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He proceeded on his way, taking with him the two stones. Tired and
exhausted from his long journey, Andres again began to feel hungry. Now
what would become of him? His red cloth was gone, and he had nothing
to eat. Fortunately he saw another hut by the roadside. He went to
it, and easily gained admittance. The witch, the only person in the
cottage, had just finished her dinner. She had nothing left to give
the starving boy. Andres then said to his stones, "Go to your former
mistress, the old woman, and tell her that I take back my red cloth. If
she refuses to give it to you, do what you think it best to do."

The two stones went back to the hut. There they found the old woman
eating. "We have come here," they said, "to take the red cloth away
from you. Our master, the boy who was here this afternoon, wants
it back again." The old woman refused to give up the cloth, so the
stones struck her with heavy blows until she fell down senseless on
the floor. Then the stones rolled themselves in the red cloth and
hastened back to their master with it. Andres spread it out and ate
his dinner. He asked for an extraordinary breakfast besides. Then he
said to the witch, "You need not prepare anything for your breakfast
to-morrow. Here is a good meal that I have asked my red cloth to give
to you, you have been so kind in letting me come to your hut." The
witch was very glad, and thanked the boy. She said to him, "Boy, I
have here two magic canes which I want to dispose of. I am very old
now, and don't need them any more. They have served me well. These
canes can kill your enemies, or any bad persons whom you want to be
put to death. Just give them directions, and they will obey you."

Andres now had three enchanted possessions. It was very late when he
reached home, and his mother was very hungry and very angry. He had
no more than reached the foot of the stairs when she met him with
a loud scolding. But Andres just laughed. He asked his red cloth to
bring his mother a good dinner; and while she was eating, he related
to her the occurrences of the day.

Andres and his mother were not rich, and their wealthy neighbors were
greatly surprised to see them become rich so soon. One particularly
selfish neighbor, already rich, who was eager to deprive Andres and
his mother of their wealth, sent a band of robbers to the cottage one
night. At midnight Andres heard his dogs barking, and he knew that
there was some one lurking about. When he saw the robbers coming,
he took out his magic stones and canes, and commanded them to get
rid of the thieves. In a few minutes all the robbers lay dead.

Andres and his mother remained rich.


Notes.

Through its main incidents and situations, this story is connected with
a number of tales, although, as in the case of the preceding narrative,
I can point to no complete analogue for it. The introduction has some
points of close resemblance to the introduction of the "Language of
Animals" cycle, where the hero saves the life of a snake, usually
from fire, and is consequently rewarded by the king of snakes with
the gift of understanding the tongues of birds and beasts. This cycle
has been fully discussed by Benfey (Orient und Occident, 2 : 133-171,
"Ein Märchen von der Thiersprache, Quelle und Verbreitung"). Additional
bibliographical details may be found in Bolte-Polívka, 1 : 132-133,
note 1. The invitation of the rescued snake to its savior to visit
the king of snakes, and its advice that he ask for one particular
magic reward only, are found in many versions of the "Language of
Animals" group, as well as in our story; but this is as far as the
similarity between the two extends. From this point on, our story
deviates altogether, except for the vaguest reminiscences.

Again, in the fact that Andres does not save the snake from an
accidental death, but buys its life from a cruel person about to
kill it, our story appears to be connected with the "Magic Ring"
cycle. We have already discussed two variants of this cycle in
No. 10; but, as has been pointed out in the notes to those stories,
the most characteristic beginning is lacking there. In most of the
members of the "Magic Ring" group, the kind-hearted hero spends all
his money to ransom from death certain animals, including a snake
which invites him to the home of its father, and then tells him
what to ask for. But in our present story, only the snake is saved;
the recompense is a magic wishing-cloth that can do only one thing,
not a stone or ring that fulfils any command; and as in the case
above of the "Language of Animals" cycle, so here, from this point
on, our story is entirely different from the "Magic Ring" group, and
attaches itself to still another family of tales. This, for want of
a better title, may be called the "Knapsack, Hat, and Horn" cycle. I
use this name merely because the most familiar member of that family
(Grimm, No. 54) bears it.

