Filipino Popular Tales

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Now comes the fun of the story. One day while the cook was gone,
the youth ground up the two kinds of fruit. He mixed the kind that
produced horns with the king's food: the other kind, which caused
the horns to fall off, he mixed with water and put into a jar. The
cook arrived, and everything was ready. The table was prepared,
and the king and his family were called to eat. The queen and the
king and the beautiful princess, who were used to wearing golden
crowns set with diamonds and other precious stones, were then to be
seen with sharp ugly horns on their heads. When the king discovered
that they all had horns, he summoned the cook at once, and asked,
"What kind of food did you give us?"

"The same food that your Highness ate a week ago," replied the cook,
who was terrified to see the royal family with horns.

"Cook, go and find a doctor. Don't tell him or any one else that we
have horns. Tell the doctor that the king wants him to perform an
operation," ordered the king.

The cook set out immediately to find a doctor; but he was intercepted
by the charcoal-maker, who was eager to hear the king's order. "Where
are you going? Say, cook, why are you in such a hurry? What is the
matter?"

"Don't bother me!" said the cook. "I am going to find a doctor. The
king and his family have horns on their heads, and I am ordered to
find a doctor who can take them off."

"I can make those horns fall off. You needn't bother to find a
doctor. Here, try some of this food, cook!" said the helper, giving him
some of the same food he had prepared for the king. The cook tried it,
and it was good; but, to his alarm, he felt two horns on his head. To
prevent rumors from reaching the ears of the king, the youth then
gave the cook a glass of the water he had prepared, and the horns
fell off. While the charcoal-maker was playing this trick on the cook,
he related the story of his magical purse, and how he had lost it.

"Change your clothes, then, and get ready, and I will present you to
the king as the doctor," said the cook.

The helper then dressed himself just like a doctor of surgery, and
was conducted by the cook into the king's presence.

"Doctor, I want you to do all you can, and use the best of your wisdom,
to take off these horns from our heads. But before doing it, promise me
first that you will not unfold the matter to the people; for my queen,
my daughter, and I would rather die than be known to have lived with
horns. If you succeed in taking them off, you shall inherit one-half
of my kingdom and have the hand of my fair daughter," said the king.

"I do promise. But listen, O king! In order to get rid of those horns,
you must undergo the severest treatment, which may cause your death,"
replied the doctor.

"It is no matter. If we should die, we would rather die hornless than
live with horns," said the king.

After the agreement was written out, the doctor ordered the
treatment. The king and the queen were to be whipped until they bled,
while the princess was to dance with the doctor until she became
exhausted. These were the remedies given by the doctor.

While the king and queen were being whipped, the doctor who, we must
remember, was the cook's helper--went to the kitchen to get the jar of
water which he had prepared. The cruel servants who were scourging the
king and the queen took much delight in their task, and did not quit
until the king and queen were almost lifeless. The doctor forgot the
royal couple while he was dancing with the princess, and found them
just about to die. He succeeded, however, in giving them some of the
fruit-water he had made ready, and the horns fell off. The princess,
exhausted, also asked for a drink when she stopped dancing, and the
horns fell off her head too.

A few days afterwards the king and the queen died, and the doctor
succeeded to the throne, with the beautiful princess as his
wife. Then the doctor told her that he was the poor charcoal-maker
who had owned the magic purse that she had stolen from him. As soon
as he was seated on the throne, he made his friend the cook one of
his courtiers. Although the new king was uneducated and unrefined,
he welcomed all wise men to his palace as his counsellors, and his
kingdom prospered as it had never done under its previous rulers.

Notes.

Another Tagalog version, called "Pedro's Fortunes" and narrated by
Facundo Esquivel of Nueva Ecija, represents the hero as inheriting
the inexhaustible purse from his father.

Pedro, with his wealth, soon attracts the notice of the princess,
who slyly wheedles his purse away from him. Bent on revenge, he sets
out travelling. Hunger soon drives him to eat some beautiful blossoms
he finds on a strange tree in the mountains. No sooner has he eaten,
however, than horns grow out of his forehead. At first in despair,
but later becoming philosophical, he eats some of the leaves of the
tree. Horns disappear. Taking blossoms and leaves with him, he goes
on. He finds another tree with blossoms similar to the first. He
eats: fangs from upper jaw. Eats leaves from the same tree: fangs
disappear. Takes with him specimens of both flowers and leaves. Third
tree: blossoms tail-producing. When he reaches home, he makes a
decoction of the three kinds of flowers, then goes to the palace
and sells "lemonade from Paradise." King, queen, and princess drink:
horns, fangs, tails. All efforts to remove them vain. Proclamation
that princess's hand will be given to whoever can cure the royal
family. Disguised as a doctor, Pedro cures king, queen, and princess
with a decoction of the three kinds of leaves, first, however,
demanding and getting back his purse. Pedro is married to princess.

