Filipino Popular Tales

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

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Marcela replied, "It is the custom, my lord, in our country, to wash
the mat, pillows, and other things stained with blood, immediately
after a person has given birth to a child. As my father gave birth to
a child last night, custom forces me to disobey your order, although
I do it much against my will."

"Nonsense!" said the king. "The idea of a man giving birth to a
child! Absurd! Ridiculous!"

"My lord," said Marcela, "it would be just as absurd to think of
getting milk from a bull."

Then the king, recollecting his order, said, "Marcela, as you are so
witty, clever, and virtuous, I will give you my son for your husband."

King Tasio.

Narrated by Leopoldo Faustino, a Tagalog, who says that the story is
popular and common among the people of La Laguna province.

Juan was a servant in the palace of King Tasio. One day King Tasio
heard Juan discussing with the other servants in the kitchen the
management of the kingdom. Juan said that he knew more than anybody
else in the palace. The king called Juan, and told him to go down to
the seashore and catch the rolling waves.

"You said that you are the wisest man in the palace," said the
king. "Go and catch the waves of the sea for me."

"That's very easy, O king!" said Juan, "if you will only provide me
with a rope made of sand taken from the seashore."

The king did not know what to answer. He left Juan without saying
anything, went into his room, and began to think of some more
difficult work.

The next day he called Juan. "Juan, take this small bird and make
fifty kinds of food out of it," said the king.

"Yes, sir!" said Juan, "if you will only provide me with a stove,
a pan, and a knife made out of this needle," handing a needle to the
king, "with which to cook the bird." Again the king did not know what
to do. He was very angry at Juan.

"Juan, get out of my palace! Don't you let me see you walking on my
ground around this palace without my consent!" said the king.

"Very well, sir!" said Juan, and he left the palace immediately.

The next day King Tasio saw Juan in front of the palace, riding on
his paragos [31] drawn by a carabao.

"Did I not tell you not to stand or walk on my ground around this
palace? Why are you here now? Do you mean to mock me?" shouted
the king.

"Well," said Juan, "will your Majesty's eyes please see whether I am
standing on your ground or not? This is my ground." And he pointed
to the earth he had on his paragos. "I took this from my orchard."

"That's enough, Juan," said King Tasio. "I can have no more
foolishness." The king felt very uncomfortable, because many of his
courtiers and servants were standing there listening to his talk
with Juan.

"Juan, put this squash into this jar. Be careful! See that you do
not break either the squash or the jar," said the king, as he handed
a squash and a jar to Juan. Now, the neck of the jar was small, and
the squash was as big as the jar. So Juan had indeed a difficult task.

Juan went home. He put a very small squash, which he had growing
in his garden, inside the jar. He did not, however, cut it from the
vine. After a few weeks the squash had grown big enough to fill the
jar. Juan then picked off the squash enclosed in the jar, and went
to the king. He presented the jar to the king when all the servants,
courtiers, and visitors from other towns were present. As soon as
the king saw the jar with the squash in it, he fainted. It was many
hours before he recovered.

Notes.

A third version (c), a Bicol story entitled "Marcela outwits the
King," narrated by Gregorio Frondoso of Camarines, resembles closely
the Pampango story of Marcela, with these minor differences:--

The heroine is the daughter of the king's adviser Bernardo. To test
the girl's wit, the king sends her a mosquito he has killed, and tells
her to cook it in such a way that it will serve twelve persons. She
sends back a pin to him, with word that if he can make twelve forks
from the pin, the mosquito will serve twelve persons. The second and
third tasks are identical with those in the Pampango version. At last,
satisfied with her sagacity, the king makes her his chief counsellor.

In addition to the three popular tales of the "Clever Lass" cycle,
two chap-book versions of the story, containing incidents lacking in
the folk-tales, may be mentioned here:--

A Buhay nang isang pastorang tubo sa villa na naguing asaua nang hari
sa isang calabasa. ("Life of a Shepherdess who was born in a town,
and who became the Wife of a King because of a Pumpkin.") Manila,
1908. This story is in verse, and comprises sixty-six quatrains of
12-syllable assonanced lines. It is known only in Tagalog, I believe.

