Book: Filipino Popular Tales

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For the "Fee-fi-fo-fum" formula hinted at in our story, see
Bolte-Polívka, 1 : 289-292.

In many of the members of this cycle, when the hero takes his leave
of his brothers-in-law, he is given feathers, hair, scales, etc.,
with which he can summon them in time of need. In our story, however,
Juan has no such labor-saving device: he has to visit his brothers
a second time when he desires aid against the giant.

The last part of our story turns on the idea of the "separable soul or
strength" of the dragon, snake, demon, giant, or other monster. This
idea has been fully discussed by Macculloch (chapter V). As this
conception is widespread in the Orient and is found in Malayan
literature (e.g., in "Bidasari"), there is no need of tracing its
occurrence in the Philippines to Europe. In the norm of this cycle,
the animal brothers-in-law help the hero perform tasks which the
king requires all suitors for his daughter's hand to perform. Here
the beasts help the hero secure the life and strength of the giant
who is holding the princess captive.

Taken as a whole, our story seems to have been imported into the
Philippines from the Occident, for the reason that no Oriental
analogues of it appear to exist, while not a few are known from
southern Europe. Our two variants are from the Tagalog province of
Batangas, and, so far as I know, the story is not found elsewhere
in the Islands. As suggested above, however, the introduction is
probably native, or at least very old, and the conclusion has been
modified by the influence of another cycle well known in the Orient.


TALE 19


Juan Wearing a Monkey's Skin.

Narrated by Lorenzo Licup, a Pampango from Angeles, Pampanga.

Once upon a time there was a couple which was at first childless. The
father was very anxious to have a son to inherit his property: so
he went to the church daily, and prayed God to give him a child,
but in vain. One day, in his great disappointment, the man exclaimed
without thinking, "O great God! let me have a son, even if it is in
the form of a monkey!" and only a few days later his wife gave birth
to a monkey. The father was so much mortified that he wanted to kill
his son; but finally his better reason prevailed, and he spared the
child. He said to himself, "It is my fault, I know; but I uttered
that invocation without thinking." So, instead of putting the monkey
to death, the couple just hid it from visitors; and whenever any one
asked for the child, they merely answered, "Oh, he died long ago."

The time came when the monkey grew to be old enough to marry. He
went to his father, and said, "Give me your blessing, father! for I
am going away to look for a wife." The father was only too glad to
be freed from this obnoxious son, so he immediately gave him his
blessing. Before letting him go, however, the father said to the
monkey, "You must never come back again to our house."

"Very well, I will not," said the monkey.

The monkey then left his father's house, and went to find his
fortune. One night he dreamed that there was a castle in the midst
of the sea, and that in this castle dwelt a princess of unspeakable
beauty. The princess had been put there so that no one might discover
her existence. The monkey, who had been baptized two days after
his birth and was named Juan, immediately repaired to the palace of
the king. There he posted a letter which read as follows: "I, Juan,
know that your Majesty has a daughter."

Naturally the king was very angry to have his secret discovered. He
immediately sent soldiers to look for Juan. Juan was soon found, and
brought to the palace. The king said to him, "How do you know that I
have a daughter? If you can bring her here, I will give her to you for
a wife. If not, however, your head shall be cut off from your body."

"O your Majesty!" said Juan, "I am sure that I can find her and
bring her here. I am willing to lose my head if within three days I
fail to fulfil my promise." After he had said this, Juan withdrew,
and sadly went out to look for the hidden princess.

As he was walking along the road, he heard the cry of a bird. He
looked up, and saw a bird caught between two boughs so that it could
not escape. The bird said to him, "O monkey! if you will but release
me, I will give you all I have."

"Oh, no!" said the monkey. "I am very hungry, and would much rather
eat you."

"If you will but spare my life," said the bird, "I will give you
anything you want."

"On one condition only will I set you free," said the monkey. "You
must procure for me the ring of the princess who lives in the midst
of the sea."

"Oh, that's an easy thing to do," said the bird. So the monkey climbed
the tree and set the bird free.

The bird immediately flew to the island in the sea, where fortunately
it found the princess refreshing herself in her garden. The princess
was so charmed with the song of the bird, that she looked up, and said,
"O little bird! if you will only promise to live with me, I will give
you anything you want."

