Book: Filipino Popular Tales

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Now, the Buñgisñgis was pleased with the beautiful colors of the belt,
and wanted to possess it: so he said to the monkey, "Put the belt
around me, then, and we shall be friends."

The monkey placed the boa-constrictor around the body of the
Buñgisñgis. Then he pinched the boa, which soon made an end of
his enemy.


Notes.

The pugut, among the Ilocanos and Pampangos, is a nocturnal spirit,
usually in the form of a gigantic Negro, terrifying, but not
particularly harmful. It corresponds to the Tagalog cafre. [20]
Its power of rapid transformation, however, makes it a more or less
formidable opponent. Sometimes it takes the form of a cat with fiery
eyes, a minute later appearing as a large dog. Then it will turn into
an enormous Negro smoking a large cigar, and finally disappear as a
ball of fire. It lives either in large trees or in abandoned houses
and ruined buildings.

Buñgisñgis is defined by the narrator as meaning "a large strong man
that is always laughing." The word is derived from the root ñgisi,
"to show the teeth" (Tag.). This giant has been described to me as
being of herculean size and strength, sly, and possessing an upper
lip so large that when it is thrown back it completely covers the
demon's face. The Buñgisñgis can lift a huge animal as easily as if
it were a feather.

Obviously these two superhuman demons have to be overcome with
strategy, not muscle. The heroes, consequently, are beings endowed with
cleverness. After Suac has killed Pugut and has come into possession
of his victim's magic club, he easily slays a man-eating giant (see
F4 in notes to preceding tale). The tricks played on the Buñgisñgis
by the monkey ("ringing the bell" and the "king's belt") are found in
the Ilocano story "Kakarangkang" and in "The Monkey and the Turtle,"
but in the latter tale the monkey is the victim. It would thus seem
that a precedent for the mixture of two old formulas by the narrator
of "Kakarangkang" already existed among the Tagalogs (cf. the end of
the notes to No. 3).

We have not a large enough number of variants to enable us to determine
the original form of the separate incidents combined to form the cycles
represented by stories Nos. 3, 4, and 55; but the evidence we have
leads to the supposition that Carancal motifs ABCDF1 are very old in
the Islands, and that these taken together probably constituted the
prototype of the "Carancal" group. I cannot but believe that the
"interrupted-cooking" episode, as found in the Philippines, owes
nothing to European forms of "John the Bear;" for nowhere in the
Islands have I found it associated with the subsequent adventures
comprising the "John the Bear" norm,--the underground pursuit of the
demon, the rescue of the princesses by the hero, the treachery of the
companions, the miraculous escape of the hero from the underworld,
and the final triumph of justice and the punishment of the traitors
(see No. 17 and notes).

For a Borneo story of a "Deer, Pig, and Plandok (Mouse-Deer)," see
Roth, 1 : 346. In this tale, as well as in another from British
North Borneo (Evans, 471-473, "The Plandok and the Gergasi"), it
is the clever plandok who alone is able to outwit the giant. In the
latter story there are seven animals,--carabao, ox, dog, stag, horse,
mouse-deer, and barking-deer. The carabao and horse in turn try in
vain to guard fish from the gergasi (a mythical giant who carries
a spear over his shoulder). The plandok takes his turn now, after
his two companions have been badly mishandled, and tricks the giant
into letting himself be bound and pushed into a well, because the
"sky is falling." There he is killed by the other animals when they
return. With this last incident compare the trick of the fox in the
Mongolian story in our notes to No. 48. In two other stories of the
cunning of the plandok, "The Plandok and the Tiger" (Evans, 474) and
"The Plandok and the Bear" (ibid.), we meet with the "king's belt"
trick and the "king's gong" trick respectively. For an additional
record from Borneo, see Edwin H. Gomes, "Seventeen Years among the
Sea Dyaks of Borneo" (Lond., 1911), 255-261.


TALE 5


How Suan Became Rich.

Narrated by Bonifacio Ynares, a Tagalog living in Pasig, Rizal.

Pedro and Suan were friends. Pedro inherited a great fortune from his
parents, who had recently died; but Suan was as poor as the poorest
of beggars that ever lived. Early one morning Suan went to his friend,
and said, "I wonder if you have a post that you do not need."

"Yes, I have one," said Pedro. "Why? Do you need it?"

"Yes, I need one badly, to build my house."

"Very well, take it," said Pedro. "Do not worry about paying for it."

