The Battle of the Crabs

_Visayan_

One day the land crabs had a meeting and one of them said:

"What shall we do with the waves? They sing so loudly all the time

that we cannot possibly sleep."

"Well," answered one of the oldest of the crabs, "I think we should

make war on them."

The others agreed to this, and it was decided that the next day all

the male crabs should get ready to fight the waves. They started for

the sea, as agreed, when they met a shrimp.

"Where are you going, my friends?" asked the shrimp.

"We are going to fight the waves," answered the crabs, "for they make

so much noise at night that we cannot sleep."

"I do not think you will succeed," said the shrimp, "for the waves

are very strong and your legs are so weak that even your bodies bend

almost to the ground when you walk." Wherewith he laughed loudly.

This made the crabs very angry, and they pinched the shrimp until he

promised to help them win the battle.

Then they all went to the shore. But the crabs noticed that the eyes

of the shrimp were set unlike their own, so they thought his must be

wrong and they laughed at him and said:

"Friend shrimp, your face is turned the wrong way. What weapon have

you to fight with the waves?"

"My weapon is a spear on my head," replied the shrimp, and just then

he saw a big wave coming and ran away. The crabs did not see it,

however, for they were all looking toward the shore, and they were

covered with water and drowned.

By and by the wives of the crabs became worried because their husbands

did not return, and they went down to the shore to see if they could

help in the battle. No sooner had they reached the water, however,

than the waves rushed over them and killed them.

Some time after this thousands of little crabs appeared near the shore,

and the shrimp often visited them and told them of the sad fate of

their parents. Even today these little crabs can be seen on the shore,

continually running back and forth. They seem to rush down to fight

the waves, and then, as their courage fails, they run back to the

land where their forefathers lived. They neither live on dry land,

as their ancestors did, nor in the sea where the other crabs are,

but on the beach where the waves wash over them at high tide and try

to dash them to pieces.

The Adventures of Juan

_Tagalog_

Juan was always getting into trouble. He was a lazy boy, and more

than that, he did not have good sense. When he tried to do things,

he made such dreadful mistakes that he might better not have tried.

His family grew very impatient with him, scolding and beating him

whenever he did anything wrong. One day his mother, who was almost

discouraged with him, gave him a bolo [157] and sent him to the forest,

for she thought he could at least cut firewood. Juan walked leisurely

along, contemplating some means of escape. At last he came to a tree

that seemed easy to cut, and then he drew his long knife and prepared

to work.

Now it happened that this was a magic tree and it said to Juan:

"If you do not cut me I will give you a goat that shakes silver from

its whiskers."

This pleased Juan wonderfully, both because he was curious to see

the goat, and because he would not have to chop the wood. He agreed

at once to spare the tree, whereupon the bark separated and a goat

stepped out. Juan commanded it to shake its whiskers, and when the

money began to drop he was so delighted that he took the animal and

started home to show his treasure to his mother.

On the way he met a friend who was more cunning than Juan, and when

he heard of the boy's rich goat he decided to rob him. Knowing Juan's

fondness for tuba [158], he persuaded him to drink, and while he was

drunk, the friend substituted another goat for the magic one. As soon

as he was sober again, Juan hastened home with the goat and told his

people of the wonderful tree, but when he commanded the animal to

shake its whiskers, no money fell out. The family, believing it to

be another of Juan's tricks, beat and scolded the poor boy.

He went back to the tree and threatened to cut it down for lying to

him, but the tree said:

"No, do not cut me down and I will give you a net which you may cast on

dry ground, or even in the tree tops, and it will return full of fish."

So Juan spared the tree and started home with his precious net, but

on the way he met the same friend who again persuaded him to drink

tuba. While he was drunk, the friend replaced the magic net with

a common one, so that when Juan reached home and tried to show his

power, he was again the subject of ridicule.

Once more Juan went to his tree, this time determined to cut it

down. But the offer of a magic pot, always full of rice and spoons

which provided whatever he wished to eat with his rice, dissuaded him,

and he started home happier than ever. Before reaching home, however,

he met with the same fate as before, and his folks, who were becoming

tired of his pranks, beat him harder than ever.

Thoroughly angered, Juan sought the tree a fourth time and was

on the point of cutting it down when once more it arrested his

attention. After some discussion, he consented to accept a stick to

which he had only to say, "Boombye, Boomba," and it would beat and

kill anything he wished.

