Book: Filipino Popular Tales

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




One evening a severe typhoon [26] struck the little village, and most
of the cocoanut-trees were broken off at the top. The next afternoon
the joyous party went to the cocoanut-grove to steal fruits. As soon
as they arrived there, seven of them climbed trees. Juan, the youngest
of all, was ordered to remain below so as to count and gather in the
cocoanuts his friends threw down to him. While his companions were
climbing the trees, Juan was singing,--


"Eight friends, good friends,
One fruit each eats;
Good Juan here bends,
Young nuts he takes."


He had no sooner repeated his verse three times than he heard a fall.

"One," he counted; and he began to sing the second verse:--


"Believe me, that everything
Which man can use he must bring,
No matter at all of what it's made;
So, friends, a counter you need."


Crrapup! he heard another fall, which was followed by three in close
succession. "Good!" he said, "five in all. Three more, friends,"
and he raised his head as if he could see his companions. After a
few minutes he heard two more falls.

"Six, seven--well, only seven," he said, as he began searching for
the cocoanuts on the ground. "One more for me, friends--one more,
and every one is satisfied." But it was his friends who had fallen;
for, as the trees were only stumps, the climbers fell off when they
reached the tops.

Juan, however, did not guess what had happened until he found one
of the dead bodies. Then he ran away as fast as he could. At last he
struck Justo, a lame man. After hearing Juan's story, Justo advised
Juan not to return to his village, lest he be accused of murder by
the relatives of the other men.

After a long talk, the two agreed to travel together and seek a
place of refuge, for the blind man's proposal seemed a good one to
the lame man:--


"Blind man, strong legs;
Lame man, good eyes;
Four-footed are pigs;
Four-handed are monkeys.
But we'll walk on two,
And we'll see with two."


So when morning dawned, they started on their journey.

They had not travelled far when Justo saw a horn in the road, and
told Juan about it. Juan said,--


"Believe me, that everything
Which man can use he must bring,
No matter at all of what it's made;
So, friend, a horn too we need."


The next thing that Justo saw was a rusted axe; and after being told
about it, Juan repeated his little verse again, ending it with, "So,
friend, an axe too we need." A few hours later the lame man saw a
piece of rope; and when the blind man knew of it, he said,--


"Bring one, bring two, bring all,
The horn, the axe, the rope as well."


And last of all they found an old drum, which they took along with
them too.

Soon Justo saw a very big house. They were glad, for they thought
that they could get something to eat there. When they came near it,
they found that the door was open; but when they entered it, Justo
saw nothing but bolos, spears, and shields hanging on the walls. After
a warm discussion as to what they should do, they decided to hide in
the ceiling of the house, and remain there until the owner returned.

They had no sooner made themselves comfortable than they heard some
persons coming. When Justo saw the bloody bolos and spears of the
men, and the big sack of money they carried, he was terrified, for he
suspected that they were outlaws. He trembled; his hair stood on end;
he could not control himself. At last he shouted, "Ay, here?"

The blind man, who could not see the danger they were in, stopped
the lame man, but not before the owners of the house had heard them.

"Ho, you mosquitoes! what are you doing there?" asked the chief of
the outlaws as he looked up at the ceiling.

"Aha, you rascals! we are going to eat you all," answered the blind
man in the loudest voice he could muster.

"What's that you say?" returned the chief.

"Why, we have been looking for you, for we intend to eat you all up,"
replied Juan; "and to show you what kind of animals we are, here is
one of my teeth," and Juan threw down the rusted axe. "Look at one
of my hairs!" continued Juan, as he threw down the rope.

The outlaws were so frightened that they were almost ready to run
away. The chief could not say a single word.

"Now listen, you ants, to my whistle!" said Juan, and he blew
the horn. "And to show you how big our stomachs are, hear us beat
them!" and he beat the drum. The outlaws were so frightened that they
ran away. Some of them even jumped out of the windows.

When the robbers were all gone, Juan and Justo went down to divide
the money; but the lame man tried to cheat the blind man, and they
had a quarrel over the division. Justo struck Juan in the eyes with
the palm of his hand, and the blind man's eyes were opened so that he
could see. Juan kicked Justo so hard, that the lame man rolled toward
one corner of the house and struck a post. His lameness was cured,
so that he could stand and walk.

When they saw that each had done the other a great service, they
divided the money fairly, and lived ever after together as close
friends.


Teofilo the Hunchback, and the Giant.

