Chapter V: Preface (4)

This made the woman grieve and weep. She would not consent to abandon the children. But her husband made it clear to her that, if they did not do this, they would all die of hunger. Finally the woman consented and they agreed that they would take their children for a walk and leave them on the way.

While they were discussing this, the seventh child was in a crack of the bench on which they were sitting and heard what their parents were going to do to them. After they had finished talking, the child at once looked for his brothers and sisters and told them what he had heard. They all wept, because their parents had not told them that they were a burden to their life. They thought that, if they had known this, they would have done anything whatever to help them gain a living. However, they agreed that they would go along, if they were asked to go walking, and would allow themselves to be led astray.

On the next day their father came to them, told them to get dressed, gave them some cakes, and told them that they should all go for a walk. When they started out, the seventh child did not eat his bread, but, starting at their gate, he crumbled it and scattered it along the road which they were walking. When they had gone some distance, he ran out of bread and asked his brothers and sisters for some. But they did not give him any. He did not tell them why he had run out of bread so soon. When he could get no bread, he picked up stones and these he dropped one by one on their path.

When they came to a jungle, their parents left them, telling them to wait for them there and that they would soon come back. Their parents left them, but they knew that their parents would not come back to them.

When a short time had passed, they heard a noise. They went toward the place from which the noise came. There they saw a great giant bathing by the side of a well. They looked round about the place, and by the side of a tree they saw the clothes of the giant. The seventh child sent his brothers and sisters away and told them to hide, and he would steal the giant's shoes. They did this and the child stole the shoes.

When the giant had finished bathing and was getting dressed, he could not find his shoes. He got angry and cursed. He called for help. When the one who had stolen the shoes heard this, he quickly approached. When the giant saw him, he did not suspect him, for, on account of his smallness, the giant thought that he would not be able to carry the shoes.

Therefore the giant said to him: "If you will carry this bag of money of mine to my wife and tell her to buy some shoes and to bring them to me, I shall pay you much money."

He said further that he could not walk without shoes, and therefore he should hurry. Taking the bag of money, the child promised to return at once. However, when he had gone some distance, he called his hidden brothers and sisters, and when they were assembled, he suggested that they go home. But his brothers and sisters answered that they did not know the way home. He however answered that they should follow the stones and bread he had dropped on the way.

One of his brothers said that, if he had known what he had done with the bread, he would have given him some when he asked for it. They were sorry for the stinginess they had shown toward their brother.

It was not long before they came upon the trail of stones along their way. This they followed and arrived at their house, bringing with them the bag of money, which they at once gave to their parents. The latter rejoiced and were sorry for their bad conduct toward their children,--they rejoiced because they had now the means of living for a long time to come.

9. A POLICEMAN WHO PLAYED VAMPIRE.

In the summer of the year 1902, when the ripe fruits of the fruit-trees were hanging from the branches, there circulated all through the town of San Antonio the rumor that a vampire was going about the town.

The people of San Antonio in those years believed in ghosts, vampires, dwarves, and other objects of terror. Most of them had not been fortunate enough to get an education, but, in spite of this, they were kindly, quiet, and industrious people.

The houses in this town were built of nipa-fibre and bamboo. There were also some frame houses. Most of them stood in large enclosures, and the rear part of these yards was planted with trees that have tasty fruits, such as the custard-apple, grape-fruit, santol, mabolo, mango, and the like.

These fruits were just getting ripe, when the rumor spread that, for several nights back, some women had caught sight of the vampire in various back yards. The women and children were filled with great terror; accordingly, as soon as darkness came down, they staid still in their houses. Most of the men also were afraid, but there were some who said that they were not afraid, because they had not yet come across a vampire and therefore did not know whether it was really to be feared.

A vampire is a being of great power. It changes its body into various forms. At some times it has a body like a human being, but black, at others it is a large dog or pig. It eats people, especially children. But its favorite food, by far, and that which it most commonly eats, is the child yet unborn and still in its mother's womb. Therefore the pregnant women in the town had great fear. They did not allow their husbands to sleep, for watching at their side. A vampire is hard to kill with knife or gun, because it has but one place which one must hit or wound in order to kill it, and this place is secret. The only thing it flees from is garlic, which therefore is much used in driving off vampires.