When he met his friend on this trip, he was asked what he had and

he replied:

"Oh, it is only a stick, but if I say 'Boombye, Boomba' it will beat

you to death."

At the sound of the magic words the stick leaped from his hands and

began beating his friend until he cried:

"Oh, stop it and I will give back everything that I stole from

you." Juan ordered the stick to stop, and then he compelled the man to

lead the goat and to carry the net and the jar and spoons to his home.

There Juan commanded the goat, and it shook its whiskers until his

mother and brothers had all the silver they could carry. Then they

ate from the magic jar and spoons until they were filled. And this

time Juan was not scolded. After they had finished Juan said:

"You have beaten me and scolded me all my life, and now you are glad

to accept my good things. I am going to show you something else:

'Boombye, Boomba'." Immediately the stick leaped out and beat them

all until they begged for mercy and promised that Juan should ever

after be head of the house.

From that time Juan was rich and powerful, but he never went anywhere

without his stick. One night, when some thieves came to his house,

he would have been robbed and killed had it not been for the magic

words "Boombye, Boomba," which caused the death of all the robbers.

Some time after this he married a beautiful princess, and because of

the kindness of the magic tree they always lived happily. 

Juan, the Student

There was once a poor couple who lived happily in a quiet place. They

had one son, named Juan, whom at first they loved very much; but

afterwards, either because their extreme poverty made it difficult

for them to support him, or because of his wickedness and waywardness,

they began to hate him, and made plans to kill him.

In order to carry out this purpose, the father called his son to him

one evening, and said: "My son, to-morrow we will go to the mountain to

get some lumber with which to repair our house. I want you to prepare

our breakfast very early, so that we may set out before the sun rises."

On the next morning they arose very early and ate their breakfast. As

it consisted only of rice and a few small fishes, it was soon finished,

and they set out for the mountain. When they had arrived at a lonely

spot, the man seized his son and fastened him to a large tree. Then

he took his bolo and cut down the tree in such a way as to cause it

to fall on the boy and kill him. Then he returned home, thinking that

he should have no more trouble on account of his son.

Early the next morning, the man heard a noise as of some one

approaching the house. On opening a window he perceived his son,

whom he supposed he had killed on the previous day, coming towards

the house and bearing a heavy load of wood. When the boy had come

near he asked where he should put the wood. At first the father was

too much frightened to reply, but at last he told his son to put the

wood down near the house.

For a long time Juan lived at home, but his parents hated him

continually, and at last decided to give him poison. One day they sent

him on a long trip, giving him seven pieces of poisoned bread for his

food along the way. When he had become weary and hungry from walking,

he sat down under a tree and began to open the handkerchief to get from

it some of the bread to eat. Suddenly a number of crows flew down from

the tree, seized the bread, ate it, and almost immediately died. The

boy at once perceived the intention of his parents and returned

home. As soon as he arrived there, he declared to his father and

mother his intention of leaving them and going elsewhere to live. As

soon as they heard him, they were full of joy, and readily gave him

the desired permission.

He went to a distant town, and decided to study. He made such progress

that his teachers were charmed with his diligence. He was very fond

of debates with his schoolmates, and one day asked them the following

riddle: "Two tried to kill one, one killed seven, two were left, and

one went away." They searched through the books for the answer to the

riddle, but as they were unable to find it, they agreed that Juan was

the cleverest one among them, since they could not answer his riddle.

One day the student met a young lady to whom he gave the riddle. She

asked for a little time in which to study it, and this being granted,

went home, disguised herself as a young man and, returning, asked

Juan to tell the answer to the riddle. "For I know," she said,

"that many students have tried to find the solution of this riddle,

but have not been successful." Juan finally granted her request,

and told her the answer to the riddle, which was the story of his life.

Then the young lady returned home, put on her own clothes, and went

back to the student's house, to give him the answer to his riddle. When

Juan heard her answer, he thought her a very clever young woman,

since she had succeeded where so many young men had failed, so he

fell in love with the young lady and married her.

How Jackyo Became Rich

A long time ago there was a young man whose name was Jackyo. He was

very poor, and by his daily labor could earn barely enough for his

food and nothing at all for his clothes. He had a little farm at some

distance from the village in which he lived, and on it raised a few

poor crops.