In Grimm, No. 54, the youngest of three poverty-stricken brothers
who set out to seek their fortunes finds a little table-cloth, which,
when spread out and told to cover itself, instantly becomes covered
with choice food. Not yet satisfied with his luck, he takes the cloth
and continues his wandering. One night he meets a charcoal-burner who
is about to make his meal off potatoes. The youth invites the man to
eat with him. The charcoal-burner, thinking the cloth just what he
needs in his solitude, offers to trade for it an old knapsack, from
which, whenever it is tapped, out jump a corporal and six soldiers to
do whatever they are ordered to do. The exchange is made. The youth
travels on, taps the knapsack, and orders the soldiers to bring him the
wishing-cloth that the charcoal-burner has. In this same way the youth
acquires from two other charcoal-burners successively a magic hat which
shoots off artillery and destroys the owner's enemies, and a magic horn
a blast from which throws down walls, fortifications, and houses. By
means of these articles the hero finally wins the king's daughter to
wife, and becomes ruler. Further adventures follow when the wife tries,
but without ultimate success, to steal his treasures from him.

The magic articles are not at all constant in this cycle, as may be
seen from an examination of Bolte-Polívka's variants (1 : 467-470),
but most of the lists include the wishing-cloth and articles in the
nature of weapons or soldiers for offensive purposes. A comparison of
our story with this formula discloses an undoubted relationship between
the two. The hero trades his wishing-cloth for two fighting stones,
which he later sends back to fetch the cloth. He then acquires two
magic canes (but not by trickery this time). Later, when he becomes
an object of envy, and an attempt is made by a rich neighbor to steal
his wealth (corresponding to the envy of the king), the magic stones
and canes kill all his opponents. Compare the Tagalog variant in the
notes to the following tale (No. 27).

The extraordinary articles are found as machinery in other Philippine
stories, though not in the above sequence: a "table, spread yourself"
and a magic cane occur in No. 27; a magic guitar, in No. 28; a
magic buyo, cane, purse, and guitar, in No. 35. Compare also the
magic articles in the various forms of No. 12. I know of no other
occurrence in folk-tales of two fighting stones. This detail sounds
very primitive. It might be compared with the magic "healing stones"
in No. 12 (b), "Three Brothers of Fortune," though the two objects
are wholly dissimilar in power.

As a whole, while our story is reminiscent of at least three different
cycles of tales, it nevertheless does not sound like a modern bit of
patchwork, but appears to be old; how old, I am unable to say. The most
unreasonable part of our narrative is the fact that the hero should
find himself so many miles from home when going to buy five cents'
worth of rice. It must be supposed that the trip to the snake-cave
occupied much more time than it appears in the story to have taken.


TALE 27


The Indolent Husband.

Narrated by Gregorio Frondoso, a Bicol from Tigaon, Camarines, who
heard the story when he was a small boy. One of the servants told it
to him.

Many hundreds of years ago there lived in the isolated village of
Hignaroy a poor couple who had many children to care for. Barbara,
the wife, was an industrious but shrewish woman. She worked all
day in a factory to support her many children. The husband, Alejo,
on the other hand, idled away his time. He either ate, or drank,
or slept all the time his wife was away at work. In the course of
time Barbara naturally became disgusted with her husband's indolence;
and every time she came home, she would rail at him and assail him
with hot, insolent words, taxing him with not doing anything, and
with caring nothing about what was going on in the house: for, on her
return home in the evening, she would always find him asleep; while
the floor would always be strewn with chairs, benches, and pictures,
which the children had left in a disorderly way after playing.

Alejo seemed to take no heed of what she said; he became more sluggish,
and had no mind for anything but sleeping all day. What was worse,
was that he would eat such big meals, that he left but little food for
his wife and children. Barbara's anger and impatience grew so strong,
that she no longer used words as a means to reform her husband. She
would kick him as he lay lazily on his bed, and would even whip him
like a child. Finally the thought of leaving home came into his head;
he determined to travel to some distant land, partly with the purpose
of getting away from his wife, who was always interfering with his
ease, and partly with the purpose of seeking his fortune.

One day he set out on a long journey, wandering through woods, over
hills, and along the banks of rivers, where no human creature could
be seen. After roaming about a long time, he became tired, and lay
down to rest in the shade of a tree near the bank of a river. While
he was listening to the melodious sounds of the birds and the sweet
murmur of the water, and was meditating on his wretched condition,
an old humpback came upon him, and addressed him in this manner:
"What is the matter, my friend? Why do you look so sad?"