Suan, who had not thought evil of his friend, took the post and built
his house. When it was finished, his house was found to surpass that
of his friend. This fact made Pedro so envious of Suan, that at last
he went to him and asked Suan for the post back again.

"Why, if I take it from its place, my house will be destroyed. So
let me pay you for it, or let me look for another post in the town
and get it for you!"

"No," said Pedro, "I must have my own post, for I wish to use it."

Finally Suan became so greatly annoyed by his friend's insistence,
that he exclaimed, "I will not give you back your post."

"Take heed, Suan! for I will accuse you before the king."

"All right! do as you please."

"We will then go to the king Monday," said Pedro.

"Very well; I am always ready."

When Monday came, both prepared to go to the palace. Pedro, who cared
for his money more than for anything else, took some silver coins along
with him for the journey. Suan took cooked rice and fish instead. Noon
came while they were still on the road. Suan opened his package of
food and began to eat. Pedro was also very hungry at this time, but
no food could be bought on the way. So Suan generously invited Pedro
to eat with him, and they dined together.

After eating, the two resumed their journey. At last they came to a
river. The bridge over it was broken in the middle, and one had to jump
in order to get to the other side. Pedro jumped. Suan followed him,
but unfortunately fell. It so happened that an old man was bathing
in the river below, and Suan accidentally fell right on him. The old
man was knocked silly, and as a consequence was drowned. When Isidro,
the son, who dearly loved his father, heard of the old man's death, he
at once made up his mind to accuse Suan before the king. He therefore
joined the two travellers.

After a while the three came to a place where they saw Barbekin
having a hard time getting his carabao out of the mire. Suan offered
to help. He seized the carabao by the tail, and pulled with great
force. The carabao was rescued, but its tail was broken off short
by a sudden pull of Suan. Barbekin was filled with rage because of
the injury done to his animal: so he, too, resolved to accuse Suan
before the king.

When they came to the palace, the king said, "Why have you come here?"

Pedro spoke first. "I have come," he said, "to accuse Suan to you. He
has one of my posts, and he won't return it to me."

On being asked if the accusation was true, Suan responded with a nod,
and said in addition, "But Pedro ate a part of my rice and fish on
the way here."

"My decision, then," said the king, "is that Suan shall give Pedro
his post, and that Pedro shall give Suan his rice and fish."

Isidro was the next to speak. "I have come here to accuse Suan. While
my father was bathing in the river, Suan jumped on him and killed him."

"Suan, then, must bathe in the river," said the king, "and you may
jump on him."

When Barbekin was asked why he had come, he replied, "I wish to accuse
Suan. He pulled my carabao by the tail, and it was broken off short."

"Give Suan your carabao, then," said the king. "He shall not return
it to you until he has made its tail grow to its full length."

The accused and the accusers now took their leave of the king.

"Give me the carabao now," said Suan to Barbekin when they had gone
some distance from the palace.

The carabao was young and strong, and Barbekin hated to give it up. So
he said, "Don't take the carabao, and I will give you fifty pesos."

"No; the decision of the king must be fulfilled," said Suan. Barbekin
then raised the sum to ninety pesos, and Suan consented to accept
the offer. Thus Suan was rewarded for his work in helping Barbekin.

When they came to the bridge, Suan went down into the river, and told
Isidro to jump on him. But the bridge was high, and Isidro was afraid
to jump. Moreover, he did not know how to swim, and he feared that he
would but drown himself if he jumped. So he asked Suan to pardon him.

"No, you must fulfil the decision of the king," answered Suan.

"Let me off from jumping on you, and I will give you five hundred
pesos," said Isidro.

The amount appealed to Suan as being a good offer, so he accepted it
and let Isidro go.

As soon as Suan reached home, he took Pedro's post from his house,
and started for Pedro's house, taking a razor along with him. "Here
is your post," he said; "but you must lie down, for I am going to
get my rice and fish from you."

In great fright Pedro said, "You need not return the post any more."

"No," said Suan, "we must fulfil the decision of the king."

"If you do not insist on your demand," said Pedro, "I will give you
half of my riches."

"No, I must have my rice and fish." Suan now held Pedro by the
shoulder, and began to cut Pedro's abdomen with the razor. He had no
sooner done that, than Pedro, in great terror, cried out,--

"Don't cut me, and you shall have all my riches!"

Thus Suan became the richest man in town by using his tact and
knowledge in outwitting his enemies.


The King's Decisions.

Narrated by José M. Hilario, a Tagalog from Batangas, who heard the
story from his father.