B Buhay na pinagdaanan ni Rodolfo na anac ni Felizardo at ni Prisca sa
cahariang Valencia. ("Life of Rodolfo, Son of Felizardo and Prisca,
in the Kingdom of Valencia.") Maynila, 1910. Like the preceding,
this corrido is known only in Tagalog, and is written in 12-syllable
assonanced lines.

Of these two printed versions, I give below a literal translation
of the first (A), not only because it is short (264 lines),
but also because it will be seen to be closely connected with the
folk-tales. For help in making this translation I am under obligation
to Mr. Salvador Unson, which I gratefully acknowledge. The second story
(B) I give only in partial summary. It is much too long to be printed
in full, and, besides, contains many incidents that have nothing to do
with our cycle. It will be noticed that "Rodolfo" (B) resembles rather
the European forms of the story; while A and the three folk-tales
are more Oriental, despite the conventional historical setting of A.

TALE A

"Cay Calabasa: The Life of a Shepherdess born in a town, who became
the Wife of a King because of a Pumpkin."

1. Ye holy angels in the heavens, help my tongue to express and to
relate the story I will tell.

2. In early times, when Adoveneis, King of Borgona, was still alive,
he went out into the plains to hunt for deer, and accidentally became
separated from his companions.

3. In his wandering about, he saw a hut, which had a garden surrounding
it. A beautiful young maiden took care of the garden, in which were
growing melons and pumpkins.

4. The king spoke to the maiden, and asked, "What plants are you
growing here?" The girl replied, "I am raising pumpkins and melons."

5. Now, the king happened to be thirsty, and asked her for but
a drink. "We were hunting in the heat of the day, and I felt this
thirst come on me."

6. The maiden replied, "O illustrious king! we have water in a mean
jar, but it is surely not fitting that your Majesty should drink from
a jar!

7. "If we had a jar of pure gold, in which we could put water from a
blest fountain, then it would be proper for your Majesty. It is not
right or worthy that you should drink from a base jar."

8. The king replied to the girl, "Never mind the jar, provided the
water is cool." The maiden went into the house, and presently the
king drank his fill.

9. After he had drunk, he handed her back the jar; but when the maiden
had received it (in her hands), she suddenly struck it against the
staircase. The jar was shattered to bits.

10. The king saw the act and wondered at it, and in his heart he
thought that the maiden had no manners. For the impudence of her
action, he decided to punish her.

11. (He said) "You see in me, the traveller, a noble king, and (you
know) that I hold the crown. Why did you shatter that jar of yours,
received from my hands?"

12. The maiden replied, "The reason I broke the jar, long kept for
many years by my mother, O king! is that I should not like to have
it used by another."

13. After hearing that, the king made no reply, but returned (back)
towards the city, believing in his heart that the woman to whom he
had spoken was virtuous.

14. After some time the king one day ordered a soldier to carry
to the maiden a new narrow-necked jar, into which she was to put a
pumpkin entire.

15. He also ordered the soldier to tell the girl that she should not
break the jar, but that the jar and pumpkin should remain entire.

16. Inasmuch as the maiden was clever, her perception good, and her
understanding bold, she answered with another problem: she sent him
back a jar that already had a pumpkin in it.

17. She delivered it to the soldier, and the upshot of her reply was
this: "The pumpkin and the jar are whole. The king must remove the
pumpkin without breaking the jar."

18. The soldier shouldered it and went back to the king, and told him
that her answer was that he should take the pumpkin out of the jar,
and leave both whole.

19. When the king saw the jar, he said nothing; but he thought in
his heart that he would send her another puzzle.

20. Again by the soldier he sent her a bottle, and requested that it
be filled with the milk of a bull. (He further added,) that, if the
order was not complied with, she should be punished.

21. The girl's answer to the king was this: "Last night my father gave
birth to a child; and even though you order it, it is impossible for
me to get (you?) any bull's milk (to-day?)."

22. Who would not wonder, when he comes to hear of it, at the language
back and forth between the king and the girl! For what man can give
birth to a child, and what bull can give milk?

23. At a great festival which the king gave, attended by knights and
counts, he sent a pipit [32] to the girl, and ordered her to cook
seven dishes of it.

24. The maiden (in reply) sent the king a needle, and asked him to
make a steel frying-pan, knife, and spit out of it, which she might
use in cooking the pipit.

25. The king again sent to her with this word: "If you are really
very intelligent and if you are truly wise, you will catch the waves
and bind them."