A surprising thing, however, about this vampire was its habit of keeping itself in back yards. Strange was also the fact that it was mostly young girls who said that they had caught sight of this vampire in back yards, up in grape-fruit trees and other trees. A few bold men said that they suspected that this spook was a thief and no vampire.

It was a certain policeman of more than usual courage who spied upon this vampire in a back yard in which it had recently been seen. When darkness came, he went to his hiding-place. It was not long before the vampire came and climbed on a grape-fruit tree, and he heard it picking many fruits. It came down and went away, but was followed by the policeman to a house which it entered.

Great was the surprise of the policeman, when he saw here his fellow policeman wrapped up in a black sheet and just putting down on the floor a black bag full of grape-fruit.

He summoned his fellow policeman to the town hall and there on the next day accused him before the judge. The policeman who had played vampire was put in jail for the crime of theft.

10. A VAMPIRE THAT GOT KILLED.

One evening in a students' boarding-house in the town of Malolos I heard an old man, ninety years of age, tell a company the following story:

When he was still a young unmarried man, he lived in the country. There were only a very few neighbors. One day there was a death in the house of a neighbor. Following an ancient custom, he went to the house of mourning.

When he arrived there it was not long before he was told that there was a vampire in the place. He had a great and inherited hatred of vampires and therefore decided to watch that night.

Late in the evening he left the house and in a wagon not far from the house, there he lay down. There was a full moon that night, so that he had a clear view of things round about. As he saw nothing that could be suspected of being a vampire, he went to sleep.

At midnight he woke up, and the first thing that struck his eyes was a black object on the roof of the house where there had been a death. This black thing had not been there before he went to sleep, so he suspected that this was the vampire he had been told about. Vampires eat dead people, so he concluded that the dead person was the thing for which the vampire had come there.

Carrying a bolo-knife, he went up to the house. The people were asleep. Up above he saw something hanging down from the roof of the house. It was like the intestine of a chicken. It got longer and longer, until the end of it went into the mouth of the dead person. The corpse stood up from the place where it lay, when this thing went into its mouth.

What the young man did was to walk up to the upright corpse and, with the bolo he was carrying, cut the thing that was like the intestine of a chicken. When he had cut this, something came down with a thud at the side of the house. He went down, and there he saw the dead vampire.

11. SORCERERS.

In some places in the Philippines the people have a firm belief in sorcerers. According to their belief a sorcerer is a person of great power, and this power comes from a demon or else is inherited from one's parents. Before one may gain this power one must first become friends with a demon and serve it. However, there are some also who believe that one may find or snatch up this power in a jungle or some uncanny place that is hard to reach and usually full of terror.

The kulam is that seized, inherited, or given by the demon, and it is the source of the possessor's power. The appearance of the kulam is not always the same. Sometimes it is a stone or a small doll of ugly appearance. In the dark this kulam glows like a firefly, but this glow disappears when the kulam desires it. The kulam and the person, man or woman, who possesses it, do not separate even for a moment, and even when bathing the sorcerer carries his kulam. Therefore, curious people, when they wish to find out whether a person whom they suspect is really a sorcerer or not, watch him at his bath. If the sorcerer is not careful and has no suspicion that he is being watched, the watcher sometimes succeeds in seeing the kulam.

The sorcerer has also the power of concealing the kulam inside his body, and the people are not rare who have seen a sorcerer at his death. At the last moment, before breathing ceases, he spits out the kulam.

This happens only when the sorcerer does not wish to bequeath his kulam. If, however, he wishes to bequeath it, then, long before the sorcerer dies, he calls the person to whom he wishes to bequeath it and in all secrecy gives him the kulam.

The great power of the sorcerer is used by him against his enemies, against people who have incurred his anger; or against their live stock, in case he wishes to make this latter the object of his vengeance. He also uses his power in playing jokes on a person or animal that has gained his liking.

His victim usually acts like crazy. Sometimes the person he has bewitched complains that his whole body is sore, keeps shouting, and cannot keep quiet even for a moment. In the case of animals,--usually the pig most valued by the owner,--the punishment he gives is like the disease of cholera, but more severe than this. The bowel-movement of the animal does not stop, and after a few hours, no matter how fat the animal, it becomes skin and bone. The bewitched person eats mightily, like two men, and keeps asking for tasty food. Therefore people believe that the sorcerer who is punishing him shares in the eating of the sick person.