"All right," said the bird. "Give me your ring, and I will forever
live with you." The princess held up the ring; and the bird suddenly
snatched it and flew away with it. It gave the ring to the monkey,
who was, of course, delighted to get it.

Now the monkey jogged along the road until finally he saw three
witches. He approached them, and said to them, "You are the very
beings for whom I have spent the whole day looking. God has sent me
here from heaven to punish you for your evil doings toward innocent
persons. So I must eat you up."

Now, witches are said to be afraid of ill-looking persons, although
they themselves are the ugliest beings in all the world. So these
three were terribly frightened by the monkey's threat, and said,
"O sir! spare our lives, and we will do anything for you !"

"Very well, I will spare you if you can execute my order. From this
shore you must build a bridge which leads to the middle of the sea,
where the castle of the princess is situated."

"That shall be speedily done," replied the witches; and they at once
gathered leaves, which they put on their backs. Then they plunged into
the water. Immediately after them a bridge was built. Thus the monkey
was now able to go to the castle. Here he found the princess. She
was very much surprised to see this evil-looking animal before her;
but she was much more frightened when the monkey showed her the ring
which the bird had given him, and claimed her for his wife. "It is the
will of God that you should go with me," said the monkey, after the
princess had shown great repugnance towards him. "You either have to
go with me or perish." Thinking it was useless to attempt to resist
such a mighty foe, the princess finally yielded.

The monkey led her to the king's palace, and presented her before her
parents; but no sooner had the king and queen seen their daughter in
the power of the beast, than they swooned. When they had recovered,
they said simultaneously, "Go away at once, and never come back
here again, you girl of infamous taste! Who are you? You are not
the princess we left in the castle. You are of villain's blood, and
the very air which you exhale does suffocate us. So with no more ado
depart at once!"

The princess implored her father to have pity, saying that it was
the will of God that she should be the monkey's wife. "Perhaps I have
been enchanted by him, for I am powerless to oppose him." But all her
remonstrance was in vain. The king shut his ears against any deceitful
or flattering words that might fall from the lips of his faithless
and disobedient daughter. Seeing that the king was obstinate, the
couple turned their backs on the palace, and decided to find a more
hospitable home. So the monkey now took his wife to a neighboring
mountain, and here they settled.

One day the monkey noticed that the princess was very sad and pale. He
said to her, "Why are you so sad and unhappy, my darling? What is
the matter?"

"Nothing. I am just sorry to have only a monkey for my husband. I
become sad when I think of my past happiness."

"I am not a monkey, my dear. I am a real man, born of human
parents. Didn't you know that I was baptized by the priest, and
that my name is Juan?" As the princess would not believe him, the
monkey went to a neighboring hut and there cast off his disguise
(balit cayu). He at once returned to the princess. She was amazed to
see a sparkling youth of not more than twenty years of age--nay, a
prince--kneeling before her. "I can no longer keep you in ignorance,"
he said. "I am your husband, Juan."

"Oh, no! I cannot believe you. Don't try to deceive me! My husband is
a monkey; but, with all his defects, I still cling to him and love
him. Please go away at once, lest my husband find you here! He will
be jealous, and may kill us both."

"Oh, no! my darling, I am your husband, Juan. I only disguised myself
as a monkey."

But still the princess would not believe him. At last she said to him,
"If you are my real husband, you must give me a proof of the fact." So
Juan [we shall hereafter call him by this name] took her to the place
where he had cast off his monkey-skin. The princess was now convinced,
and said to herself, "After all, I was not wrong in the belief I have
entertained from the beginning,--that it was the will of God that I
should marry this monkey, this man."

Juan and the princess now agreed to go back to the palace and tell the
story. So they went. As soon as the king and queen saw the couple, they
were very much surprised; but to remove their doubt, Juan immediately
related to the king all that had happened. Thus the king and queen
were finally reconciled to the at first hated couple. Juan and his
wife succeeded to the throne on the death of the king, and lived
peacefully and happily during their reign.

The story is now ended. Thus we see that God compensated the father
and mother of Juan for their religious zeal by giving them a son, but
punished them for not being content with what He gave them by taking
the son away from them again, for Juan never recognized his parents.


Notes.