Once a poor man named Juan was without relatives or friends. Life
to him was a series of misfortunes. A day often passed without his
tasting even a mouthful of food.

One day, weakened with hunger and fatigue, as he was walking along
the road, he passed a rich man's house. It so happened that at this
time the rich man's food was being cooked. The food smelled so good,
that Juan's hunger was satisfied merely with the fragrance. When the
rich man learned that the smell of his food had satisfied Juan, he
demanded money of Juan. Juan refused to give money, however, because
he had none, and because he had neither tasted nor touched the rich
man's food. "Let's go to the king, then," said Pedro, the rich man,
"and have this matter settled!" Juan had no objection to the proposal,
and the two set out for the palace.

Soon they came to a place where the mire was knee-deep. There they saw
a young man who was trying to help his horse out of a mud-hole. "Hey,
you lazy fellows! help me to get my horse out of this hole," said
Manuel. The three tried with all their might to release the horse. They
finally succeeded; but unfortunately Juan had taken hold of the
horse's tail, and it was broken off when Juan gave a sudden hard pull.

"You have got to pay me for injuring my horse," said Manuel.

"No, I will not give you any money, because I had no intention of
helping you until you asked me to," said Juan.

"Well, the king will have to settle the quarrel." Juan, who was not
to be frightened by threats, went with Pedro and Manuel.

Night overtook the three on their way. They had to lodge themselves in
the house of one of Pedro's friends. Juan was not allowed to come up,
but was made to sleep downstairs.

At midnight the pregnant wife of the host had to make water. She
went to the place under which Juan was sleeping. Juan, being suddenly
awakened and frightened, uttered a loud shriek; and the woman, also
frightened because she thought there were robbers or ghosts about,
miscarried. The next morning the husband asked Juan why he had cried
out so loud in the night. Juan said that he was frightened.

"You won't fool me! Come with us to the king," said the husband.

When the four reached the palace, they easily gained access to the
royal presence. Then each one explained why he had come there.

"I'll settle the first case," said the king. He commanded the servant
to fetch two silver coins and place them on the table. "Now, Pedro,
come here and smell the coins. As Juan became satisfied with the
smell of your food, so now satisfy yourself with the smell of the
money." Pedro could not say a word, though he was displeased at the
unfavorable decision.

"Now I'll give my decisions on the next two cases. Manuel, you must
give your horse to Juan, and let him have it until another tail
grows.--And you, married man, must let Juan have your wife until she
gives birth to another child."

Pedro, Manuel, and the married man went home discontented with the
decisions of the king,--Pedro without having received pay, Manuel
without his horse, and the other man without his wife.


Notes.

These two Tagalog stories, together with another, "How Piro
became Rich," which is almost identical with No. 5(a), may
possibly be descended directly from an old Buddhist birth-story
("Gamani-canda-jataka," No. 257),--a tale in which W. A. Clouston
(see Academy, No. 796, for Aug. 6, 1887) sees the germ of the
"pound-of-flesh" incident. An abstract of the first part of this Jataka
will set forth the striking resemblance between our stories and this
old Hindoo apologue, [21] The part of the Jataka that interests us
is briefly the account of how a man was haled to the king's tribunal
for injuries done unwittingly, and how the king passed judgment
thereupon. The abstract follows:--

Gamani, a certain old courtier of the ruling king's dead father,
decided to earn his living by farming, as he thought that the new
king should be surrounded with advisers of his own age. He took up
his abode in a village three leagues from the city, and, after the
rainy season was over, one day borrowed two oxen from a friend, with
which to help him do his ploughing. In the evening he returned the
oxen; but the friend being at dinner, and not inviting Gamani to eat,
Gamani put the oxen in the stall, and got no formal release from his
creditor. That night thieves stole the cattle. Next day the owner of
the oxen discovered the theft, and decided to make Gamani pay for the
beasts. So the two set out to lay the case before the king. On the
way they stopped for food at the house of a friend of Gamani's. The
woman of the house, while climbing a ladder to the store-room for rice
for Gamani, fell and miscarried. The husband, returning that instant,
accused Gamani of hitting his wife and bringing on untimely labor:
so the husband set off with Gamani's first accuser to get justice
from the king. On their way they met a horse that would not go with
its groom. The owner of the horse shouted to G. to hit the horse
with something and head it back. G. threw a stone at the animal, but
broke its leg. "Here's a king's officer for you," shouted the man;
"you've broken my horse's leg." G. was thus three men's prisoner. By
this time G. was in despair, and decided to kill himself. As soon as
opportunity came, he rushed up a hill near the road, and threw himself
from a precipice. But he fell on the back of an old basket-maker and
killed him on the spot. The son of the basket-maker accused G. of
murder and went along with the three other plaintiffs to the king. (I
omit here the various questions that persons whom G. meets along the
road beg him to take to the king for an answer.)