The sorcerer has the power of entering the body of the person bewitched. This is the belief, but in what way the sorcerer effects his entrance or at what point he enters the body of the person he is bewitching, there is no one who knows. However the place where he comes out is the forefinger. This fact is of great importance for the cure of people who have been bewitched and also for the punishment of sorcerers.

Although the power of the sorcerer is great, yet there are some things which he fears, usually strong people who are bold and have no faith in the powers of sorcerers and other things that terrify other people. Therefore it is not rare that, after the first or second time he cures a person of this disease, some man receives the title of "witch-doctor."

I once heard someone who had seen the cure of a bewitched person tell the story. The narrator had a neighbor who had a young daughter. This young lady had many suitors, and one of them was suspected of being a sorcerer. He had the bad fortune to be one of those who were not accepted. In his great anger he bewitched, one after the other, the betrothed man and woman.

He began with the woman, and her parents at once called in a witch-doctor for her. When the doctor arrived and saw the patient, he said that the woman was really bewitched.

He told the people who were there not to let the bewitched person know that he was in the house. If the patient knew this, the sorcerer who was inside her body would have a chance to go away at once. The doctor went up to the woman without her being aware of it and suddenly seized her two forefingers in a tight grip. She shouted all the louder and trembled like one in terror.

The sorcerer, according to people's belief, feels any pain that is given to the body of the person he is bewitching while he is within the latter's body. Likewise, when one speaks with the patient, it is he who answers.

Therefore the doctor suddenly asked: "What are you doing here, you brute?"

The patient did not utter a word, but tried to get free. The strength she displayed was not the usual strength of a woman.

But the doctor did not let her go, and asked her again: "What are you doing here? Why have you come here? If you do not answer, I shall torture you."

The woman answered in a pitiful tone: "No, sir, I shan't do it again; let me go, sir; you are torturing me already."

"Shall I let you go?" asked the doctor at once. "Promise me first that you won't come back."

"No, I shan't come back, sir," answered the woman.

"If I catch you here again, I shall kill you. Don't be troublesome. Stay still in your house."

"Yes, sir; yes, sir; I shan't come back, sir. Please, let me go!"

While this dialogue was taking place, the woman was struggling to get loose and trying to make the doctor let go of her forefingers. When the woman had made her promise, the doctor let go of her two forefingers. The face of the woman, which just before had been expressing great suffering, now became quiet, and she was like a madwoman who has got back her reason. She became quiet, stopped shouting, and was able to converse intelligently.

The man lived in a near-by town. When he was bewitched his brother called a physician for him. In his extreme anger, this brother called a physician who was fierce and cruel in his treatment of sorcerers.

The physician came secretly to the sick man's house. From his hiding-place he first determined at what time the sorcerer was in the body of the sick man. This showed itself in the shouting, movements, and senseless talking of the patient. The physician sharpened a bolo-knife and, when he had done this, quickly ran to the side of the patient. He then seized the latter's two forefingers, leaned over his body, and cut several deep gashes in his face. The patient screamed and tried to get away, but when he did get away there were wounds in his face and the blood was flowing in a stream. The physician left him without a word. He sought out the brother of the wounded man and told him not to heed his brother's wounds, for tomorrow they would go away and be transferred to the sorcerer, for it was the latter whom he had reached in the body of his brother. On the next day the doctor went to the man whom he had cured with the knife and was much pleased when he found him well and without the marks of wounds in his face. A few days later they heard that a sorcerer in the neighboring town was in a serious condition, owing to the unceasing flow of blood from some wounds in his face.

There are also, however, some sorcerers who are quick and have not been caught by physicians. The physician, too, must be skilful and quick. Anyone at all can cure a person who has been bewitched, since there is no other method of cure than that of inflicting pain on the body of the bewitched person. The danger, however, is great, since, if the one who is attempting the cure is not quick, owing to lack of practice, the sorcerer will be able to get away. In this event it is the bewitched person himself who will suffer from the punishment. It is related that there once happened something like this which follows.

