking altogether.

For a Tagalog folk-tale connected with this romance, but changed
so that it is hardly recognizable as a relative, see the story of
"The Adorna (sic) Bird" (JAFL 20 : 107-108).

It is interesting to note that the Tagalog romance is definitely
reminiscent of the "Swan Maidens" cycle in the method Juan uses to
win the affections of Maria, the enchanter's daughter. For parallels
to Juan's trick of stealing Maria's clothes while she and her sisters
are bathing, see Macculloch, 342 f. For a large collection of "Swan
Maiden" stories in abstract, see Hartland, chapters X and XI.

Considering the fact that both parts of our story are practically
world-wide in their distribution, it is almost impossible to say
where and when the two in combination first existed. I am inclined to
think, on the whole, that our Filipino folk-tale is an importation,
and is not native. As to the relationship between the popular and
the literary versions of the story, I believe that in general the
literary has been derived from the popular.


TALE 18


Juan and His Adventures.

Narrated by José Ma. Katigbak, a Tagalog from Lipa, Batangas. He
heard the story from Angel Reyes, another Batangueño.

Once in a certain village there lived a couple who had three
daughters. This family was very poor at first. Near the foot of a
mountain was growing a tree with large white leaves. [64] Pedro the
father earned their living by selling the leaves of that tree. In
time he got so much money from them that he a ordered a large house
to be built. Then they left their old home, and went to live in
the new house. The father kept on selling the leaves. After a year
he decided to cut down the tree, so that he could sell it all at
once and get much money. So he went to the foot of the mountain one
day, and cut the tree down. As soon as the trunk had crashed to the
ground, a large snake came out from the stump. Now, this snake was
an enchanter, and was the friend of the kings of the lions, eagles,
and fishes, as we shall see.

The snake said to Pedro, "I gave you the leaves of this tree to
sell; and now, after you have gotten much money from it, you cut
it down. There is but one suitable punishment for you: within three
days you must bring all your daughters here and give them to me." The
man was so astonished at first, that he did not know what to do. He
made no reply, and after a few minutes went home. His sadness was so
great that he could not even eat. His wife and daughters, noticing
his depression, asked him what he was thinking about. At first he
did not want to tell them; but they urged and begged so incessantly,
that finally he was forced to do so.

He said to them, "To-day I cut down the tree where I got the leaves
which I sold. A snake came out from the stump, and told me that I
should bring you three girls to him or we should all die."

"Don't worry, father! we will go there with you," said the three
daughters.

The next day they prepared to go to the snake. Their parents wept
very much. Each of the three girls gave her mother a handkerchief as
a remembrance. After they had bidden good-by, they set out on their
journey with their father.

As soon as they reached the foot of the mountain, the three daughters
disappeared at once, and the poor father returned home cheerless. A
year had not passed by before a son was born to the old couple. They
named him Juan. When the boy was about eighteen years old, his mother
showed him the handkerchiefs of his sisters.

"Have I any sister?" said Juan to his mother.

"Yes, you have three; but they were taken away by a snake," she
told him. Juan was so angry, that he asked his parents to give him
permission to go in search of his sisters. At first they hesitated,
but at last they gave him leave. So, taking the three handkerchiefs
with him, Juan set out, and went to the mountain.

After travelling for more than ten days, Juan came across three boys
quarrelling over the possession of a cap, a pair of sandals, and a
key. He went near them, and asked them why they all wanted those three
things. The boys told him that the cap would make the person who wore
it invisible, the sandals would give their owner the power to fly,
and that the key would open any door it touched.

Juan told the three boys that it would be better for them to give
him those articles than to quarrel about them; and the boys agreed,
because they did not want either of the others to have them. So Juan
put the key in his pocket, the cap on his head, and the sandals on
his feet, and flew away. After he had passed over many mountains,
he descended. Near the place where he alighted he saw a cave. He
approached its mouth, and opened the door with his key. Inside he saw
a girl sitting near a window. He went up to her and took off his cap.

"Who are you?" said the girl, startled.

"Aren't you my sister?" said Juan.

"I have no brother," said the lady, but she was surprised to see the
handkerchiefs which Juan showed her. After he had told her his story,
she believed that he was really her brother.

"You had better hide," said the lady, holding Juan's hand, "for my
husband is the king of the lions, and he may kill you if he finds
you here."

Not long afterwards the lion appeared. She met him at the door. "You
must have some visitors here," said the lion, sniffing the air with
wide-open nostrils.

"Yes," answered the lady, "my brother is here, and I hid him, for I
feared that you might kill him."

"No, I will not kill him," said the lion. "Where is he?" Juan came out
and shook hands with the lion. After they had talked for a few hours,
Juan said that he would go to look for his other sisters. The lion
told him that they lived on the next two mountains.

