Filipino Popular Tales

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Juan stood musing for a few moments, and then said, "Let us look
through these piles of hide to see whether you killed my cow or not!"

"All right," answered the butcher, and so they began the investigation.

When they found the hide which Juan had put there, he began to quarrel
with the man. "You must pay me five hundred pesos for my cow, or else I
shall bring a law-suit before the court against you," he said angrily.

"I wonder how this could have happened!" the butcher exclaimed.

"There is no use of wondering," said Juan impatiently. "You stole
my cow, and now you have to pay for it." The man, who was very much
afraid of being brought before the court, gave Juan the five hundred
pesos; and Juan went away with the money in his pocket, and the hide
on his head.

On his way home he came to a tree standing at a cross-roads. He was
very tired and thirsty, but he could not find a house where to ask
for water. He climbed the tree to look for a place to go to, but,
instead of a house, he saw a company of armed men coming down the
road. The men stopped under the tree to rest. Juan was so terrified
that he hardly knew what to do. As he was trembling with fright, the
hide fell down from the tree and frightened the men away. They thought
that it was a curse from heaven because of their misdeeds. When Juan
realized that the men were gone, he recovered from his fright and
quickly descended. There on the ground he saw a number of sacks full
of money, and, loading a horse with two of the sacks, he started for
his home town.

As soon as he reached his house, he went to his brother's to borrow a
salop. [66] Then he inserted several pesetas and ten-centavo pieces
in the cracks of the salop, and returned the measure. When Pedro saw
the coins sticking in the cracks of his measure, he said, "What did
you do with the salop?"

"I measured money," said Juan.

"Where did you get the money?" Pedro demanded.

"Where did I get the money?" retorted Juan. "Don't you know that I
went to the neighboring town to sell my cowhide?"

"Yes," said Pedro. Then he added, "The price of hides there must be
very high, I suppose."

"There is no supposing about it," said Juan. "Just think! one hide
is worth two sacks of money."

Pedro, who was envious of his brother's good fortune, killed all
his cattle, old and young, and threw the meat into the river. The
he started with several carretons [67] full of hides; but he
was disappointed when he came to the town, for nobody would buy
hides. Discouraged and tired out, he returned. He found Juan living
comfortably in a fine new home. Thus Pedro lost all his property
because of his invidiousness.

The Two Friends.

Narrated by Tomas V. Vargas (of Iloilo?).

Once there lived in a certain village two friends, Juan and
Andres. Juan, a very rich man, was tall, big, and strong; while Andres,
a very poor man, was small, weak, and short. Andres worked very hard
to earn his living, while Juan spent most of his time on pleasure.

One morning Andres went to his friend Juan, and asked to borrow one
of his mules. Juan consented, but told Andres that, if any one should
ask who the owner of the mule was, he should tell the truth. Andres
promised, and went off with the mule. He set to work immediately to
plough his small farm. Very soon two neighbors of Andres passed by,
and, seeing him with a mule, asked him where he got it. Andres said
that he had bought it. The men wondered how a poor man like Andres
could buy a mule, and they spread the news about the village. When
this news reached Juan, he was very angry, and he ordered his servant
to go bring back the mule. The animal was brought back, and Juan was
determined not to lend it to his friend any more.

A week later two of Juan's mules, including that which Andres had
borrowed, died. Juan threw the carcasses away, but Andres took the
skins of those dead mules and dried them to sell in the next town.

The next day Andres set out for the town, resting now and then on
account of his heavy load. He was overtaken by night near a solitary
house between his village and the town where he was going to sell the
hides. He knocked at the house, and asked a woman he found there for
a night's lodging. She told him that she could not do anything for him
until her husband arrived. So Andres had to wait on the road near the
house. Not long afterwards a man came towards the house. Andres went
up to him, and asked him if he was the master of the house; but the
man said he was not, so Andres had to go back to the road. From where
he was sitting, Andres could see that the woman inside was preparing
a good supper for the stranger, who meanwhile had entered. While she
and the stranger were sitting at the table, Andres saw another man
approaching in the distance. The woman hastily opened a big empty
trunk and hid the man inside, then she put all the cooked fish in
the cupboard.

When the other man, who was the husband, arrived, Andres asked for
a night's lodging, and was received kindly. While the husband and
Andres were talking, the wife told them that supper was ready, and
they went to the table to eat: but there they found nothing for them
but rice; so Andres told the husband that he had an enchanted hide,
and that they could have fish if he wished. The husband wished to see
the skin tested. Andres ordered the skin to bring a man into the trunk;
and when the trunk was opened, there was the man. Next he ordered the
skin to bring cooked fish to the cupboard; and when the cupboard was
opened, there was the cooked fish. The husband then offered Andres
a very high price for the enchanted skin, and Andres willingly sold it.