Narrated by Loreta Benavides, a Bicol student, who heard the story
from her aunt.

Once there lived a hunchback whose name was Teofilo. He was an
orphan, and used to get his food by wandering through the woods. He
had no fixed home. Sometimes he even slept under large trees in the
forest. His one blind eye, as well as his crooked body, would make
almost any one pity his miserable condition.

One day, while he was wandering through the woods looking for something
to eat, he found a piece of large rope. He was very glad; for he
could sell the rope, and in that way get money to buy food. Walking
a little farther, he found a gun leaning against a fence. This gun,
he supposed, had been left there by a hunter. He was glad to have
it, too, for protection. Finally, while crossing a swampy place,
he saw a duck drinking in the brook. He ran after the duck, and at
last succeeded in catching it. Now he was sure of a good meal.

But it had taken him a long time to capture the duck. Night soon came
on, and he had to look for a resting-place. Fortunately he came to a
field, and his eye caught a glimpse of light on the other side. He went
towards the light, and found it to come from a house, all the windows
of which were open. He knocked at the door, but nobody answered;
so he just pushed it open and entered. He then began to feel very
comfortable. He prepared his bed, and then went to sleep. He did not
know that he was in a giant's house.

At midnight Teofilo was awakened by a loud voice. He made a hole in
the wall and looked out. There in the dark he saw a very tall man,
taller even than the house itself. It was the giant. The giant said,
"I smell some one here." He tried to open the door, but Teofilo had
locked it.

"If you are really a strong man and braver than I," said the giant,
"let me see your hair!"

Teofilo then threw out the piece of rope. The giant was surprised at
its size. He then asked to see Teofilo's louse, and Teofilo threw
out the duck. The giant was terrified, for he had never seen such
a large louse before. Finally the giant said, "Well, you seem to be
larger than I. Let me hear your voice!"

Teofilo fired his gun. When the giant heard the gun and saw it
spitting fire, he trembled, for he thought that the man's saliva
was burning coals. Afraid to challenge his strange guest any more,
the giant ran away and disappeared forever.

And so Teofilo the hunchback lived happily all the rest of his days
in the giant's house without being troubled by any one.


Juan and the Buringcantada.

Narrated by Pacifico Buenconsejo, a Bicol, who heard the story from
his grandmother.

A long time ago, when the Bicols had not yet been welded into one
tribe, there lived a couple in the mountains of Albay who had one son,
named Juan. Before the boy was five years old, his father died. As
Juan grew up, he became very lazy: he did not like to work, nor would
he help his mother earn their daily bread. Despite his laziness,
Juan was dearly loved by his mother. She did not want him to work
in the field under the hot sun. Because of his mother's indulgence,
he grew lazier and lazier.

Every afternoon Juan used to take a walk while his mother was
working. She was a kind-hearted woman, and often told her son to help
anybody he met that needed help. One afternoon, while he was walking
in a field, he saw two carabaos fighting. One was gored by the other,
and was about to die. Juan, mindful of what his mother told him,
went between the two animals to help the wounded one. Suddenly the
two animals gored him in the back, and he fell to the ground. A man,
passing by, found him, and took him to his home. When Juan's mother
learned why her son had been gored, she was greatly distressed that
her son was so foolish.

Juan soon recovered, and one day he invited his mother to go with
him to look for money. He insisted so hard, that finally she agreed
to accompany him. On their way they found an axe, which Juan picked
up and took along with him. They had not gone much farther, when
they saw a long rope stretching across the road. Juan's mother did
not want him to take it, but he said that it would be of some use to
them later. By and by they came to a river, on the bank of which they
found a large drum. Juan took this with him, too.

When they had been travelling about a week, they came upon a big
house. Juan said that he wanted to go see what was in the house, but
his mother told him that he should not go. However, he kept urging and
urging, until at last his mother consented, and went with him. When
they reached the hall, they found it well decorated with flowers and
leaves. They visited all the apartments of the house; and when they
came to the dining-room, they saw a large hole in the ceiling. Juan
told his mother that they had better hide in the ceiling until they
found out who the owner of the house was. The mother thought that
the plan was a wise one; so they went to the ceiling, taking with
them the axe, the rope, and the drum.