Juan did not have much trouble in finding his other two sisters. Their
husbands were the kings of the fishes and the eagles, and they received
him kindly. Juan's three brothers-in-law loved him very much, and
promised to aid him whenever he needed their help.

Juan now decided to return home and tell his parents where his three
sisters were; but he took another way back. He came to a town where
all the people were dressed in black, and the decorations of the houses
were of the same color. He asked some people what had happened in that
town. They told him that a princess was lost, and that he who could
bring her back to the king should receive her hand in marriage and
also half the property of the king. Juan then went to the king and
promised to restore his daughter to him. The king agreed to reward
him as the townspeople had said, if he should prove successful.

Early the next morning Juan, with his cap, sandals, and key, set
out to look for the princess. After a two-days' journey he came to a
mountain. Here he descended and began to look around. Finally he saw
a huge rock, in which he found a small hole. He put the key in it,
and the rock flew open. With his cap of invisibility on his head,
he entered. There within he saw many ladies, who were confined in
separate rooms. In the very last apartment he found the princess with
a giant beside her. He went near the room of the princess, and opened
the door with his key. The walls of all the rooms were like those of
a prison, and were made of iron bars. Juan approached the princess,
and remained near her until the giant went away.

As soon as the monster was out of sight, Juan took off his cap. The
princess was surprised to see him, but he told her that he had
come to take her away. She was very glad, but said that they had
better wait for the giant to go away before they started. After a
few minutes the giant went out to take a walk. When they saw that
he had passed through the main door, they went out also. Juan put on
his sandals and flew away with the princess. But when they were very
near the king's palace, the princess disappeared: she was taken back
by the giant's powerful magic. Juan was very angry, and he returned
at once to the giant's cave. He succeeded in opening the main door,
but he could not enter. After struggling in vain for about an hour,
he at last determined to go to his brothers-in-law for help.

When he had explained what he wanted, the king of the eagles said to
him, "Juan, the life and power of the giant are in a little box at
the heart of the ocean. No one can get that box except the king of
the fishes, and no one can open it except the king of the lions. The
life of the giant is in a little bird which is inside the box. This
bird flies very swiftly, and I am the only one who can catch it. The
strength of the giant is in a little egg which is in the box with
the bird."

When the king of the eagles had finished his story, Juan went to
the king of the fishes. "Will you fetch me the box which contains
the life and strength of the giant?" said Juan to the king of the
fishes. After asking him many questions, his brother-in-law swam away,
and soon returned with the box. When Juan had received it from him,
he thanked him and went to the king of the lions.

The king of the lions willingly opened the box for him. As soon as
the box was opened, the little bird inside flew swiftly away. Juan
took the egg, however, and went back to the king of the eagles, and
asked him to catch the bird. After the little bird had been caught,
Juan pushed on to the cave of the giant. When he came there, he opened
the door and entered, holding the bird in one hand and the egg in the
other. Enraged at the sight of Juan, the giant rushed at him; and Juan
was so startled, that he crushed the egg and killed the bird. At once
the giant fell on his back, and stretched out his legs to rise no more.

Juan now went through the cave, opening all the prison doors,
and releasing the ladies. He carried the princess with him back to
the palace. As soon as he arrived, a great celebration was held,
and he was married to the princess. After the death of the king,
Juan became ruler. He later visited his parents, and told them of
all his adventures. Then he took them to his own kingdom, where they
lived happily together.


Notes.

A Tagalog variant of this story, entitled "Pedro and the Giants,"
and narrated by José Hilario from Batangas, runs thus in abstract:--

Two orphan sisters living with their brother Pedro are stolen by
two powerful giants. Pedro goes in search of his sisters, and finds
them. Contrary to the expectations of all, the two grim brothers-in-law
welcome Pedro, and offer to serve him. Pedro later wishes to marry a
princess, and the giants demand her of the king her father. He refuses
to give her up, although she falls in love with Pedro. To punish his
daughter, the king exposes her to the hot sun: but one of the giants
shades her with his eagle-like wings. Then the other giant threatens
the king; but the monarch says he is safe, for his life is contained
in two eggs in an iron box guarded by two clashing rocks. With great
personal risk the giant obtains the eggs; and, upon the king's still
refusing to give his daughter to Pedro, the giant dashes the eggs
to the ground, and the king falls dead. Pedro and the princess are
then married.

This analogue of our story is not very close in details, yet there
are enough general resemblances between the two to make it pretty
certain that they are distantly related.

Our story of "Juan and his Adventures" belongs to the "Animal
Brothers-in-Law" cycle, a formula for which Von Hahn (1 : 53)
enumerates the following incidents:--


A Three princes who have been transformed into animals marry the
sisters of the hero.

B The hero visits his three brothers-in-law.

C They help him perform tasks.

D They are disenchanted by him.