These two stories (No. 2 and the variant) belong to the type in which
the hero loses a magic article (or three magic articles) through the
trickery of a princess, but recovers it (them) again by the aid of
fruits (blossoms) which, if eaten, cause bodily deformity,--leprosy,
horns, a tail, a long nose, transformation into an animal, or the
like. The princess, a victim of one of these fruits, which the
hero causes her to eat unwittingly, can be restored to her former
beauty only by eating of another fruit which the hero, disguised as a
physician, supplies on condition that the magic articles first stolen
be given up. A detailed study of this cycle has been made by Antti
Aarne (pp. 85-142). Aarne names the cycle "The Three Magic Articles
and the Wonderful Fruit." After an examination of some hundred and
forty-five variants of the story, all but four of which are European,
he concludes that the tale arose among the Celts (British Isles and
France) and spread eastward (p. 135), and that the farther we go
from these two lands, the more freely are the original details of
the story handled (p. 137).

The prototype of this folk-tale Aarne reconstructs as follows
(pp. 124-125):--

There are three brothers, soldiers. Each comes into the possession of
a specific magic article. One obtains a purse which is never empty;
the second, a horn which when blown raises an army; and the third, a
mantle which transports its owner wherever he commands it to go. (The
owner of the purse begins to lead such a luxurious life, that he
becomes acquainted with the king and his family.) The king's daughter
deprives the hero of his magic purse. He gets from his brother the
second magic article, but the same thing happens again: the princess
steals the horn likewise. A third time the hero goes to the princess,
taking the mantle given him by his brother. With the help of this,
the hero succeeds in punishing the princess by transporting her to
a distant island. But she cheats him again. In the magic mantle she
wishes herself home, leaving him on the island. He happens upon an
apple-tree. He eats some of the fruit, but notices with dismay that
horns have grown from his head. After a time he finds other apples;
and when he has eaten them, the horns disappear, and he regains
his original form. Unrecognized, the youth sets out to sell to the
king's daughter some of the first apples. Without suspecting any evil,
she eats them, and horns appear on her head. No one is able to cure
her. Then the hero appears as a foreign physician at the court of
the king, and makes ready his cure. He gives the princess enough of
the good apple to cause the horns to decrease in size. In this way
he compels her to give him back the stolen articles.

The Tagalog versions of the story differ considerably from this
archetype. No brothers of the hero are mentioned. There is but one
magic object, an inexhaustible purse: hence there is no magic flight
to an island. In none of Aarne's variants do we find blossoms producing
horns which may be removed only by leaves from the same tree, as in our
variant. The tail-producing fruit is found in nine European versions
(five Finnish, two Russian, two Italian), but the fang-producing
blossom is peculiar only to our variant; likewise the "lemonade from
Paradise" method of dispensing the extract. In thirty-five of the
Finnish and Russian forms of the story the hero whips the princess
to make her give up the stolen articles, or introduces whipping as
a part of the cure (cf. No. 2). Both Filipino versions end with the
marriage of the hero to the princess, a detail often lacking in the
other versions.

It is impossible to say when or whence this tale reached the
Philippines. The fact that the story does not seem to be widespread
in the Islands suggests that its introduction was recent, while
the separate incidents point to some Finnish or Russian version as
source. The only crystallized elements found in the Philippines are
the poor hero's obtaining a magic purse, his aspiring to the hand
of the princess, her theft of the magic object, and its recovery by
means of horn-producing fruits. The complete story (2) seems to be
more native and less "manufactured" than the variant.

Besides Aarne, for a general discussion of this cycle see Cosquin, 1 :
123-132; R. Koehler's notes to Gonzenbach's No. 31, and his variants of
this story in Zeitschrift des Vereins fuer Volkskunde (1896); Von Hahn,
2 : 246-247; Grimm, notes to No. 122, "Donkey Cabbages" (in Tales
[ed. Hunt], 2 : 419-423). F. H. Groome's "The Seer" (No. 23), a part
of which resembles very closely the literary form of the story in
the Gesta Romanorum (ch. 120), seems to have been overlooked by Aarne.

