The Story of a Monkey

_Ilocano_

One day when a monkey was climbing a tree in the forest in which he

lived, he ran a thorn into his tail. Try as he would, he could not

get it out, so he went to a barber in the town and said:

"Friend Barber, I have a thorn in the end of my tail. Pull it out,

and I will pay you well."

The barber tried to pull out the thorn with his razor, but in doing

so he cut off the end of the tail. The monkey was very angry and cried:

"Barber, Barber, give me back my tail, or give me your razor!"

The barber could not put back the end of the monkey's tail, so he

gave him his razor.

On the way home the monkey met an old woman who was cutting wood for

fuel, and he said to her:

"Grandmother, Grandmother, that is very hard. Use this razor and then

it will cut easily."

The old woman was very pleased with the offer and began to cut with the

razor, but before she had used it long it broke. Then the monkey cried:

"Grandmother, Grandmother, you have broken my razor! You must get a

new one for me or else give me all the firewood."

The old woman could not get a new razor so she gave him the firewood.

The monkey took the wood and was going back to town to sell it,

when he saw a woman sitting beside the road making cakes.

"Grandmother, Grandmother," said he, "your wood is most gone; take

this of mine and bake more cakes."

The woman took the wood and thanked him for his kindness, but when

the last stick was burned, the monkey cried out:

"Grandmother, Grandmother, you have burned up all my wood! Now you

must give me all your cakes to pay for it."

The old woman could not cut more dry wood at once, so she gave him

all the cakes.

The monkey took the cakes and started for the town, but on the way he

met a dog which bit him so that he died. And the dog ate all the cakes.

The Presidente who had Horns

_Ilocano_

Once there was a presidente [151] who was very unjust  to his people,

and one day he became so angry that he wished he had horns so that

he might frighten them. No sooner had he made this rash wish, than

horns began to grow on his head.

He sent for a barber who came to his house to cut his hair, and as

he worked the presidente asked:

"What do you see on my head?"

"I see nothing," answered the barber; for although he could see the

horns plainly, he was afraid to say so.

Soon, however, the presidente put up his hands and felt the horns, and

then when he inquired again the barber told him that he had two horns.

"If you tell anyone what you have seen, you shall be hanged," said the

presidente as the barber started away, and he was greatly frightened.

When he reached home, the barber did not intend to tell anyone, for

he was afraid; but as he thought of his secret more and more, the

desire to tell someone became so strong that he knew he could not keep

it. Finally he went to the field and dug a hole under some bamboo,

and when the hole was large enough he crawled in and whispered that

the presidente had horns. He then climbed out, filled up the hole,

and went home.

By and by some people came along the road on their way to market,

and as they passed the bamboo they stopped in amazement, for surely

a voice came from the trees, and it said that the presidente had

horns. These people hastened to market and told what they had heard,

and the people there went to the bamboo to listen to the strange

voice. They informed others, and soon the news had spread all over the

town. The councilmen were told, and they, too, went to the bamboo. When

they had heard the voice, they ran to the house of the presidente. But

his wife said that he was ill and they could not see him.

By this time the horns had grown until they were one foot in length,

and the presidente was so ashamed that he bade his wife tell the

people that he could not talk. She told this to the councilmen when

they came on the following day, but they replied that they must see

him, for they had heard that he had horns, and if this were true he

had no right to govern the people.

She refused to let them in, so they broke down the door. They saw the

horns on the head of the presidente and killed him. For, they said,

he was no better than an animal. 

The Poor Fisherman and His Wife

_Ilocano_

Many, many years ago a poor fisherman and his wife lived with their

three sons in a village by the sea. One day the old man set his snare

in the water not far from his house, and at night when he went to look

at it, he found that he had caught a great white fish. This startled

the old man very much, for he had never seen a fish like this before,

and it occurred to him that it was the priest of the town.

He ran to his wife as fast as he could and cried:

"My wife, I have caught the priest."

"What?" said the old woman, terrified at the sight of her frightened

husband.

"I have caught the priest," said the old man again.

They hurried together to the river where the snare was set, and when

the old woman saw the fish, she cried:

"Oh, it is not the priest but the governor."

"No, it is the priest," insisted the old man, and they went home

trembling with fear.