"I am in great trouble," said Alejo. "I will tell you all about it. I
am married, and have many children to support; but I am poor. I have
been idling away my time, and my wife has been kicking and whipping
me like a child for not doing anything all day. So I have finally
left home to seek my fortune."

"Don't be worried, my son!" said the old man. "Here, take this
purse! It has nothing in it; but, if you need money at any time,
just say these words,--'Sopot, ua-ua sopot!' [81]--and it will give
you money."

Alejo was very glad to have found his fortune so quickly. He took
the purse from the old man, and, after thanking him for it, started
for his home with lively spirits. Soon he reached the village. Before
going home, however, he went to the house of his compadre and comadre,
[82] and related to them what he had found. They entertained him well;
they drank and sang. While they all were feeling in good spirits,
Alejo took out his magic purse to test it before his friends.

"Friends," said Alejo, now somewhat drunk, "watch my purse!" at the
same time pronouncing the words "Sopot, ua-ua sopot!" Then showers of
silver coins dropped on the floor. When the couple saw this wonder,
they thought at once that their friend was a magician. They coveted the
purse. So they amused Alejo, gave him glass after glass of wine,--for
he was a great drinker,--until finally he was dead-drunk. At last
he was overcome by drowsiness, and the couple promptly provided him
with a bed. Just as he fell asleep, the wife stealthily untied the
purse from Alejo's waist, and put in its place one of their own.

After a good nap of an hour or two, Alejo awoke. He thanked his friends
for their kind reception and entertainment, and, after bidding them
good-by, went to his own home. There he found his wife busy sewing
by the fireside. He surprised her with his affectionate greeting. "My
dear, lovely wife, be cheerful! Here I have found something useful,--a
magic purse which will furnish us with money."

"O you rogue!" she replied, "don't bother me with your foolishness! How
could you ever get anything useful? You are lying to me."

"Believe me, my dear, I am telling the truth."

"All right; prove it to me at once."

"Call all out children, so that they may also see what I have
found." When all the children were called together, Alejo asked
the purse for money, just as the old man had showed him how to ask;
but no shower of coins dropped to the floor, for, as you know, it
was not the magic purse. Barbara was so enraged, that she stormed
at him with all the bitter words that can be imagined, and drove
him from the house. Alejo was a tender-hearted, if lazy, husband,
and it never occurred to him to beat his wife in turn. In fact,
he loved her and his children very much.

He wandered away again in the direction of the place where he had
met the old humpback. Here he found the old man, who said to him,
"Where are you going, Alejo?"

"Guiloy, your purse did not prove to be any good."

"Well, take this goat home with you. It will give you money if you ask
for it. Whenever you want any money, just say these words: 'Canding,
pag coroquinanding!'" [83]

Alejo gladly accepted the goat, and set out for home again. Again he
passed by his friends' house. There he stopped, and they entertained
him as before: they drank, danced, and sang. Alejo told them about
the virtues of his magic goat when he was feeling in a jovial mood;
and when he fell asleep, they exchanged his beast for one of their
own. After his nap, Alejo started home, his goat flung over his
shoulder; but again, when he tried to demonstrate to his wife the
magic powers of the goat, the animal did nothing, but stood looking
as foolish as before Alejo spoke the words the old man had taught
him. Barbara was more angry than ever, and, after railing at her
husband, would have nothing more to do with him.

Alejo immediately left home to find the old man again. In a short
time he met him. "How now, Alejo? What's the matter?"

"Your magic goat would not obey my command," said Alejo. "Try this
table, then," said the old man. "It will provide you with all kinds
of delicious food and drink. Just say, 'Tende la mesa!' [84] and all
kinds of foods will be served you."

Thanking the old man and bidding him good-by, Alejo shouldered the
magic table and left. He was invited into his friends' house as
before, and was entertained by the deceitful couple. Alejo imparted
to them the secret of his table. "Tende la mesa!" he said, and in
the wink of an eye every kind of food you could wish for appeared
on the table. They ate, and drank wine. Again Alejo drank so much,
that soon he was asleep, and again the false couple played a trick
on him: they exchanged his magic table for a common one of their
own. When Alejo woke up, he hastened to his own home, carrying the
table on his shoulder. He called his wife, and assured her that the
table would provide them with every variety of food. Now, this was
indeed good news to Barbara, so she called all their children about
them. When every one was seated about the table, Alejo exclaimed,
"Tende la mesa!"... You cannot imagine what blows, what pinches,
what whips, Alejo received from his wife's hands when not even a
single grain of rice appeared on the table!