TALE 3

The Story of Carancal.

Narrated by Jose P. Caedo, a Tagalog from Batangas, Batangas.

Once upon a time there lived a couple who had long been married,
but had no child. Every Sunday they went to church and begged God to
give them a son. They even asked the witches in their town why God
would not give them a child. The witches told them that they would
have one after a year, but that when born he would be no longer than
a span. Nevertheless the couple gave thanks.

After a year a son was born to them. He was very small, as the
witches had foretold, but he was stronger than any one would expect
such a small child to be. "It is strange," said a neighbor. "Why,
he eats more food than his stomach can hold." The boy grew larger and
larger, and the amount of food he ate became greater and greater. When
he became four feet tall, his daily requirements were a cavan [9]
of rice and twenty-five pounds of meat and fish. "I can't imagine
how so small a person can eat so much food," said his mother to her
husband. "He is like a grasshopper: he eats all the time."

Carancal, as the boy was called, was very strong and very
kind-hearted. He was the leader of the other boys of the town, for
he could beat all of them in wrestling.

After a few years the family's property had all been sold to buy
food for the boy. Day after day they became poorer and poorer, for
Carancal's father had no other business but fishing. So one day when
Carancal was away playing, the wife said to her husband, "What shall
we do with Carancal? He will make us as poor as rats. It is better for
us to tell him to go earn his living, for he is old enough to work."

"No, it is a shame to send him off," said the father, "for we asked
God for him. I will take him to the forest and there kill him; and
if the neighbors ask how he died, we will say that an accident befell
him while cutting trees."

Early the next morning his father led Carancal to the forest, and they
began to cut down a very big tree. When the tree was about to fall,
Carancal's father ordered the son to stand where the tree inclined;
so that when it fell, Carancal was entirely buried. The father
immediately went home, thinking that his son had surely been killed;
but when he and his wife were talking, Carancal came home with the
big tree on his shoulders.

"Father, father, why did you leave me alone in the forest?" said the
obedient boy.

The father could not move or speak, for shame of himself. He only
helped his son unload the heavy burden. The mother could not speak
either, for fear Carancal might suspect their bad intentions toward
him. Accordingly she and her husband planned another scheme.

The next day Carancal was invited by his father to go fishing. They
rowed and rowed until they were far out into the blue sea. Then they
put their net into the water. "Carancal, dive down and see that our
net is sound," said the father. Carancal obeyed. In about a minute the
water became red and began to foam. This made the old man think that
his son had been devoured by a big fish, so he rowed homeward. When he
reached home, his wife anxiously asked if Carancal was dead; and the
husband said, "Yes." They then cooked their meal and began to eat. But
their supper was not half finished when Carancal came in, carrying a
big alligator. He again asked his father why he had left him alone
to bring such a big load. The father said, "I thought you had been
killed by a large fish." Carancal then asked his mother to cook him
a cavan of rice, for he was tired from swimming such a long distance.

The couple were now discouraged; they could not think of any way
by which to get rid of Carancal. At last the impatient woman said,
"Carancal, you had better go out into the world to see what you can do
toward earning your own living. You know that we are becoming poorer
and poorer." . . .

"Mother," interrupted the boy, "I really did not wish to go away
from you; but, now that you drive me as if I were not your son,
I cannot stay." He paused for a moment to wipe the tears from his
cheeks. "You know that I love you; but you, in turn, hate me. What
shall I do? I am your son, and so I must not disobey you. But before
I depart, father and mother, please give me a bolo, [10] a big bolo,
to protect myself in case of danger."

The parents willingly promised that he should have one, and after
two days an enormous bolo five yards long was finished. Carancal took
it, kissed the hands of his parents, [11] and then went away with a
heavy heart.

When he had left his little village behind, he did not know which way
to go. He was like a ship without a rudder. He walked and walked until
he came to a forest, where he met Bugtongpalasan. [12] Carancal asked
him where he was going; and Bugtongpalasan said, "I am wandering,
but I do not know where to go. I have lost my parents, and they have
left me nothing to inherit."

"Do you want to go with me?" said Carancal.