Early the next morning Andres left the house before the others were
up. It was not long, however, before the husband found out that the
skin was not magic, and he was determined to punish the skin-seller
if he should catch him again. Meanwhile Andres had returned to the
village. There he met Juan, who, noticing the money in his pocket,
asked him where he had gotten it. Andres told him that it was the price
of the skins of his dead mules, which he had sold in the neighboring
town. On hearing this, Juan went directly home, killed all his mules,
and flayed them. As he was passing by the solitary house on his way
to the town, he cried out that he had skins for sale. The husband in
the house thought that it must be the same man who had sold him the
enchanted skin, so he went down and whipped Juan nearly to death.

After this experience, Juan returned home, determined to kill his
friend. But Andres was very cunning, and avoided him. Finally Juan,
angry beyond all measure, killed the mother of Andres. When Andres
found that his mother was dead, he dressed her very well and took her
to town. Then he went directly to the town doctor, to whom he explained
definitely the sickness of his mother. The doctor immediately prepared
medicine for the patient; but just after she had been given the
medicine, he noticed that the woman was dead. Andres then accused him
of having poisoned his mother; and the doctor, fearing the consequences
if Andres should seek justice, agreed to pay him a large sum of money.

Andres returned to his village richer than ever. Juan became friendly
again, and asked him where he had gotten his money. Andres told him
that it was the price of his mother's corpse, which he had sold in the
town. When Juan heard this, he went home and killed his mother. Then
he took the corpse to town to sell it; but, as he was passing along
the street, a crowd of men began to abuse him, and he narrowly escaped
with his life.

Now, Juan was determined not to let Andres escape him. He was after
him all the time. Finally one day he caught Andres. He put him inside
a sack and carried it down to the seashore. On the way to the sea, he
saw a house, and, wishing to have a smoke, he left Andres on the road,
and went to the house to get a light. Meanwhile Andres, who was bound
in the sack, was crying out that he did not wish to marry the daughter
of the king, and that he was being forced against his will. At this
instant a cowboy with his herd of cows passed by. He heard Andres,
and said that he was willing to marry the king's daughter. Andres told
him to unbind the sack, then. He did so, and Andres put the cowherd
in his stead. Then Andres hurried away with the cows. Juan came back,
picked up the sack, and threw it into the sea. When he returned home,
he found Andres there with a fine herd of cows. He asked Andres where
he had found them, and Andres said that he had gotten them from under
the sea. So Juan, envious as ever, ordered Andres to put him in a
sack and throw him into the sea. Andres gladly did so.

Juan the Orphan.

Narrated by Leopoldo Uichanco, a Tagalog from Calamba, La Laguna.

There once lived a boy whose name was Juan. His parents had died,
leaving Juan nothing but a horse. As he did not have a place at home
in which to keep the animal, he begged his Uncle Diego to let the
horse stay in his stable. From time to time Juan went to the stable
to feed his horse. He loved the animal, and took as great care of it
as a father would of a son.

One day Uncle Diego noticed that Juan's horse was growing fatter and
more beautiful than any of his own animals. In his envy he killed the
horse of his nephew, and said to the innocent boy that the animal had
been stricken by "bad air." Being thus deprived of his sole wealth,
Juan cut off the best meat from the dead horse, and with this food
for his only provision he set out to seek his fortune in another
country. On his way through a forest he came across an old man dying
of starvation; but the old man had with him a bag full of money.

"Pray," said the old man, talking with difficulty in his pain and
weakness, "what have you in your sack, my son?"

"Some dried horse-meat," said Juan.

"Let me see!" The old man looked into the sack, and saw with watering
mouth the sweet-smelling meat. "Will you exchange your sack of meat
for my sack of money?" he said to Juan. "I have money here, but I
cannot eat it. Nor can I go to the town to buy food, because I am too
weak. Since you are stronger, my son, pray take this sack of money in
exchange, and go to the town and buy meat with it for yourself. For
God's sake, leave this meat to me! I am starving to death."

Juan accepted the money in exchange for his meat, and pretended to
feel great pity for the old man. He put the heavy bag of money on his
shoulder, and with difficulty carried it home. "Uncle Diego!" Juan
called out from the foot of his uncle's ladder, "come here! Please
come here and help me carry this bag upstairs!"