All five appearing in the presence of the king, the owner of the oxen
demanded justice. In answer to the king's question, he at first denied
having seen G. return the oxen, but later admitted that he saw them
in the stall. G. was ordered to pay twenty-four pieces of money for
the oxen; but the plaintiff, for lying, was condemned to have his
eyes plucked out by G. Terrified at the prospect, he threw money
to G. and rushed away. The judgment in the case of the second false
accuser was this: G. was to take his friend's wife and live with her
until she should bear another son to take the place of the child that
miscarried. Again G. was bought off by the plaintiff. In the third
case the owner of the horse at first denied having requested G. to
hit the beast, but later admitted the truth. Judgment: G. was to pay
a thousand pieces (which the king gave him) for the injured animal,
but was also to tear out his false accuser's tongue. The fellow gave
G. a sum of money and departed. The fourth decision was as follows:
inasmuch as G. could not restore the dead father to life, he was to
take the dead man's widow to his home and be a father to the young
basket-maker; but he, rather than have his old home broken up, gave
G. a sum of money and hurried away.


It is to be regretted that this Buddhistic birth-story was not known
to Theodor Benfey, who, in his exhaustive discussion of our present
cycle, particularly from the point of view of the "pound-of-flesh"
incident (1 : 393-410), writes, "I may remark that this recital [i.e.,
of the decisions], which here borders on the comic, is based upon
serious traditional legends which have to do with Buddhistic casuistry"
(p. 397). Benfey's fragmentary citations are not very convincing; but
this Jataka proves that his reasoning, as usual, was entirely sound.

An Indo-Persian version called the "Kází of Emessa," cited by Clouston
(op. cit.), might be mentioned here, as it too has close resemblances
to our stories.

While a merchant is being taken by a Jew before the king because the
merchant will not pay his bond of a pound of flesh, he meets with
the following accidents: (1) In attempting to stop a runaway mule, he
knocks out one of the animal's eyes with a stone; (2) while sleeping on
a flat roof, he is aroused suddenly by an uproar in the street, and,
jumping from the roof, he kills an old man below; (3) in trying to
pull an ass out of the mud, he pulls its tail off. The owner of the
mule, the sons of the dead man, and the owner of the ass, go along
with the Jew to present their cases before the king, whose decisions
are as follows: (1') The owner of the mule, valued at 1000 dínárs,
is to saw the animal in two lengthwise, and is to give the blind
half to the merchant, who must pay 500 dínárs for it. As the owner
refuses, he is obliged to pay the merchant 100 dínárs for bringing in
a troublesome suit. (2') Merchant must stand below a roof and allow
himself to be jumped on by the sons of the dead man; but they refuse
to take the risk, and are obliged to pay the merchant 100 dínárs
for troubling him. (3') The owner of the tailless ass is compelled
to try to pull out the tail of the Kází's mule. Naturally the animal
resents such treatment, and the accuser is terribly bruised. Finally,
to avoid further punishment, he says that his own animal never had a
tail. Hence he is forced to give the merchant 100 dínárs for bringing
in a false suit.


In the "Katha-sarit-sagara" (translated by C. H. Tawney, 2 : 180-181)
occurs this story:--

One day, when Brahman Devabhúti had gone to bathe, his wife went into
the garden to get vegetables, and saw a donkey belonging to a washerman
eating them. She took up a stick and ran after the donkey; the animal,
trying to escape, fell into a pit and broke its hoof. When the master
heard of that, he came in a passion, and beat and kicked the Brahman
woman. Accordingly she, being pregnant, had a miscarriage; but the
washerman returned home with his donkey. Her husband, hearing of it,
went, in his distress, and complained to the chief magistrate of the
town. The foolish man, after hearing both sides of the case, delivered
this judgment: "Since the donkey's hoof is broken, let the Brahman
carry the donkey's load for the washerman until the donkey is again fit
for work; and let the washerman make the Bráhman's wife pregnant again,
since he made her miscarry." When the Bráhman and his wife heard this
decision, they, in their despair, took poison and died; and when the
king heard of it, he put to death that inconsiderate judge.