Alejo now felt greatly ashamed before his wife. He wondered why it
was that when before his friends' eyes the purse, the goat, and the
table displayed their magic properties, they failed to display them
before his wife. However, he did not give up hope. He immediately
set out to seek the old man again. After a long wandering through
the same woods and hills and along river-banks, he came to the place
where he usually met him.

"Did the table prove good?" said the old man.

"No, Guiloy; so I have come here again."

"Well, Alejo," said the old man, "I pity you, indeed. Take this cane
as my last gift. Be very careful in using it, for I have no other
object to give you. The secret of this cane is this: if somebody has
done you wrong, say to the cane, 'Baston, pamordon!' [85] and then
it will lash that person. There are no princes, kings, or emperors
that it will not punish."

Taking the cane and thanking the old man, Alejo hastily returned
home. This time, when he reached the village, he did not pass by his
friends' house, but went directly home. He told his wife to go call
in all their friends, relatives, and neighbors, for they were going
to have a sort of banquet. At first Barbara was unwilling to do so,
because she remembered how she had been deceived before; but at last
Alejo persuaded her to do as he wished.

When all their friends, relatives, and neighbors were gathered in his
house, Alejo shut all the doors and even the windows. Then he shouted
to his magic cane, "Baston, pamordon!" and it at once began to lash
all the people in the house, throwing them into great confusion. At
last Alejo's two friends, the deceitful couple, exclaimed almost in
one voice, "Compadre, please stop, and we will give you back your
magic purse, goat, and table." When Alejo heard them say this, he
was filled with joy, and commanded the cane to cease.

That very day the magic purse, goat, and table were returned to him by
his compadre and comadre, and now Barbara realized that her husband's
wanderings had been profitable. The husband and wife became rich,
and they lived many happy years together.


Notes.

A Tagalog story resembling the Bicol tale in some respects is "The
Adventures of Juan" (JAFL 20 : 106-107), in which

A magic tree furnishes the lad who spares it a goat that shakes silver
money from its whiskers, a net which will catch fish even on dry
ground, a magic pot always full of rice, and spoons full of whatever
vegetables the owner wishes, and finally a stick that will beat and
kill. The first three articles a false friend steals from Juan by
making him drunk. With the help of his magic cane, however, he gets
them back, and becomes rich and respected. One night a hundred robbers
come to break into the house, to take all his goods and kill him;
but he says to the stick, "Boombye, boom-ha!" and with the swiftness
of lightning the stick flies around, and all those struck fall dead,
until there is not one left. Juan is never troubled again by robbers,
and in the end marries a princess and lives happily ever after.

The last part of this story I have given in full, because it is almost
identical with the episode at the end of the preceding tale (No. 26,
q.v.), and consequently connects that story with our present cycle. In
a "Carancal" variant (III, e) the hero finds a magic money-producing
goat.

The hero of our tale is a lazy, good-natured man, whose industrious
wife's reproaches finally drive him from home. Analogous to this
beginning, but not furnishing a complete parallel, is Caballero's
"Tio Curro el de la porra" (Ingram, 174-180).

Uncle Curro is pleasure-loving and improvident, and soon finds
himself and his family in the direst need. Unable finally to bear the
reproaches of his wife, he goes out in the field to hang himself, when
a little fairy dressed like a friar appears, and blames him for his
Judas-like thought. The fairy then gives him an inexhaustible purse,
but this is stolen from him by a rascally public-house keeper. Again
he goes to hang himself; but the fairy restrains him, and gives him
a cloak that will furnish him with all kinds of cooked food. This
is likewise stolen. The third time he is given a cudgel. While on
his way home, he is met by his wife and children, who begin to insult
him. "Cudgel, beat them!" Magistrates and officers are summoned. These
are put to rout; and finally Uncle Curro and his stick make such
havoc among all sent to restrain him, that the king promises him a
large estate in America.

This version differs from the usual form, in that the inn-keeper is
not punished, nor are the first two magic objects recovered.