They had not been hiding many minutes, when the Buringcantada, a
giant with one eye in the middle of his forehead and with two long
tusks that projected from the sides of his mouth, came in with his
friends and servants. When the dinner was ready, the servant called
his master and his guests into the dining-room. While they were eating,
Juan said in a loud voice,--


"Tawi cami
Sa quisami
Qui masiram
Na ulaman." [27]


The Buringcantada was very angry to hear the voice of a man in the
ceiling, and he said in a thundering voice, "If you are a big man
like me, let me see one of your hairs!"

Juan showed the rope from the hole in the ceiling.

Astonished at the size of the hair, the Buringcantada said again,
"Let me see one of your teeth!" Juan showed the axe.

By this time Juan's mother was almost dead with fear, and she told
her son not to move.

After a few minutes the Buringcantada said again, "Beat your stomach,
and let me hear the sound of it!" When Juan beat the drum, the
Buringcantada and all the guests and servants ran away in fright,
for they had never heard such a sound before.

Then Juan and his mother came down from the ceiling. In this house
they lived like a rich family, for they found much money in one of
the rooms. As for the Buringcantada, he never came back to his house
after he left it.


The Manglalabas.

Narrated by Arsenio Bonifacio, a Tagalog, who heard the story from
his father.

Once upon a time, in the small town of Balubad, there was a big
house. It was inhabited by a rich family. When the head of the family
died, the house was gloomy and dark. The family wore black clothes,
and was sad.

Three days after the death of the father, the family began to be
troubled at night by a manglalabas. [28] He threw stones at the house,
broke the water-jars, and moved the beds. Some pillows were even
found in the kitchen the next day. The second night, Manglalabas
visited the house again. He pinched the widow; but when she woke
up, she could not see anything. Manglalabas also emptied all the
water-jars. Accordingly the family decided to abandon the house.

A band of brave men in that town assembled, and went to the house. At
midnight the spirit came again, but the brave men said they were ready
to fight it. Manglalabas made a great deal of noise in the house. He
poured out all the water, kicked the doors, and asked the men who they
were. They answered, "We are fellows who are going to kill you." But
when the spirit approached them, and they saw that it was a ghost,
they fled away. From that time on, nobody was willing to pass a night
in that house.

In a certain barrio [29] of Balubad there lived two queer men. One
was called Bulag, because he was blind; and the other, Cuba, because
he was hunchbacked. One day these two arranged to go to Balubad to
beg. Before they set out, they agreed that the blind man should carry
the hunchback on his shoulder to the town. So they set out. After they
had crossed the Balubad River, Cuba said, "Stop a minute, Bulag! here
is a hatchet." Cuba got down and picked it up. Then they proceeded
again. A second time Cuba got off the blind man's shoulder, for he
saw an old gun by the roadside. He picked this up also, and took it
along with him.

When they reached the town, they begged at many of the houses, and
finally they came to the large abandoned house. They did not know
that this place was haunted by a spirit. Cuba said, "Maybe no one is
living in this house;" and Bulag replied, "I think we had better stay
here for the night."

As they were afraid that somebody might come, they went up into the
ceiling. At midnight they were awakened by Manglalabas making a great
noise and shouting, "I believe that there are some new persons in my
house!" Cuba, frightened, fired the gun. The ghost thought that the
noise of the gun was some one crying. So he said, "If you are truly
a big man, give me some proofs."

Then Cuba took the handle out of the hatchet and threw the head down
at the ghost. Manglalabas thought that this was one of the teeth of
his visitor, and, convinced that the intruder was a powerful person,
he said, "I have a buried treasure near the barn. I wish you to
dig it up. The reason I come here every night is on account of this
treasure. If you will only dig it up, I will not come here any more."

The next night Bulag and Cuba dug in the ground near the barn. There
they found many gold and silver pieces. When they were dividing the
riches, Cuba kept three-fourths of the treasure for himself. Bulag
said, "Let me see if you have divided fairly," and, placing his hands
on the two piles, he found that Cuba's was much larger.

Angry at the discovery, Cuba struck Bulag in the eyes, and they
were opened. When Bulag could see, he kicked Cuba in the back, and
straightway his deformity disappeared. Therefore they became friends
again, divided the money equally, and owned the big house between them.


Notes.

A Pampango version, "The Cripple and the Blind Man" (I have it only
in abstract), is almost identical with the second part of "The Four
Blind Brothers." A blind man and a cripple travel together, blind
man carrying, cripple guiding. Rope, drum, hatchet, etc. But these
two companions do not quarrel over the distribution of the wealth:
they live peacefully together.