"Tremendous sum of money," Uncle Diego remarked to his nephew. "Where
did you get it?"

"I sold the meat of my dead horse. This is what I got for it,"
said Juan.

The uncle once more became jealous of Juan. "If with only one horse,"
he muttered to himself, "he could gain so much money, how much should I
get for my fifteen horses!" So he killed all the horses he had in his
stable and cut the meat from them. Then he placed the meat in bags,
and, carrying two on his shoulders, he cried as he went along the
street, "Meat, meat! Horse-meat! Who wishes to buy fresh horse-meat?"

"How much?" asked a gray-headed old woman who was looking out of
the window.

"Three hundred ninety-nine thousand pesos, ninety-nine pesetas,
six and one half centavos a pound," said Uncle Diego.

The people who heard him only laughed, and thought that something was
the matter with his head. Nobody would buy his meat. Nobody cared to
deal with him in earnest, and all his meat decayed.

He went home in despair, and planned to take vengeance on his nephew
for the mischief he had done him. He cast the little orphan into
a big sack, and sewed the mouth of the little prison all up. Then
he said that at night he would take the sack and throw it into the
river. However, Juan managed to get out of the bag, and in his place
he put a muzzled dog. When night came, the uncle shouldered the bag,
took it to the river, and hurled it into the deep water. He hoped
that Juan would perish there, and that he himself could gain full
possession of his nephew's money.

But when morning came, Uncle Diego saw Juan smilingly enter the door
of his house. "Juan," said the uncle, "I am surprised to see you
again. Tell me all about how you managed to escape from the sack."

"Oh, no, Uncle!" returned Juan, "I haven't time; there is not a moment
to lose. I have only come here to bid you good-by."

"And where are you going?"

"Back to the bottom of the river. My love, the Sirena, [68] is waiting
for me."

"O Juan!" pleaded the uncle, "if I could only go with you!"

"No, no, no!" protested the boy. "Only one can go at a time. The
Sirena would be angry, and she would consequently refuse to admit to
her glorious habitation any being from this outside world."

"Then let me go first!"

"No, no, no!" said the boy.

But the uncle pleaded so earnestly, that finally the boy yielded with
pretended reluctance. The uncle then covered himself with a rice-sack,
and Juan tied the mouth of the bag securely. "I will fool him," Uncle
Diego said to himself. "When I am under the water and the Sirena
takes me to her house to become her husband, I shall never come back
to Juan. Ha, ha, ha!"

"I will fool him," Juan said to himself. "There is no such thing as
the Sirena in the river. Thank God, my dreadful uncle will soon be
disposed of!" At midnight Juan hurled his happy uncle into the river,
saying, "There is no one who owes that must not pay his debt. [69]
May my act be justified!"

The heavy sack sank to the bottom of the river, and nothing more was
heard of Uncle Diego.

Notes.

Two other variants, which were collected by Mr. Rusk, and which I
have only in abstract, run about as follows:--

Juan the Ashes-Trader.--Juan, a poor dealer in ashes, was in the woods
when he heard some robbers coming, and climbed a tree for safety. While
they were busy at the foot of the tree, counting their money, he
dropped the sack of ashes among them. They ran away in fright, and he
acquired all their gold. When the people of the town heard Juan tell
how valuable ashes had become, they all burned their houses and took
the ashes to the forest, where they arrived just in time to suffer from
the wrath of the robbers. Only two escaped to accuse Juan; but Juan
was already on a journey, doing good with his money. A dying woman,
whom he helped, gave him a magic cane; and when the angry villagers
at last found him, he summoned a legion of soldiers by means of his
cane, and all of his assailants were killed. [With the second half
of this story, cf. No. 28 and notes.]