The "Ass-Table-Stick" cycle, of which the "Indolent Husband" is clearly
a member, is one of the most widespread Märchen in the world. For
a full bibliography of this group, see Bolte-Polívka, 1 : 346-361
(on Grimm, No. 36). The usual formula for this cycle is as follows:--

A young servant (or a poor man) is presented by his master (or by
some powerful personage--in some of the versions, God himself) on two
different occasions with a magic object, usually a gold-giving animal,
and a table or cloth which miraculously supplies food. When in an inn,
he is robbed of the magic object and magic animal by the inn-keeper
or his wife, and worthless objects resembling those that are stolen
are substituted while the hero sleeps (or is drunk). The third magic
article, which he gets possession of in the same way as he acquired
the other two, is a magic cudgel or cane, through the aid of which
he recovers his stolen property.

This is the form of the story as it is found in Basile (1 : i),
Gonzenbach (No. 52), Cosquin (Nos. IV and LVI), Schott (No. 20),
Schneller (No. 15), Jacobs (English Fairy Tales, "The Ass, the
Table, and the Stick"), Dasent (No. XXXIV, "The Lad Who Went to the
North Wind" = Asbjörnsen og Moe, 1868, No. 7), Crane (No. XXXII,
"The Ass that Lays Money"); and it is this formula that our story
follows. Grimm, No. 36, however, differs from these stories in two
respects: (1) it has a framework-story of the deceitful goat on
whose account the father drives from home his three sons; (2) the
story proper concerns three brothers, one of whom acquires the little
wishing-table, another the gold-ass, and the third the cudgel. However,
as in the other tales, the possessor of the stick compels the thieving
inn-keeper to return the property stolen from his brothers.

In their details we notice a large number of variations, even among
the European forms. The personage from whom the poor man receives the
magic objects is sometimes God, Fortune, a fairy, a statue, a magician,
a dwarf, a priest, a lord, a lady, etc. (Cosquin, 1 : 52). The old
humpback in our story may be some saint in disguise, though the
narrator does not say so. The gold-producing animal is not always an
ass, either: it may be a ram (as in the Norse and Czech versions),
a sheep (Magyar, Polish, Lithuanian), a horse (Venetian), a mule
(Breton), a he-goat (Lithuanian, Norwegian), a she-goat (Austrian),
a cock (Oldenburg), or a hen (Tyrolese, Irish). For references see
Macculloch, 215.

The Indian members of this cycle are Lal Behari Day, No. 3, "The
Indigent Brahman;" Minajev, "Indiislda Skaski y Legendy" (1877),
No. 12; Stokes, No. 7, "The Foolish Sakhouni;" Frere, No. 12, "The
Jackal, the Barber, and the Brahmin who had Seven Daughters." Of these
versions, Day's most closely resembles the European form (Cosquin,
1 : 57).

Numerous as are the Indian and other Oriental variants, it seems to
me very likely that out story was not derived directly from them, but
from Europe. However, I shall not undertake to name the parent version.


TALE 28


Cecilio, the Servant of Emilio.

Narrated by Sancho B. de Leon, a Tagalog from Santa Cruz, Laguna. He
heard the story from his grandfather.

Once upon a time there lived a witty orphan whose name was
Cecilio. His parents had died when he was six years old. After that
time he became a servant of Emilio, a man of wealth living in a very
lonely and desolate barrio. The boy was faithful and kind-hearted,
but his master was cruel. Cecilio had no wages at all. In short,
he served Emilio for four years, and at the end of that time he was
given five hundred centavos as a payment for his services. Cecilio
thought that he had been given too much: he was so simple-minded,
that he did not know he had been cheated by his master, who should
have given him ten times five hundred centavos.

Cecilio put his money in a new purse, and rushed out into the main road
of the barrio to find his companions and tell them of the reward he had
received. He was so very happy, that before he knew it, and without
feeling at all tired, he had reached another barrio. Suddenly on his
way he met two men with drawn bolos. They stopped him, and said, "Boy,
your money, or your life!" Cecilio was much amazed at these words,
but was also so frightened that he gave up the money at once. He
only said to himself, "Well, since I am not strong enough to defend
myself, I either have to surrender my money or die." He sat under
a tree lamenting his fortune. But the two robbers were in trouble,
because one of them wanted a greater share than the other. The second
robber said that their shares should be the same, for they had stolen
the money together; but the former answered, "I am in all respects
better than you are."--"Oh, no! for we have not yet had a trial,"
said the second. At this they began to fight; and soon both fell so
severely wounded, that they died before Cecilio, who had heard the
noise of the struggle, could reach the place where they were disputing.

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