I have printed in full five of the versions, because, while they
are members of a very widespread family of tales in which a poor but
valiant hero deceives and outwits a giant, ogre, ghost, or band of
robbers, they form a more restricted brotherhood of that large family,
and the deception is of a very definite special sort. The hero and the
outwitted do not meet face to face, nor is there a contest of prowess
between them. Merely by displaying as tokens of his size and strength
certain seemingly useless articles which he has picked up and carried
along with him on his travels, the hero frightens forever from their
rich home a band of robbers or a giant or a ghost, and remains in
possession of the treasures of the deceived one.

Trolls, ogres, giants, robbers, dragons, are proverbially stupid,
and a clever hero with more wits than brawn has no difficulty in
thoroughly frightening them. Grimm's story of "The Brave Little Tailor"
(No. 20), with its incidents of "cheese-squeezing," "bird-throwing,"
"pretended carrying of the oak-tree," "springing over the cherry-tree,"
and "escape from the bed," and opening with the "seven-at-a-blow"
episode, is typical of one large group of tales about a giant
outwitted. (For an enumeration of the analogues, see Bolte-Polívka,
1 : 148-165; for a fuller discussion of some of them, see Cosquin,
1 : 96-102.) In another group the hero takes service with the giant,
dragon, etc., keeps up the deception of being superhumanly strong,
but gets the monster to do all the work, and finally wins his way to
wealth and release (see Grimm, No. 183; Von Hahn, No. 18 and notes;
Crane, 345, note 34; Dasent, Nos. v and xxxii). Then there is the
group of stories in which the cannibal witch is popped into her own
oven, which she had been heating for her victim (cf. Grimm, No. 15;
and Bolte-Polívka, 1 : 123).

Our particular group of stories, however, seems to owe little or
nothing to the types just mentioned. It appears to belong peculiarly
to the Orient. In fact, I do not know of its occurrence outside of
India and the Philippines. That the tale is well known in the Islands
at least as far north as central Luzon, our five variants attest;
and that it is fairly widespread in India,--I refer particularly to
the method of the deception, for on this the whole story turns,--three
Hindoo versions may be cited as evidence.

(1) "The Blind Man, the Deaf Man, and the Donkey" (Frere, No. 18)
presents many close correspondences to "Juan the Blind Man." In the
Indian tale a blind man and a deaf man enter into partnership. One day,
while on a long walk with his friend, the deaf man sees a donkey with
a large water-jar on its back. Thinking the animal will be useful
to them, they take it and the jar with them. Farther along they
collect some large black ants in a snuff-box. Overtaken by storm,
they seek shelter in a large, apparently deserted house, and lock
the door; but the owner, a terrible Rakshas, returns, and loudly
demands entrance. The deaf man, looking through a chink in the wall,
is greatly frightened by the appearance of the monster; but the blind
man boldly says that he is Bakshas, Rakshas's father. Incredulous,
the Rakshas wishes to see his father's face. Donkey's head shown. On
his desiring to see his father's body, the huge jar is rolled
with a thundering noise past the chink in the door. Rakshas asks
to hear Bakshas scream. Deaf man puts ants into the donkey's ear:
the animal, bit by the insects, brays horribly, and the Rakshas flees
in fright... (Rakshas returns the next morning, and seeing the blind
man, deaf man, and donkey, laden with treasures, leaving his house,
he determines to be avenged; but by a lucky series of accidents
the travellers succeed in discomfiting and thoroughly terrifying
the Rakshas and his six companions summoned to help him, and travel
on). In the division of the spoils, the deaf man attempts to cheat
the blind man, who in a rage gives him so tremendous a box on the
ear, that his hearing is restored! In return, the deaf man gives his
neighbor so hard a blow in the face, that the blind man's eyes are
opened. They are both so astonished, that they become good friends
at once, and divide the wealth equally.

(2) "The Brahmin Girl that married a Tiger" (Kingscote, No. x). In
this story, three brothers, on their way to rescue their sister who
had been married to a tiger, take along with them an ass, an ant,
a palmyra-tree, and a big iron washing-tub. The sister hides her
brothers and their possessions in a loft. The tiger comes home,
and frightens the brothers into making a noise and thus betraying
their presence. He asks to hear their voice. Youngest brother puts
his ant into the ear of the ass, which, when bit, begins to bawl out
horribly. Asking to see their legs, tiger is shown the trunk of the
palmyra-tree, and, on asking to see their bellies, is shown the iron
tub. Frightened, he runs away, and the sister is rescued.