Colassit and Colaskel.--Colassit was good but poor; Colaskel, rich
but bad. Colaskel, quarrelling with Colassit, killed the latter's
only carabao. Colassit skinned his dead animal, and took the hide to
Laoag to sell it, but could find no purchaser. At night he asked for
shelter at a house, but was refused on the ground that the husband was
away from home; yet he boldly staid under the house. At midnight he
heard the clatter of dishes above, looked up through a hole in the
floor, and saw the woman dining merrily with a man. Just then the
husband arrived home and knocked at the door. Colassit saw the woman
put her paramour into a box in the corner, and the food in another
box. Colassit now appeared at the door, and was invited in by the
hospitable husband. On being asked what was in his bag, Colassit
replied that it was a miraculous thing, which, when it made a noise,
as it had a moment before when he had stepped on it, desired to say
something. On being asked to interpret, Colassit said that the skin
told him that there was delicious food in one of the boxes. Thereupon
the food was produced. Now, it was said in the neighborhood that
this house was haunted by the Devil, and the owner thought this a
good opportunity to find out by magic where the Devil was. Colassit
interpreted for the carabao-hide. The Devil was in the other box,
he said. After tying the box with heavy ropes, Colassit started
toward the river with it. He repeated a jingle which informed the
man inside of his imminent fate. The latter replied (also in verse)
that he would give a thousand pesos ransom. Colassit accepted,
and so became rich. [The narrator says that this is only one of ten
adventures belonging to the complete story. It is a pity that the
other nine are missing.]

The cycle of tales to which all our variants belong, and which
may appropriately be called the "Master Cheat" cycle, is one of
the most popular known. It occurs in many different forms; indeed,
the very nature of the story--merely a succession of incidents in
which a poor but shrewd knave outwits his rich friend or enemy (the
distinction matters little to the narrator), and finally brings about
his enemy's death while he himself becomes rich--is such as to admit
of indefinite expansion, so far as the number and variety of the
episodes are concerned. There have been at least four comprehensive
descriptive or bibliographical studies of this cycle made,--Koehler's
(on Campbell's Gaelic story, No. 39), Cosquin's (notes to Nos. 10
and 20), Clouston's (2 : 229-288), and Bolte-Polivka's (on Grimm,
No. 61). Of these, the last, inasmuch as it is the latest (1914)
and made use of all the preceding, is the most complete. From it
(2 : 10) we learn that the characteristic incidents of this family
of drolls are as follows:--

A1 A rabbit (goat, bird) as carrier of messages. A2 A wolf sold for
a ram.

B A gold-dropping ass (or horse).

C A self-cooking vessel.

D A hat which pays the landlord.

E1 Dirt (ashes) given (sold, substituted) for gold. E2 Money which
was alleged to be in a chest, demanded from the storer of the chest.

F1 Cowhide (or "talking" bird) sold to adulteress, or (F2) sold to
her husband, or (F3) exchanged for the chest in which the paramour
is concealed, or (F4) elsewhere exchanged for money.

G1 A flute (fiddle, staff, knife) which apparently brings to life
again the dead woman. G2 The dead mother killed a second time, and
paid for by the supposed murderer.

H Escape of the hero from the sack (chest) by exchanging places with
a shepherd.

J Death of the envious one, who wishes to secure some "marine cattle."

The opponents in this group of stories, says Bolte, "are either
village companions, or unacquainted marketers, or a rich and an
avaricious brother." In addition to the episodes enumerated above,
might be mentioned two others not uncommonly found in this cycle:--

F5 Frightening robbers under tree by dropping hide or table on them.

F6 Borrowed measure returned with coins adhering to it.

As these last two occur in other stories, both droll and serious
(e.g., Grimm, No. 59; and "1001 Nights," "Ali Baba"), they may not
originally have belonged to our present group. However, see Cosquin's
notes on his No. xx, "Richedeau" (1 : 225 f.). It is hard to say with
certainty just what was originally the one basic motif to which all
the others have at one time or another become attached; but it seems
to me likely that it was incident H, the sack-by-the-sea episode,
for it is this which is the sine qua non of the cycle. To be sure,
our third story (c) lacks it, but proves its membership in the family
by means of other close resemblances.