26. The soldier returned at once to the maiden, and told her that
the orders of the king were that she should catch and bind the waves.

27. The maiden sent back word by the soldier that it is not proper
to disobey a king. "Tell the king to make me a rope out of the loam
I am sending."

28. Again the soldier returned to the palace, and, taking the black
earth to the king, he said, "Make her a rope out of this loam, with
which she will catch and bind the waves."

29. After the soldier had delivered his message, the king was almost
shaking with rage. "Who under heaven can make a rope out of loam?"

30. Now he ordered the soldier to fetch the maiden. "And for her
impudence," he said, "I will punish her."

31. He ordered the soldier to make haste and to return at once. The
maiden did not resist her punishment, and was placed in a well.

32. Now, this well into which she was cast lay in front of the window
of the king, so that whenever he should look out of the window he
might see her.

33. One morning, as he looked out and saw her there below him, she
asked him to give her fire.

34. The king said to her, "I am a world-famed king, and it is not
my desire to descend just because of your request. Go ask fire from
the mountain."

35. The girl made no answer to his jesting reply. Some time later
the king held some games, and ordered that the maiden be taken out
of the well.

36. The king told her that she was pardoned for all her offences. "But
as long as I have visitors (?)," he said, "you are to be my cook."

37. Then this order was given to the girl: "You are to cook the
food. Everything must be well prepared. All the food must be palatable
and tasty."

38. The maiden, however, deliberately left all the food unsalted;
but she fastened to the bottom of the plate the necessary salt.

39. When at the table the king and his council were not satisfied
with the food, because there was no salt in it, the maiden was again
summoned.

40. "I ordered you to cook because you were clever; but you took no
care of the cooking. Why am I thus insulted and my honor destroyed
before my guests?"

41. The maiden at once returned answer to the council and to his
Majesty: "Look underneath the plates; and if there is not the necessary
salt, my lord, condemn me as you see fit."

42. She had those near the king lift their plates, and she had him
look under. The salt was found not lacking, and the king ceased from
his contention and thought about the matter.

43. Then he said, "If you had mixed in a little with the food, then
it would have been good and palatable. Explain to me the significance
of your act."

44. "O great king!" answered the maiden, "I can easily reply to your
question. By leaving the salt out, I meant me, and no one else [i.e.,
she meant to suggest her own case when she was in the well].

45. "You instructed me to get fire from the mountain. Why can you
not taste this salt, which is just under the plate?

46. "Because I am an unfortunate person, an unworthy shepherdess from
the woods. If I were a city-bred person, even though most ordinary,
I should be honored in your presence."

47. To the reply of the girl the king shook his head, and pressed
his forehead (in thought). He had fallen in love, and his heart was
oppressed. He determined to marry her.

48. They were married at once, and at once she was clothed as a queen;
although she was only a lowly shepherdess, she was loved because of
the sweetness of her voice.

49. After living together a long time, they had a quarrel: the king
had conceived a dislike for her cleverness.

50. "Return at once to your father and mother," he said. "Go back to
the mountains and live there.

51. "I will allow you to take with you whatever you want,--gold,
silver, dresses. Take with you also two maids."

52. The queen could not utter a word; silently she let her tears
fall. She thought that bad fortune had come upon her.

53. To be brief, the king got up from his chair and lay down in his
bed. He pretended to go to sleep in order that he might not see the
queen depart.

54. When the queen saw that the king was really sleeping, she covered
him up (in her sorrow), and summoned the servants.

55. She ordered them to lift him up and carry him to the mountains. "In
carrying him, be careful not to wake him until the mountains are
reached."

56. They lifted the bed and took him downstairs; but when they were
carrying it out of the palace, the bed struck against the front
door. The king awoke in surprise.

57. He said, "What is the reason for carrying away a sleeping man?" He
asked them whether they intended to throw away their sovereign.

58. At once he summoned the guards of the palace and ordered the
arrest of the servants; but they protested that they were merely
obeying the orders of the queen.

59. Then the king asked where the queen was who had ordered that. He
had her brought before him, and demanded of her why she wished to
cast him away.

60. The queen answered, reminding him thus: "My husband, my beloved,
what did you tell me some time ago when you were driving me away?

61. "Did you not tell me to select whatever I might desire, including
gold and silver, and take it with me? You are my choice.