That night neither of them was able to sleep for thought of the

terrible thing that had happened and wondering what they should do. Now

the next day was a great holiday in the town. At four o'clock in the

morning cannons were fired and bells rang loudly. The old man and

woman, hearing all the noise and  not knowing the reason for it,

thought that their crime had been discovered, and the people were

searching for them to punish them, so they set out as fast as they

could to hide in the woods. On and on they went, stopping only to

rest so as to enable them to resume their flight.

The next morning they reached the woods near Pilar, where there also

was a great holiday, and the sexton was ringing the bells to call

the people to mass. As soon as the old man and woman heard the bells

they thought the people there had been notified of their escape,

and that they, too, were trying to catch them. So they turned and

started home again.

As they reached their house, the three sons came home with their one

horse and tied it to the trunk of the caramay tree. Presently the

bells began to ring again, for it was twelve o'clock at noon. Not

thinking what time of day it was, the old man and woman ran out

of doors in terror, and seeing the horse jumped on its back with

the intention of riding to the next town before anyone could catch

them. When they had mounted they began to whip the horse. In their

haste, they had forgotten to untie the rope which was around the

trunk of the caramay tree. As the horse pulled at the rope fruit fell

from the tree upon the old man and woman. Believing they were shot,

they were so frightened that they died.

The Monkey and the Turtle

_Ilocano_

A monkey, looking very sad and dejected, was walking along the bank

of the river one day when he met a turtle.

"How are you?" asked the turtle, noticing that he looked sad.

The monkey replied, "Oh, my friend, I am very hungry. The squash of

Mr. Farmer were all taken by the other monkeys, and now I am about

to die from want of food."

"Do not be discouraged," said the turtle; "take a bolo and follow me

and we will steal some banana plants."

So they walked along together until they found some nice plants which

they dug up, and then they looked for a place to set them. Finally

the monkey climbed a tree and planted his in it, but as the turtle

could not climb he dug a hole in the ground and set his there.

When their work was finished they went away, planning what they should

do with their crop. The monkey said:

"When my tree bears fruit, I shall sell it and have a great deal

of money."

And the turtle said: "When my tree bears fruit, I shall sell it and

buy three varas of cloth to wear in place of this cracked shell."

A few weeks later they went back to the place to see their plants and

found that that of the monkey was dead, for its roots had had no soil

in the tree, but that of the turtle was tall and bearing fruit.

"I will climb to the top so that we can get the fruit," said the

monkey. And he sprang up the tree, leaving the poor turtle on the

ground alone.

"Please give me some to eat," called the turtle, but the monkey threw

him only a green one and ate all the ripe ones himself.

When he had eaten all the good bananas, the monkey stretched his arms

around the tree and went to sleep. The turtle, seeing this, was very

angry and considered how he might punish the thief. Having decided

on a scheme, he gathered some sharp bamboo which he stuck all around

under the tree, and then he exclaimed:

"Crocodile is coming! Crocodile is coming!"

The monkey was so startled at the cry that he fell upon the sharp

bamboo and was killed.

Then the turtle cut the dead monkey into pieces, put salt on it, and

dried it in the sun. The next day, he went to the mountains and sold

his meat to other monkeys who gladly gave him squash in return. As

he was leaving them he called back:

"Lazy fellows, you are now eating your own body; you are now eating

your own body."

Then the monkeys ran and caught him and carried him to their own home.

"Let us take a hatchet," said one old monkey, "and cut him into very

small pieces."

But the turtle laughed and said: "That is just what I like, I have

been struck with a hatchet many times. Do you not see the black scars

on my shell?"

Then one of the other monkeys said: "Let us throw him into the water,"

At this the turtle cried and begged them to spare his life, but they

paid no heed to his pleadings and threw him into the water. He sank

to the bottom, but very soon came up with a lobster. The monkeys

were greatly surprised at this and begged him to tell them how to

catch lobsters.

"I tied one end of a string around my waist," said the turtle. "To

the other end of the string I tied a stone so that I would sink."

The monkeys immediately tied strings around themselves as the turtle

said, and when all was ready they plunged into the water never to

come up again.

And to this day monkeys do not like to eat meat, because they remember

the ancient story.