Of the elements mentioned by Bolte-Polivka, our five stories
and two variants have the following: "How Salaksak became Rich,"
F4BE1HJ; "Clever Juan and Envious Diego," G1F5HJ; "Ruined because
of Invidiousness," F4F5F6; "The Two Friends," F2G2HJ; "Juan the
Orphan," F4H (modified) J; "Juan the Ashes-Trader," E1F5; "Colassit
and Colaskel," F3. In a Visayan tale (JAFL 19 : 107-109) we find
a combination of HJ with a variant of our No. 1. Incident D (hat
paying landlord) forms a separate story, which we give below,--No. 50,
"Juan and his Painted Hat." Incident B is also narrated as a droll by
the Tagalogs; the sharper of the story scattering silver coins about
the manure of his cow, and subsequently selling the "magic" animal
for a large sum. An examination of the incidents distributed among
the Filipino members of this cycle reveals the fact that episode A1
(hare as messenger) is altogether lacking. I have not met with it in
any native story, and am inclined to believe that it is not known in
the Islands. It is found widespread in Europe, but does not appear to
be common in India: among fifteen Indian variants cited by Bolte it is
found only twice (i.e., Indian Antiquary, 3 : 11 f.; Bompas, No. 80,
p. 242). These Indian versions show, however, that the story in one
form or another is found quite generally throughout that country, the
Santali furnishing the largest number of variants (six, in all). It
would seem reasonable to conclude, therefore, considering the fact
that at least seven forms of the tale are known in the Philippines,
extending from the Visayas to the northernmost part of Luzon, that the
source of the incidents common to these and the Indian versions need
not be sought outside the Orient. The case of incidents F1F2F3 seems
different. They are lacking in the Far-Eastern representatives of this
cycle; and their appearance in the Philippines may be safely traced,
I think, to European influence. However, an Indian source for these
incidents may yet be discovered, just as sources already have been for
so many Italian novella and French fabliaux of a similar flavor. The
fact that the earliest form of the "Master Cheat" cycle known is a
Latin poem of the eleventh, possibly tenth, century (Koehler-Bolte,
233-234), is of course no proof that elements F4G1HJ, found in that
poem, were introduced into India from Europe, though it might be
an indication.

TALE 21

Is He the Crafty Ulysses?

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

Balbino and Alaga had only one child, a son named Suguid, who was at
first greatly beloved by them. The couple was very rich, and therefore
the boy wanted nothing that was not granted by his parents. Now,
the son was a voracious eater. While still a baby, he used to pull
up the nails from the floor and eat them, when his mother had no
more milk to give him. When all the nails were exhausted, he ate the
cotton with which the pillows were stuffed. Thus his parents used to
compare him to a mill which consumes sugarcane incessantly. It was
not many years before the wealth of the couple had become greatly
diminished by the lavish expenditure they had to make for Suguid's
food. So Suguid became more and more intolerable every day. At last
his parents decided to cast him away into a place from which he might
not be able to find his way home again.

One day they led him to a dense forest, and there abandoned
him. Luckily for Suguid, a merchant soon passed by that place. The
merchant heard him crying, and looked for him. He found the boy, and,
being a good-natured man, he took the boy home with him. It was not
long before the merchant realized that Suguid was a youth of talent,
and he put him in school. In a few weeks the boy showed his superiority
over his classmates. In time he beat even the master in points of
learning. And so it was that after only five months of studying he left
the school, because he found it too small for his expanding intellect.

By some mathematical calculation, so the tradition says, or by certain
mysterious combinations of characters that he wrote on paper, Suguid
discovered one day that a certain princess was hidden somewhere. She
had been concealed in such a way that her existence might not be known
other than by her parents and the courtiers. Suguid immediately went
to the palace of the king, and posted a paper on the palace-door. The
paper read as follows: "Your Majesty cannot deny me the fact that he
has a daughter secluded somewhere. Your humble servant, Suguid Bociu."

When the king read this note, he became very angry, as he could
now no longer keep the secret of his daughter's existence. He
immediately despatched his soldiers to look for the presumptuous
Suguid. The soldiers found the boy without much difficulty, and
brought him before the king. Bursting with anger, the king said,
"Are you the one who was bold enough to post this paper?"

"Yes, your Majesty."

"Can you prove what you have stated?"

"Yes, your Majesty."

"Very well," said the king; "if you can, I will give you my daughter
for your bride. If within three days you fail to produce her before
me, however, you shall be unconditionally executed."

"I will not fail to fulfil my promise, your Majesty," said Suguid.

After this brief interview, Suguid went directly home. He told the
merchant all about his plan to marry the princess.

"Why did you dare tell the king that you know where his daughter is,"
said the merchant, "when there is no certainty at all of your finding
her or of gaining her consent?"

"Oh, do not be afraid, father!" said Suguid. "If you will but
provide me with twelve of the best goldsmiths that can be found in
the whole city, I have no doubt of finding and captivating the fair
princess." As the merchant was a rich man, and influential too, he
summoned in an hour all the good goldsmiths that could be found in
the city. When all the goldsmiths were assembled, Suguid ordered them
to make a purlon. This purlon was made of gold, silver, and precious
stones. It was oblong in shape, and hollow inside, being five feet
high, three feet deep, and four feet long. Inside it were placed a
chair and a lamp. By means of a certain device a person inside the
purlon could breathe. Altogether its construction was so beautiful,
that it seemed as if it were intended for the sight of the gods alone.