"Yes," said Bugtongpalasan.

"Let us wrestle first, and the loser will carry my bolo," said Carancal
as a challenge. They wrestled; and Bugtongpalasan was defeated,
so he had to carry the big bolo.

Then they continued their journey until they met Tunkodbola, [13]
whom Carancal also challenged to a wrestling-match. Tunkodbola laughed
at Carancal, and said, "Look at this!" He twisted up a tree near by,
and hurled it out of sight.

"That is all right. Let us wrestle, and we will see if you can twist
me," said Carancal scornfully. So they wrestled. The earth trembled,
trees were uprooted, large stones rolled about; but Tunkodbola was
defeated.

"Here, take this bolo and carry it!" said Carancal triumphantly;
and they continued their journey.

When they reached the top of a mountain, they saw a big man. This was
Macabuhalbundok. [14] Carancal challenged him; but Macabuhalbundok
only laughed, and pushed up a hill. As the hill fell, he said, "Look
at this hill! I gave it only a little push, and it was overthrown."

"Well, I am not a hill," said Carancal. "I can balance myself." They
wrestled together, and Carancal was once more the winner.

The four companions now walked on together. They were all wandering
about, not knowing where to go. When they were in the midst of a thick
wood, they became hungry; so Carancal, their captain, ordered one of
them to climb a tall tree and see if any house was nigh. Bugtongpalasan
did so, and he saw a big house near the edge of the forest. They all
went to the house to see if they might not beg some food.

It was a very large house; but all the windows were closed, and
it seemed to be uninhabited. They knocked at the door, but no one
answered. Then they went in, and found a table covered with delicious
food; and as they were almost famished, they lost no time in devouring
what seemed to have been prepared for them. After all had eaten,
three of them went hunting, leaving Bugtongpalasan behind to cook
more food for them against their return.

While Bugtongpalasan was cooking, he felt the earth tremble, and in
a short time he saw a big giant ascending the stairs of the house,
saying, "Ho, bajo tao cainco," [15] which means "I smell a man whom
I will eat." Bugtongpalasan faced him, but what could a man do to
a big giant? The monster pulled a hair out of his head and tied
Bugtongpalasan to a post. Then he cooked his own meal. After eating,
he went away, leaving his prisoner in the house.

When the three arrived, they were very angry with Bugtongpalasan
because no food had been prepared for them; but they untied him,
and made him get the meal. Tunkodbola was the next one left behind
as cook while the others went hunting, but he had the same experience
as Bugtongpalasan. Then Macabuhalbundok; but the same thing happened
to him too.

It was now the turn of Carancal to try his wit, strength, and
luck. Before the three left, he had them shave his head. When the
giant came and saw that Carancal's head was white, he laughed. "It
is a very fine thing to have a white head," said the giant. "Make my
head white, too."

"Your head must be shaved to be white," said Carancal, "and it is a
very difficult thing to shave a head."

"Never mind that! I want to have my head shaved," said the giant
impatiently.

Carancal then got some ropes and wax. He tied the giant tightly to
a post, and then smeared his body with wax. He next took a match and
set the giant's body on fire. Thus the giant was destroyed, and the
four lived in the house as if it were their own.

Not long afterwards a rumor reached their ears. It was to this effect:
that in a certain kingdom on the other side of the sea lived a king who
wanted to have a huge stone removed from its place. This stone was so
big that it covered much ground. The prize that would be given to the
one who could remove it was the hand of the king's prettiest daughter.

The four set out to try their strength. At that time there were
no boats for them to sail on, so they had to swim. After three
weeks' swimming, they landed on an island-like place in the sea,
to rest. It was smooth and slippery, which made them wonder what it
could be. Carancal, accordingly, drew his bolo and thrust it into
the island. How fast the island moved after the stroke! It was not
really an island, but a very big fish. Fortunately the fish carried
the travellers near the shores of the kingdom they were seeking.

When the four arrived, they immediately presented themselves to the
king, and told him that they would try to move the stone. The king
ordered one of his soldiers to show them the stone. There a big crowd
of people collected to watch the four strong men.

The first to try was Bugtongpalasan. He could hardly budge it. Then
Tunkodbola tried, but moved it only a few yards. When Macabuhalbundok's
turn came, he moved the great stone half a mile; but the king said
that it was not satisfactory. Carancal then took hold of the rope
tied to the stone, and gave a swing. In a minute the great stone was
out of sight.