A Bicol version, "The Monkey becomes King," narrated by Gregorio
Frondoso, who heard the story from an old man of his province, is
almost identical with this Pampango tale. There are a few slight
differences, however. "In the Bicol, the rich parents give their
monkey-offspring away to a man, who keeps the animal in a cage. Finally
the monkey manages to escape, and sets out on his travels. Now the
king of that country builds a high tower in the middle of the sea,
imprisons his daughter there, and promises her hand to the one who can
take her from the tower. The monkey succeeds, as in the Pampango. The
rest of the story is practically as given in the text, except that
the narrator mentions the fact that the monkey's parents fall into
poverty, and in their distress seek aid from their son, now become
king. However, he refuses to recognize them, because of their former
harshness to him, and drives them away." With both these stories may
be compared two other Filipino tales already in print, "The Enchanted
Shell" (JAFL 20 : 90-91) and "The Living Head" (ibid., 19 : 106).

The "Animal Child" cycle, of which our story and its variants are
members is widely spread throughout Europe. The main incidents of
this group are the following.

A In accordance with the wish of the parents, a child in the form
of an animal is brought into the world. This phenomenon usually
takes place in consequence of a too vehement prayer for children,
or an inconsiderate wish for a son even if he should prove to be only
an animal.

B The animal offspring grows up, is married usually through his own
ingenuity, and is finally disenchanted through the burning of his
animal disguise either with or without his consent.

European representatives of this type are Grimm, Nos. 108, 144;
Von Hahn, Nos. 14, 31, 43, 57, 100; Wuk, No. 9; Pröhle, No. 13;
Straparola 2 : i; Basile, No. 15; Schott, No. 9; Pitrè, No. 56 (see
also his notes); Comparetti, Nos. 9, 66. Compare also Köhler-Bolte,
318-319. Related Oriental forms of this story are discussed by Benfey,
1 : 254 ff. (section 92).

Although our stories are related to this large family of "Animal Child"
tales, it appears to be the Oriental branch rather than the Occidental
with which they are the more closely connected. The monkey-child, the
castle in the midst of the sea, the building of the bridge from the
mainland to the island, the retirement of the monkey and his royal
wife to live in the forest,--all suggest vaguely but unmistakably
Indian material. I am unable to point to any particular story as
source, and our tale appears to have incorporated in it other Märchen
motifs; but it seems to be faintly reminiscent of the "Ramayana." The
imprisoning or hiding of a princess, and the promise of her hand to
the one who can discover her, are found in our No. 21 (q.v.). No. 29,
too, should be compared.

Among the Santals, the theme of a girl's marrying a monkey is common
in Märchen (see Bompas, No. XV, "The Monkey Boy;" No. XXXII, "The
Monkey and the Girl;" and No. LXX, "The Monkey Husband"). In none of
these stories, however, is there a transformation of the animal into
a human being.


TALE 20


How Salaksak Became Rich.

Narrated by Lorenzo Licup, a Pampango from Angeles, Pampanga.

Once upon a time there lived two brothers. The elder was named Cucunu,
and the younger Salaksak. Their parents were dead, so they divided the
property that had been left to them. In accordance with this division,
each received a cow and a piece of land. Salaksak separated from his
brother, and built a small house of his own.

Now, the rice of Cucunu grew faster than that of his brother: so
his brother became jealous of him. One night Salaksak turned his
cow loose in his brother's field. When Cucunu heard of this, he went
to his brother, and said to him, "If you let your cow come into my
field again, I shall whip you." But Salaksak paid no attention to
his brother's threat, and again he let his cow go into the field of
Cucunu. At last his brother grew so impatient that he killed the
cow. When Salaksak went to look for his animal, all he found was
its skin. As he was ashamed of his deed and afraid of his brother,
he dared not accuse him: so he took the skin and put it into a basket.

Not long afterward several hundred cows passed him along the road. He
followed them. While the herdsmen were eating their dinner, Salaksak
threw his skin among the cows. Then he went up to the hut where the
herdsmen were, and said to the chief of the herdsmen, "Friend, it is
now a week since I lost my cow, and I am afraid that she has become
mixed up with your herd. Please be so kind, therefore, as to count
them." The chief immediately went over to where the cows were. As
he was counting them, Salaksak picked up the skin, and, shaking his
head, he said, "Alas! here is the mark of my cow, and this must be my
cow's skin. You must pay me a thousand pesos, or else you shall be
imprisoned. My cow was easily worth a thousand pesos; for when she
was alive, she used to drop money every day." In their great fear,
the herdsmen paid Salaksak the money at once.