62. "Even if I should become very good and very rich, I should still
be without honor before God and the people.

63. "It would be shameful to the Divine Word for us married people to
separate. You would be taunted by your counsellors for having married
some one beneath you."

64. Her reply reminded the king that whatever might happen, they were
married, and should remain together all their lives.

65. "Forgive me, my wife, light of my eyes! Forgive the wrongs I have
done! I am to blame for the mistake [i.e., for my thoughtlessness]."

66. From then on, they loved each other the more, and were happy
because they never quarrelled further.

TALE B

The Story of Rodolfo.

Rodolfo was the only son of Felizardo and Prisca, who lived in
Valencia. When Rodolfo was seven years old, he was sent to school,
and proved to be an apt scholar; but his father died within a few
years, and the boy was obliged to abandon his studies because of
poverty. At the suggestion of his mother, Rodolfo one day set out for
the capital, where he sought a place in the palace as servant. In time
he was appointed head steward (mayor-domo) in the royal household. The
king became so fond of this trusty servant, whose bravery, executive
ability, and cleverness he could not help noticing, that finally he
determined to make him his son-in-law by marrying him to the princess
Leocadia. When Rodolfo was offered Leocadio's hand by her father,
however, he respectfully declined the honor, saying that though he
admired the beauty of the princess, he did not admire her character,
and could not take her as his wife. The king was so angry that he
ordered Rodolfo cast into prison; but after a few days' consideration,
he had him released, and promised to pardon him for the insult if
within a month he could bring before the king as his wife just such
a virtuous woman as he had stipulated his wife should be.

Rodolfo left the palace, taking with him only a pair of shoes and
an umbrella. On his way he saw an old man, whom he invited to go
along with him. Shortly afterwards they saw a funeral procession, and
Rodolfo asked his companion whether the man that was to be buried was
still alive. The old man did not reply, because he thought that his
companion was a fool. Outside the city they met many persons planting
highland rice on a mountain-clearing (kaingin). Again Rodolfo spoke,
and asked if the rice that the farmers were planting was already eaten;
but the old man remained silent. In the course of their journey
they reached a shallow river. Rodolfo put on his shoes and waded
across. When he reached the other bank, he removed his shoes again
and carried them in his hand. Next they passed a great plain. When
they became tired from the heat, they rested by the side of the road
under a big tree. Here Rodolfo opened his umbrella, which he had not
used when they were crossing the hot plain. Once more the old man
believed that his companion was crazy.

At last the travellers reached the old man's house, but the old man did
not invite Rodolfo to spend the night with him. Rodolfo went into the
house, however, for he saw that a young woman lived in the house. This
was Estela, the old man's daughter, who received the stranger very
kindly. That night, when Estela set the table for supper, she gave
to her father the head and neck of the chicken, the wings to her
mother, the body to Rodolfo, and the legs to herself. After eating
their meal, the old man and his wife left Estela and Rodolfo together
in the dining-room. Rodolfo expressed his love for her, for he had
already recognized her worth. When she found that he was in earnest,
she said that she would accept him if her parents consented to the
marriage. Then they joined the old couple in the main room; but there
the father scolded her for showing hospitality to a visitor whom he
considered a fool. He also felt insulted for having been given only
the head and neck of the chicken. Accordingly the old man told his
daughter how Rodolfo had foolishly asked him if the person to be buried
was still alive, and whether the rice that the farmers were planting
on the mountain-clearing had already been eaten. He also mentioned
the fact that Rodolfo wore his shoes only when crossing the river,
and that he had opened his umbrella only when they were in the shade
of the tree. Estela, in reply, cleverly explained to her father the
meaning of all Rodolfo had said and done. "The memory of a man who has
done good during his lifetime will never be forgotten. Rodolfo wished
to know whether the man to be buried was kind to his fellow-men. If
he was, he will always be remembered, and he is not dead. When Rodolfo
asked you whether the rice which the farmers were planting was already
eaten, he wished to know if those farmers had borrowed so much rice
from their landlords that the next harvest would only be enough to pay
it back. In a river it is impossible to see the thorns which may hurt
one's feet, so it is wise to wear shoes while crossing a river. The
idea of opening an umbrella under a tree is a very good one, because
it forms a protection against falling branches and fruits. I will
tell you why I divided the chicken as I did. I gave you the head
and neck because you are the head of the family; the wings I gave my
mother because she took care of me in my childhood; the body I gave
to Rodolfo, because it is courteous to please a visitor; the legs I
kept myself, because I am your feet and hands."