The king was very much pleased, and asked Carancal to choose a princess
for his wife. "I am not old enough to marry, my lord," said Carancal
sadly (sic!). "I will marry one of my companions to your daughter,
however, if you are willing." The king agreed, and Bugtongpalasan
was made a prince.

The three unmarried men lived with Bugtongpalasan. By this time they
were known not only throughout the whole kingdom where they were, but
also in other countries. They had not enjoyed a year's hospitality
in Bugtongpalasan's home when a letter addressed to the four men
came. It was as follows:--

I have heard that you have superhuman strength, which I now greatly
need. About a week ago a monster fish floated up to the shore of my
town. It is decaying, and has a most offensive odor. My men in vain
have tried to drag the fish out into the middle of the sea. I write
to inform you that if you can rid us of it, I will let one of you
marry my prettiest daughter.

King Walangtacut. [16]

After Carancal had read the letter, he instantly remembered the
fish that had helped them in travelling. The three companions made
themselves ready, bade Bugtongpalasan good-by, and set out for
Walangtacut's kingdom. They travelled on foot, for the place was not
very far away.

In every town they passed through, the people cried, "Hurrah for
the strong men!" The king received them with a banquet, and all the
houses of the town were decorated with flags. In a word, every one
welcomed them.

After the banquet was over, the three men marched with the king and
all his counsellors, knights, dukes, and the common people to where the
decaying fish lay. In this test, too, Carancal was the only successful
one. Again he refused to marry; but as the princess was very anxious to
have a strong man for her husband, Tunkodbola was chosen by Carancal,
and he became her husband.

The fame of the strong men was now nearly universal. All the
surrounding kings sent congratulations. The heroes received offers
of marriage from many beautiful ladies of the neighboring kingdoms.

One day when Carancal and Macabuhalbundok were talking together, one
of them suggested that they go on another journey. The other agreed,
and both of them made preparations. But when they were about to start,
a letter from another king came, addressed to Carancal. The king
said in his letter that a great stone had fallen in his park. "It
is so big that I thought it was the sky that fell," he wrote. "I am
willing to marry you to my youngest daughter if you can remove it
from its present place," said the king.

The two friends accepted the invitation, and immediately began their
journey. They travelled by land and sea for many a day. At last
they reached the place. There they found the same stone which they
had removed before. As he knew that he could not move it far enough,
Macabuhalbundok did not make any attempt: Carancal was again the one
who did the work.

Once more Carancal refused to marry. "I am too young yet to marry,"
he said to the king. "In my place I will put my companion." So
Macabuhalbundok was married.

Carancal remained a bachelor, for he did not wish to have a wife. The
three princes considered him as their father, though he was younger
than any of them. For a long time Carancal lived with each of them
a year in rotation. Not long after the marriage of Macabuhalbundok,
the father-in-law of Bugtongpalasan died, and so Bugtongpalasan became
the king. Then the following year Tunkodbola's father-in-law died, and
Tunkodbola became also a king. After many years the father-in-law of
Macabuhalbundok died, and Macabuhalbundok succeeded to the throne. Thus
Carancal was the benefactor of three kings.

One day Carancal thought of visiting his cruel parents and of living
with them. So he set out, carrying with him plenty of money, which
the three kings had given him. This time his parents did not drive
him away, for he had much wealth. Carancal lived once more with his
parents, and had three kings under him.

Notes.

Of this story I have eight variants, as follows:--

(a) "Pusong" (Visayan), narrated by Fermin Torralba.
(b) "Cabagboc" (Bicol), narrated by Pacifico Buenconsejo.
(c) "Sandapal" (Tagalog), narrated by Pilar Ejercito.
(d) "Sandangcal" (Pampangan), narrated by Anastacia Villegas.
(e) "Greedy Juan" (Pampangan), narrated by Wenceslao Vitug.
(f) "Juan Tapon" (Ilocano), narrated by C. Gironella.
(g) "Dangandangan" (Ilocano), narrated by Salvador Reyes.
(h) "Tangarangan" (Ibanag), narrated by Candido Morales.

The incidents of this cycle may be tabulated thus.

A The hero, when born, is only a span in length, and never grows taller
than four feet. He early develops an enormous appetite, and by the
time he is twelve years old he has eaten his parents out of everything.