Salaksak now went home and told his brother of his good fortune. Hoping
to become as rich as his brother, Cucunu immediately killed his cow. He
took the skin with him, and left the flesh to Salaksak. As he was in
the street calling out, "Who wants to buy a hide?" he was summoned
by the ruler of the town, and was accused of having stolen the hide,
and he was whipped so badly that he could hardly walk home.

Maddened by the disgrace he had suffered, Cucunu burned the house
of his brother one day while he was away. When Salaksak came home,
he found nothing but ashes. These he put into a sack, however, and
set out to seek his fortune again. On his way he overtook an old
man who was carrying a bag of money on his back. Salaksak asked him,
"Are you going to the ruler's house?"

"Yes," replied the old man, "I have to give this money to him."

"I am sorry for you, old man. I, too, am going to the palace. What
do you say to exchanging loads? Mine is very light in comparison
with yours."

"With all my heart, kind boy!" said the old man; and so they exchanged
sacks.

After they had travelled together a short distance, Salaksak said,
"Old man, you seem to be stronger when you have a light load. Let me
see how fast you can run." The old man, having no suspicion of his
companion, walked ahead as fast as he could. As soon as Salaksak came
to a safe place along the road to hide, he deserted his companion. He
went to his brother's house, and told him that he had gotten a sack
of silver for a sack of ashes.

"Why," said his brother, "my house is bigger than yours! I ought to
get two sacks of ashes if I burn it. I think that would be a good
bargain." So he burned his house, too. Then he went through the town,
crying, "Who wants to buy ashes?"

"What a foolish man!" said the housewives. "Why should we buy ashes
when we don't know what to do with those that come from our own
stoves?" When Cucunu came near the house of the ruler, the ruler said
to his servants, "I think that fellow is the same one I bade you whip
before. Call him in and give him a good thrashing, for he is only
making a fool of himself." So Cucunu was summoned and lashed again.

Thoroughly enraged, Cucunu determined that his brother should not
deceive him a third time. He thought and thought of what he should
do to get rid of him. At last he decided to throw his brother into
the river. For this purpose he made a strong cage. One day he caught
his brother and confined him in it.

"I will give you three days to repent," said Cucunu. "Now you cannot
deceive me any more." He then left his brother in the cage by the
bank of the river.

As a young man was passing by, Salaksak began to cry out, "They have
put me into this cage because I do not want to marry the ruler's
daughter." The young man, who had vainly striven for the hand of the
girl, immediately approached Salaksak, and said, "If you will let
me take your place, so that I may marry her, I will give you all the
cows I have with me."

So by this trick Salaksak escaped. Cucunu, thinking that the man
in the cage was his brother, would not listen to what he said, but
unmercifully threw him into the river. A few days later, Salaksak
went to his brother's house, and told him that it was quite beautiful
under the water. "There," he said, "I saw our father and mother. They
told me I was not old enough to stay with them, so they sent me back
here with a large number of cows."

"Well, well!" said Cucunu, "I too must go see our parents." He then
hastened to the river, and threw himself in and was drowned. Thus
Salaksak grew rich because of his craftiness.


Clever Juan and Envious Diego.

Narrated by Pablo Anzures, a Tagalog from Manila, who heard the story
from another Tagalog from Santa Maria, Bulakan.

There were once two brothers named Diego and Juan. Their father had
died a long time before, so they lived only with their good mother. In
character these two brothers were very different. Diego, the older,
was envious and foolish; Juan was clever.

One morning, while Diego was away, Juan called his mother, and said,
"Mother, help me fool Diego! Please lie down as if you were dead;
and when he arrives, I will blow air through your nose through
a bamboo tube. As soon as you feel me blowing, get up and try to
look like a woman that has risen from the dead." His mother agreed
to do all that she had been told. Then Juan watched and waited for
Diego. When he saw him coming, he called to his mother and told her
to lie down. Then he pretended to be crying.

When Diego came in and saw his brother, he said, "Juan, why are
you crying?"

"Don't you see? Our mother is dead," said Juan. Then Diego felt very
sorry, and he too began to weep. Juan then said, "O brother! I remember
that I have a magic instrument that resuscitates dead persons." He
opened his trunk and took out a short bamboo tube, and began to blow
through it into his mother's nose. His mother then pretended to revive,
as she had been told. Diego rejoiced; he too was very much surprised
at his brother's possession.