The anger of Estela's father was pacified by her explanation. He
was now convinced that Rodolfo was not a fool, but a wise man, and
he invited Rodolfo to live with them. Rodolfo staid and helped with
all the work about the house and in the field. At last, when the old
man realized that Rodolfo loved Estela, he gave his consent to their
marriage; and the next day they became husband and wife.

After his marriage, Rodolfo returned to Valencia, leaving Estela at
her home in Babilonia, and reported to the king that he had found and
taken as his wife a virtuous woman,--The rest of the story turns on the
"chastity-wager" motif, and ends with the establishment of the purity
of Rodolfo's wife. (For this motif, constituting a whole story, see
"The Golden Lock," No. 30.)

An examination of the five representatives of this cycle of the "Clever
Lass" in the Philippines reveals at least nine distinct problems
(tasks or riddles) to be solved. For most of these, parallels may be
found in other Oriental and in Occidental stories.

(1) Problem: catching waves of the sea. Solution: demanding rope of
sand for the work. This identical problem and solution are found in
a North Borneo story, "Ginas and the Rajah" (Evans, 468-469). In the
"Maha-ummagga-jataka," No. 546, a series of nineteen tasks is set the
young sage Mahosadha. One of these is to make a rope of sand. The wise
youth cleverly sent some spokesmen to ask the king for a sample of the
old rope, so that the new would not vary from the old. See also Child,
1 : 10-11, for a South Siberian story containing the counter-demand
for thread of sand to make shoes from stone.

(2) Problem: making many kinds of food from one small bird, or twelve
portions from mosquito. Solution: requiring king to make stove, pan,
and bolo (or twelve forks) from needle (pin). Analogous to this task
is Bolte and Polivka's motif B3 (2 : 349), the challenge to weave
a cloth out of two threads. Bolte and Polivka enumerate thirty-five
European folk-tales containing their motif B3.

(3) Problem: putting large squash whole into narrow-necked
jar. Solution: hero grows squash in the jar (and sometimes demands
that king remove the squash without breaking either it or the jar). I
know of no other folk-tale occurrences of this task; it is not found
in any of the European stories of this cycle, and may be an addition
of the Tagalog narrators. It is a common enough trick, however,
to grow a squash or cucumber in a small-necked bottle.

(4) Problem: getting milk from bull. Solution: hero tells king that
his father has given birth to a child. Compare "Jataka," No. 546
(tr. by Cowell and Rouse, 6 : 167-168), in which the king sends his
fattened bull to East Market-town with this message: "Here is the
king's royal bull, in calf. Deliver him, and send him back with the
calf, or else there is a fine of a thousand pieces." The solution
of this difficulty is the same as above. See also Child, 1 : 10-11,
for almost identical situation. This problem and No. 1 are to be
found in a Tibetan tale (Ralston 2, 138, 140-141).

(5) Problem: selling lamb for a specified sum of money, and returning
both animal and coin. Solution: heroine sells only the wool.

Two of these problems, (3) and (5), are soluble, and belong in kind
with the "halb-geritten" motif, where the heroine is ordered to come
to the king not clothed and not naked, not walking and not riding,
not in the road and not out of the road, etc. The other three problems
are not solved at all, strictly speaking: the heroine gets out of
her difficulties by demanding of her task-master the completion of
counter-tasks equally hard, or by showing him the absurdity of his
demands. (See Bolte-Polivka, 2 : 362-370, for a full discussion
of these subgroups.) "In all stories of the kind," writes Child,
"the person upon whom a task is imposed stands acquitted if another
of no less difficulty is devised which must be performed first. This
preliminary may be something that is essential for the execution of
the other, as in the German ballads, or equally well something that
has no kind of relation to the original requisition, as in the English
ballads." It will be seen that in the nature of the counter-demands
the Filipino stories agree rather with the German than the English.

(6) Hero is forbidden to walk on the king's ground. To circumvent the
king, hero fills a sledge with earth taken from his own orchard, and
has himself drawn into the presence of his Majesty. When challenged,
the hero protests that he is not on the king's ground, but his
own. This same episode is found in "Juan the Fool," No. 49 (q. v.).