One of two brothers was bewitched by his rival in courtship. There was no witch-doctor within call. In his great pity for him, the older brother decided to cure him, even though he had had no practice. He was not practised, to be sure, but he had often heard from physicians the manner of cure. One evening, when he thought that the sorcerer was inside his brother's body, he quickly seized a bolo, and, stepping up to his brother, cut him without care. On the next day, instead of his finding his brother well and unwounded, the latter was a corpse. The sorcerer had got away.

12. THE GAME OF FOOTBALL IN THE PHILIPPINES.

The games of football in the United States and in the Philippines are very different. Instead of the players belonging to two contending sides, as in American football, in "sipa" the players form but one party. In sipa the aim of the players is not to defeat an opponent, but to prevent the ball or sipa from falling to the ground. The ball used is also very different. It is made of split rattan woven into the shape of a sphere. The inside is hollow and the eyes of the weave are large. Therefore the sipa, unlike the ball used in baseball, is light.

The number of players is from two to twenty. When they are many, they stand in a circle. To begin the game, one of the party throws the sipa ball up into the air and toward one of the players, usually toward one opposite him. The one to whom the ball is tossed returns it to the one who threw it to him, not with his hand, but with his foot.

When the players are skilful, they direct the ball to each one of the party, so that each one of them is alert and ready for the coming of the ball. Each one is careful not to let the ball fall to the ground. Often the players display various manners of sending the ball. The graceful bendings of the legs forward and backward, the quick and light leaps, the gentle and light kicking of the ball, and the sending of the ball in every possible direction, are features which give beauty to the game of sipa. Sometimes the shoulder, the elbow, the knee, or the hand is used in returning the ball.

How is there any contest in this game? This can consist only in the test of endurance in keeping the ball from falling to the ground.

When, for instance, one team of football-players or siperos wants to contend with another team, the former challenges whatever team it has picked out. If the challenge is accepted, the day, hour, and place of the game are at once announced in the newspapers.

At the time of the game thousands of people look on. The challenging party usually hires a band of musicians, and each team is played for during its innings. Usually there are two bands, for, if the challenged party has any pride, it wants to show it and so brings its own band.

After the game the judge announces to the spectators which team has won. When the announcement of the judge has been heard, there begins at once the yelling and the honoring of the victorious team. The winning team and their friends and followers, accompanied by the music of their band, at once begin to parade through the places near to the field of the game. On the next day the whole story appears in the newspapers.

Such games of sipa as these are not common in the little towns in the provinces, but only in the large cities, such as Manila.

13. THE PRIEST PATUPAT.

In the last years of the Spanish time there dwelt in the town of San Miguel a certain man. This man was educated and was intelligent enough to understand the evil ways of the priests, who were really little kings in their towns.

In San Miguel the priest who had the parish was a violent and hot-headed man. The people called him "Patupat."

One Sunday the man above mentioned went to church to hear the sermon of the priest. As this priest thought that the people to whom he was preaching were uneducated people, he took no pains to speak Tagalog correctly. His speech had neither beginning nor end and was mixed up like rice-pudding. Moreover, what he preached about was never other than Hell, Purgatory, what brutes the people of the town were, and the End of the World.

When the sermon began, our friend Francisco entered the church.

As usual, the priest began his sermon with this utterance: "Brezren and faylow-Christiannes!" Although he had been for almost forty years now in the Tagalog country, he had not yet learned to say correctly "Brethren and fellow-Christians."

Francisco stood in a place near the pulpit and listened carefully to the sermon, which on that day contained nothing except what had already been a thousand times repeated by the priest, namely about the sufferings in Hell and Purgatory, the offering of candles and the giving of money to the church in order to escape from these sufferings.

Francisco was filled with great anger, for he saw that the priest was fooling his people and had no other aim than to frighten the townspeople so that they should enrich the church and priests.

After the sermon Kiko did not go home as usual, but waited until mass was over. After mass he staid in the church until he was alone. He took some pieces of paper and wrote to the priest as follows:

"Father, I heard your sermon this morning. It is apparent to me that you believe that there is a Hell and that there is a Purgatory. I do not believe in these things. Next Sunday, if you wish, you may prove to the people in your sermon that there is a Hell and a Purgatory. When you are done, I shall try to prove to them that there is no Hell and no Purgatory. If the people believe you, I do not mind if you have me hanged for my defeat and my unbelief, but, if I am the victor, all I ask of you is to allow me to say to the people at large that there is neither a Hell nor a Purgatory."