The next day the envious Diego stole the bamboo tube and went to
the churchyard. There he waited for a funeral to pass by. After a
short time the funeral procession of a small boy came along. Diego
stopped it, and called to the mother of the boy, "Don't cry! your son
is only sleeping. Lay him down here, and you will soon see that he
is alive." The mother then ordered the carriers to lay the coffin on
the ground. Diego took out his bamboo tube, and, after he had opened
the coffin, he began to blow air into the boy's nose; but the boy did
not move. He blew harder and harder, but the boy remained as stiff
and lifeless as ever. Then the mother of the dead boy became angry;
she kicked Diego, and said, "You are only trying to fool us!" Diego
was very much ashamed, so he threw away the bamboo tube and ran home.

Some days later the mother of Diego and Juan became ill and died. She
left her sons two carabaos for an inheritance. As Diego was the
older, he took the fat carabao for himself, and gave the thin one
to Juan. Juan was angry: so he killed his carabao, and decided to
sell the hide. He tried to sell it in the neighboring villages,
but he could not find a buyer. He then walked on and on until he
came to a forest. Not very far off, and coming towards him, he saw
a band of Tulisanes. [65] They were on horseback, and had a large
amount of treasure with them. Juan was afraid: so he climbed a tree,
and hid himself with his hide among the branches and leaves. He
had no more than concealed himself when the Tulisanes came up and
stopped to eat under that very tree. Juan watched them closely. He
unintentionally moved the hide which was on the branch beside him,
and it fell crashing down on the Tulisanes. Frightened by this most
unexpected noise, they ran away as fast as they could, not stopping
to take anything with them. Juan descended quickly, mounted a horse,
and made off with as much as he could carry.

When he reached home, his brother said to him, "Where did you get
all those riches?" Juan replied that he had been given them by the
neighboring villages in return for his carabao-hide. Again Diego
envied his brother. He went out and killed his fat carabao and dried
its hide. Next he went to the neighboring villages and tried to sell
it; but many days passed, and still no one would buy.

Now Diego was very angry. He took a wooden box and put his brother
inside. He bound the box and carried it to the seashore. He was about
to throw it into the water when he remembered that it was not locked:
so he left it, and went back to the house to get the key. Meanwhile
a Chinese peddler selling gold rings came along. Juan heard him, and
shouted, "Chino, Chino, come and see these beautiful and precious
things inside!" The Chinaman approached, and opened the box. Juan
came out, and said, "I will put you inside, and you will see many
beautiful things in the bottom." The Chinaman was willing, so Juan
put him in and closed the box. He then took the Chino's gold rings
and ran away. Not many minutes later Diego came up, and, after locking
the box, he threw it into the ocean.

That same day, while Diego was eating his dinner, Juan came along
with some fine gold rings. Diego was astonished to see his brother,
and said, "How did you manage to get out of the box, and where did
you get those rings?" Juan answered that he sank to the bottom of
the ocean, where he saw his mother, and that she had given him all
those rings. The foolish Diego believed everything that Juan told him,
so he asked his brother to put him into a box and throw him into the
ocean. Juan lost no time in obeying. He got a box, put Diego inside,
took it to the seashore, and there cast it into the deep water. After
that Juan lived happily for many years.


Ruined because of Invidiousness.

Narrated by Facundo Esquivel, a Tagalog from Jaen, Nueva Ecija,
who was told the story when he was a boy.

In time out of memory there lived two brothers, Pedro and Juan. Pedro
was rich, for he had a large herd of cattle: consequently he did not
have much use for his younger brother, who was very poor. Juan had
nothing that he could call his own but a cow. One day, disappointed
over his life of poverty, he killed his cow, and some days afterward
he set out to find his fortune. He took nothing with him but the
hide of his cow. When he reached the next town, he saw large piles of
cattle-hides in front of a butcher's shop. Late that night he stole
out secretly and put the skin of his cow in one of the piles. The
next morning he went to the shop to talk with the butcher.

"Mr. Butcher," he said, "I have come here to look for my lost cow. Have
you not killed a cow with a mark J on the right hip?"

"No," answered the honest man, "all the cows which were killed here
came from my herd out there in the mountains."

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