The Tagalog story of "How Piro became Rich," which I have not printed
here, is identical with "How Suan became Rich," with this exception,
that a horse's tail, instead of a carabao's, is pulled off by the
hero. And there is this addition: while travelling to the king's court,
Piro hears cries for help coming from the woods. He rushes to the spot,
and sees a young lady fighting a swarm of bees. Piro helps kill the
bees with his stick, but, in doing so, injures the woman somewhat
severely. Her father, angered, joins the accusers, and requests the
king that he order Piro to cure his daughter. The king rules that if
Piro is to do this, and if the young woman is to get the best care,
she must become Piro's wife. For relinquishing his right to the girl,
Piro receives a hundred alfonsos from the father.

All in all, the close agreement between our stories and the three
Eastern versions cited above makes it reasonably certain that the
"Wonderful Decisions" group in the Philippines derives directly
from India.



TALE 6


The Four Blind Brothers.

Narrated by Eutiqiano Garcia, a Pampangan, who said he heard the
story from a boy from Misamis, Mindanao.

There was once a man who had eight sons. Four of them were blind. He
thought of sending the children away, simply because he could not
afford to keep them in the house any longer. Accordingly one night
he called his eight children together, and said, "He who does not
provide for the future shall want in the present. You are big enough
and are able to support yourselves. To-morrow I shall send you away
to seek your fortunes."

When morning came, the boys bade their father good-by. The blind sons
went together in one party, and the rest in another. Now begins the
pathetic story of the four blind brothers.

They groped along the road, each holding the hand of the other. After
a day of continuous walking, the four brothers were very far away
from their town. They had not tasted food during all that time. In
the evening they came to a cocoanut-grove.

"Here are some cocoanut-trees," said one of them. "Let us get a bunch
of cocoanuts and have something to eat!"

So the eldest brother took off his camisa china [22] and climbed up
one of the trees. When he reached the top, the tree broke.

"Bung!" Down came the poor fellow. "One!" cried the youngest
brother. "Three more!" shouted the rest.

"Don't come down until you have dropped four!" they all cried at
once. Who would answer them? Their brother lay dead on the ground.

While they were waiting for the second "Bung!" the second brother
climbed up the same tree. What had happened to the first happened
also to him, and so to the third in turn. As soon as the youngest
brother heard the third fall, he thought of looking for his share. He
crept about to find the cocoanuts. Alas! he discovered that his three
brothers lay dead on the ground. He went away from the place crying
very loud.

Now, his crying happened to disturb the patianac, [23] who were
trying to sleep. They went out to see what was the matter. When
they found the poor helpless blind man, they were very much moved,
and they gave him food and shelter for the night. They also gave
him the tail of a pagui, [24] which would help him find his fortune,
they said. At daybreak they showed him the way out of the grove.

The blind man walked on and on, until he was hailed by a lame man
resting under a shady tree. "Friend, carry me on your shoulders,
and let us travel together!" said the lame man to the blind.

"Willingly," replied the blind man.

They travelled for many hours, and at last came to a big, lonely
house. They knocked at the open door, but nobody answered. At last
they entered, and found the place empty. While they were searching
through the house, the owner came. He was a two-headed giant. The
blind man and the lame man were upstairs.

The giant was afraid to enter the house, but he called in a voice of
thunder, "Who's there?"

"We are big men," answered the two companions.

"How big are you?" asked the giant.

"We are so big that the foundation of the house shakes when we walk,"
the two replied.

"Give me a proof that you are really big men!" cried the giant again.

"We will show you one of our hairs," they answered, and they dropped
from the window the tail of the pagui.

The giant looked at it in wonder. He was immediately convinced that
they were more powerful than he was. So, picking up the "hair,"
the giant went away, afraid to face such antagonists in single combat.

So the prediction of the patianac came true. The house and all the
property of the giant fell into the hands of the blind man and the
lame man. They lived there happily all the rest of their lives.


Juan the Blind Man.

Narrated by Pedro D. L. Sorreta, a Bicol from Virac, Catanduanes,
where the story is common.

Many years ago there lived in a little village near a thick forest
eight blind men who were close friends. In spite of their physical
defects, they were always happy,--perhaps much happier than their
fellow-villagers, for at night they would always go secretly to one
of the neighboring cocoanut-groves, where they would spend their time
drinking tuba [25] or eating young cocoanuts.

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