As Crane says (p. 60), this formula varies, of course. Sometimes there
are but two sisters (cf. our variant), and the brothers-in-law are
freed from their enchantment in some other way than by the hero. For
a bibliography of this group, see Crane, 342-343, note 23, to No. 13.

Perhaps the best version of this story is that found in Basile, 4 :
3, the argument of which, as given in Burton's translation (2 : 372),
runs thus:--

Ciancola, son of the King of Verde-colle, fareth to seek his three
sisters, married one with a falcon, another with a stag, and the
other with a dolphin; after long journeying he findeth them, and
on his return homewards he cometh upon the daughter of a king,
who is held prisoner by a dragon within a tower, and calling by
signs which had been given him by the falcon, stag, and dolphin,
all three came before him ready to help him, and with their aid he
slayeth the dragon, and setteth free the princess, whom he weddeth,
and together they return to his realm.

This argument does not quite do justice to the similarities between
Basile's story and ours. For instance, in the Italian story, when
the daughters leave, they give their mother three identical rings as
tokens. Then a son is born to the queen. When he is fifteen years old,
he sets out to look for his sisters, taking the rings with him. Nor,
again, does this argument mention the fact that in the end the animal
brothers-in-law are transformed into men,--a feature which is found
in Basile, but not in our story. In the main, however, it will be seen
that the two are very close. In Von Hahn, No. 25, the brothers-in-law
are a lion, a tiger, and an eagle.

The opening of our story, so far as I know, is not found in any of the
other members of this cycle. Usually the sisters are married to the
animals in consequence of a king's decision to give his daughters to
the first three persons who pass by his palace after a certain hour
(Crane, No. XIII); or else the animals present themselves as suitors
after the death of the king, who has charged his sons to see that
their sisters are married (Von Hahn, No. 25; compare the opening
of Wratislaw No. XLI = Wuk, No. 17). In our story, however, Pedro
is deprived of his daughters in consequence of his greed. With this
situation compare the "Maha-vanija-jataka," No. 493, which tells how
some merchants find a magic banyan-tree. From this tree the merchants
receive wonderful gifts; but they are insatiable, and finally plan to
cut it down to see if there is not large treasure at the roots. The
guardian-spirit of the tree, the serpent-king, punishes them. It is not
impossible that some such parable as this lies behind the introduction
to our story. There is abundant testimony from early travellers in
the Islands that the natives in certain sections regarded trees as
sacred, and could not be hired to cut them down for fear of offending
the resident-spirit. The three handkerchiefs which the sisters leave
with their mother as mementos are to be compared with the three rings
in Basile's version. In a Serbian story belonging to this cycle (Wuk,
No. 5), the three sisters are blown away by a strong wind (cf. our
story of "Alberto and the Monsters," No. 39), and fall into the power
of three dragons. When the brother, yet unborn at the time of their
disappearance, reaches his eighteenth year, he sets out to seek his
sisters, taking with him a handkerchief of each.

The obtaining of magic articles by a trick of the hero is found
in many folk-tales. In Grimm, No. 197, which is distantly related
to our story, the hero cheats two giants out of a wishing-cap over
which they are quarrelling. In Grimm, No. 92, where we find the same
situation, the magic articles are three,--a sword which will make heads
fly off, a cloak of invisibility, a pair of transportation-boots
(see Bolte-Polívka, 2 : 320 f., especially 331-335). In Grimm,
No. 193, a flying saddle is similarly obtained. In Crane, No. XXXVI
(p. 136 f.), Lionbruno acquires a pair of transportation-boots,
an inexhaustible purse, and a cloak of invisibility. This incident
is also found in Somadeva (Tawney, 1 : 14), where the articles are
a pair of flying-shoes, a magic staff which writes what is going to
happen, and a vessel which can supply any food the owner asks for. In
another Oriental collection (Sagas from the Far East, pp. 23-24),
the prince and his follower secure a cap of invisibility from a band
of quarrelling boys, and a pair of transportation-boots from some
disputing demons. Compare Tawney's note for other instances. This
incident is also found in an Indian story by Stokes, No. XXII,
"How the Raja's Son won the Princess Labam." In this the hero meets
four fakirs, whose teacher (and master) has died, and has left four
things,--"a bed which carried whosoever sat on it whithersoever he
wished to go; a bag that gave its owner whatever he wanted,--jewels,
food, or clothes; a stone bowl which gave its owner as much water
as he wanted; and a stick that would beat enemies, and a rope that
would tie them up." Compare also the "Dadhi-vahana-jataka," No. 186,
which is connected with our No. 27. In the Filipino story of "Alberto
and the Monsters" (No. 39) the hero acquires a transportation-boot
from two quarrelling boys; from two young men, a magic key that will
unlock any stone; and from two old men wrangling over it, a hat of
invisibility. In another Tagalog story, "Ricardo and his Adventures"
(notes to No. 49), appears a flying saddle, but this is not obtained
by trickery.

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