(3) "Learning and Motherwit" (McCulloch, No. xxvi). Here Motherwit,
as in the other stories, deceives a Raghoshi by means of a thick rope
(shown for hair), spades (shown for finger-nails), and wet lime
(shown for spittle). At last with sharp-pointed hot iron rods,
Ulysses fashion, he puts out the monster's eyes.

In another Bengal story, "The Ghost who was afraid of being Bagged"
(Lal Behari Day, No. xx), a barber frightens a ghost with a
looking-glass and becomes rich.

An interesting parallel to the incident of the death of the blind
brothers by climbing up too high on palm-trees the tops of which have
been broken off, is to be found in the Arabian story of "The Blind
Thief" (JRASB 3 : 645-660, No. iii). A thief who used to steal dates
from off the trees became blind, but he still went on thieving. The
people planned to get rid of him. In the presence of the blind man,
some one praised the dates of So-and-so. (Now, this tree was withered,
and no longer had any leaves.) The covetous thief, with his rope,
started to climb the tree that night; but his rope slipped off over
the naked top of the palm, and he fell to the ground and was killed.

The situation of a blind man and a lame man joining forces and
travelling together, the blind man carrying the lame man, who directs
the way, is found in the Gesta Romanorum, tale LXXI.

Certain of the false proofs in the Filipino stories have no parallel
in the Indian tales; viz., duck for louse, gun or horn for voice,
tail of sting-ray (pagui) for hair. The suggestion for this last
comparison may have come from the belief among the Filipinos that the
tail of the sting-ray is a very efficacious charm against demons and
witches. It is a "specific" against the mangkukulam. [30] On the other
hand, there are certain details of the Indian versions lacking in the
Filipino,--the donkey, the palmyra-tree, the wash-tub. Nevertheless
the close agreement, not only of motifs, but of motifs in the same
sequence, makes it certain beyond all reasonable doubt that the story
as we find it in the Islands (most fully represented by the Bicol
"Juan the Blind Man") goes back directly to southern India, possibly
to the parent story of Miss Frere's old Deccan narrative.


TALE 7


Sagacious Marcela.

Narrated by Lorenzo Licup, a Pampangan.

Long, long before the Spaniards came, there lived a man who had a
beautiful, virtuous, and, above all, clever daughter. He was a servant
of the king. Marcela, the daughter, loved her father devotedly, and
always helped him with his work. From childhood she had manifested a
keen wit and undaunted spirit. She would even refuse to obey unjust
orders from the king. No question was too hard for her to answer,
and the king was constantly being surprised at her sagacity.

One day the king conceived a plan by which he might test the ingenious
Marcela. He bade his servants procure a tiny bird and carry it to her
house. "Tell her," said the king, "to make twelve dishes out of that
one bird."

The servants found Marcela sewing. They told her of the order of the
king. After thinking for five minutes, she took one of her pins, and
said to the servants, "If the king can make twelve spoons out of this
pin, I can also make twelve dishes out of that bird." On receiving
the answer, the king realized that the wise Marcela had gotten the
better of him; and he began to think of another plan to puzzle her.

Again he bade his servants carry a sheep to Marcela's house. "Tell
her," he said, "to sell the sheep for six reales, and with the money
this very same sheep must come back to me alive."

At first Marcela could not make out what the king meant for her to
do. Then she thought of selling the wool only, and not the whole
sheep. So she cut off the wool and sold it for six reales, and sent
the money with the live sheep back to the king. Thus she was again
relieved from a difficulty.

The king by this time realized that he could not beat Marcela in
points of subtlety. However, to amuse himself, he finally thought of
one more scheme to test her sagacity. It took him two weeks to think
it out. Summoning a messenger, he said to him, "Go to Marcela, and
tell her that I am not well, and that my physician has advised me to
drink a cup of bull's milk. Therefore she must get me this medicine,
or her father will lose his place in the palace." The king also issued
an order that no one was to bathe or to wash anything in the river,
for he was going to take a bath the next morning.

As soon as Marcela had received the command of the king and had
heard of his second order, she said, "How easy it will be for me to
answer this silly order of the king!" That night she and her father
killed a pig, and smeared its blood over the sleeping-mat, blanket,
and pillows. When morning came, Marcela took the stained bed-clothing
to the source of the river, where the king was bathing. As soon as
the king caught sight of her, he said in a voice of thunder, "Why do
you wash your stuff in the river when you know I ordered that nobody
should use the river to-day but me?"

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