One pleasant afternoon Jackyo started off to visit his farm. It was

late when he reached it, and after he had finished inspecting his

crops, he turned back homewards. But the bright day had gone and the

sun had set. Night came on quickly, and the way was dark and lonely.

At last he could no longer see the road. Not a star was to be seen,

and the only sounds he heard were the sad twitterings of the birds

and soft rustling of the leaves as they were moved by the wind.

At last he entered a thick forest where the trees were very big. "What

if I should meet some wild beast," thought Jackyo; but he added half

aloud, "I must learn to be brave and face every danger."

It was not long before he was very sure that he could hear a deep

roar. His heart beat fast, but he walked steadily forward, and soon

the roar was repeated, this time nearer and more distinctly, and he

saw in the dim light a great wild ox coming towards him.

He found a large hole in the trunk of a huge tree. "I will pass the

night here in this tree," he said to himself.

In a little while an old man appeared. His body was covered with coarse

hair and he was very ugly. He looked fiercely at Jackyo from head to

foot and said: "What are you thinking of to come in here? Do you not

know that this is the royal castle of the king of evil spirits?"

Jackyo became more frightened than before and for a long time he

could not speak, but at last he stammered: "Excuse me, sir, but I

cannot go home on account of the dark night. I pray you to let me

rest here for a short time."

"I cannot let you stay here, because our king is not willing to help

any one who does not belong to his kingdom. If he did so, his kingdom

would be lost. But what is your name? Do you know how to sing?" said

the old man.

"My name is Jackyo, and I know a little bit about singing," replied

Jackyo.

"Well," said the old man, "if you know any song, sing for me." Now

Jackyo knew but one song, and that was about the names of the days of

the week except Sunday. He did not like to sing it, but the old man

urged him, saying: "If you do not sing, I will cut your head off." So

Jackyo began to sing.

It happened that the king [5] of the evil spirits, whose name was

Mensaya, heard Jackyo's song and was very much interested in it. He

called a servant, named Macquil, and said: "Macquil, go downstairs and

see who is singing down there, and when you find him, bring him to me."

Jackyo went before the king, bowed to the floor, touching the carpet

with his forehead, and stood humbly before the king.

"Let me hear your song," said the king. So Jackyo, with great respect,

sang the only song he knew. Here it is:

    Mon-day, Tues-day, Wednesday, Thurs-day, Fri-day, Sat-ur-day.

While he was singing, all the evil spirits in the cave gathered around

him to hear his song, and Mensaya asked him to sing it over and over

again. They were all so pleased with it that Mensaya ordered Macquil

to give Jackyo a large quantity of gold and silver as a reward for

his beautiful song.

When the morning came Jackyo returned home, full of joy, and became

known as the richest man in the village.

The Pericos

Throughout the Visayan islands almost every family owns a pericos,

kept as American children keep canary birds. The pericos is about

the size and color of a Crow, but has a hard white hood that entirely

covers its head. The people teach it but one phrase, which it repeats

continually, parrot fashion. The words are, "Comusta pari? Pericos

tao." (How are you, father? Parrot-man.) "Pari" means padre or

priest. The people address the pericos as "pari" because its white

head, devoid of feathers, seems to resemble the shaven crowns of the

friars and native priests.

I

In his small wooden box

That hangs on the wall

Sits a queer-looking bird

That in words sounds his call.

From daybreak to twilight

His cry he repeats,

Resting only whenever

He drinks or he eats.

He never grows weary,--

Hear! There he goes now!

"Comusta pari?

Pericos tao."

II

And all the day long

You can hear this strange cry:

"How are you, father?

A parrot-man I."

He sits on his perch,

In his little white cap,

And pecks at your hand

If the cage door you tap.

Now give him some seeds,

Hear him say with a bow,

"Comusta pari?

Pericos tao."

III

Poor little birdie!

How hard it must be

To sit there in prison

And never be free!

I'll give you a mango,

And teach you to say

"Thank you," and "Yes, sir,"

And also "Good day."

You'll find English as easy

As what you say now,

"Comusta pari?

Pericos tao."

IV

I'll teach you "Good morning"

And "How do you do?"

Or "I am well, thank you,"

And "How are you too?"

"Polly is hungry" or

"It's a fine day."

These and much more

I am sure you could say.

But now I must go,

So say with your bow,

"Comusta pari?

Pericos tao."