Several copies of this letter he pasted to the walls of the church, and one he sent to the priest.

When Patupat read it, his blood boiled and his anger knew no bounds. He had the gendarmes called, and on the evening of that very Sunday he had all the houses in the town entered and searched, so as to catch Kiko. But they did not catch Kiko. That same afternoon Kiko told some of his intimate friends what he had done, and they were all astonished. They asked him why he had done this thing and whether he could not see what would happen to him.

One of them spoke thus: "Pack up some clothes and go away right now, if you don't want to be caught by Patupat's soldiers and shot tomorrow."

Kiko refused to follow his advice, because he thought that Patupat would accept his challenge about showing the people that there was neither a Hell nor a Purgatory and that these things were merely a device of the priests for getting money. Therefore he allowed himself to be overtaken by night in the house of a friend of his.

Not until it was dark and the town was upset with the searchings of the gendarmes did he recognize the great danger which he was incurring. Since he had heard of this at once, he had time to hide in a secret corner of his friend's house.

When the house-searchings were over, he went out from his hiding place, went home, wrapped up some clothes, had a wagon hitched up, and, taking some rifle-bullets, shouldered his gun, got into the wagon, and had himself driven out of town. After a few days he went to the mountains together with several townsmen who could not stay in the town because they had incurred the anger of the priest or of some other Spanish official of the town.

There, in his stay in the mountains, he was overtaken by the revolution against the Spaniards in the year 1886.

14. MARIANO AND THE PRIEST PATUPAT.

Mariano was one of the very few apothecaries in the town of San Miguel. He was one of the people who fell into misfortune through disobeying the orders of the priest Patupat. He had a family; beside his wife he had two children, one two years old and one new-born.

One day his servant fell sick. He had a brother-in-law who was a doctor, so he had him treat the servant without charge, and he gave the servant medicine without charge. After some days the servant got well and decided to rest for a while in the country. Accordingly he paid his debt and took his leave of Mariano for a stay in the country. His stay in the country did not last long, before he fell sick anew, and the end was his death.

In the Philippines in those days it was not allowable to bury a dead person without first having him blessed by a priest. The priests did not allow this, but they did not much mind the living together of a man and woman not married, for the reason that they did this themselves.

The deceased servant of Mariano was very poor and his relatives also were poor and had not the means to pay the price demanded by Patupat. Thus there was no one to see to the burial of the servant's body.

When Patupat learned this, he had Mariano called and said that it was his place to have the dead man buried and to pay the costs. In Mariano's opinion Patupat's insolence was getting beyond bounds. Therefore he said that he would not pay him for the burying of the dead man, no matter what happened.

Patupat boiled with rage. He had the dead man buried and on the same day went to court and sued Mariano for the cost of blessing the dead man.

When the session of the court came, Mariano was present, and when the judge asked what he had to say to this accusation, he spoke as follows:

"Your Honor, this man who died was no longer in my care, for he was no longer my servant when he died. When he was still sick, I had him treated without charge and gave him medicine without charge. I have done my duty to my fellow-man and the duty placed upon me by the Lord. One of the duties of the priests is to provide burial for the dead. Now this man is dead, why cannot this priest do his duty without receiving pay, since even this would not happen, if the relatives of the deceased had means?"

After asking some further questions of the priest and of Mariano, the judge closed the hearing and announced that Mariano was in the right and that the priest would have to put up with having blessed the dead man without payment.

When this had happened Patupat's wrath against Mariano greatly increased, and after a few days he again entered a charge against Mariano. This time he made a different accusation. He complained to the court that Mariano was a Mason, because he did not come to church, did not confess, and did not kiss the priest's hand. The Masons are enemies of the Catholic Church and, in consequence, were enemies also of the government in the Philippines in those days; and therefore he suggested that Mariano be deported.

When Mariano heard of this accusation of Patupat, he decided that his only hope was to hide or to escape from those who were to arrest him. Accordingly what he did was to go down to Manila, and there he hid.

But even there he was caught by the gendarmes. Together with seven or eight men from various towns he was put into a steamboat and they were taken to the southern part of the Philippine Islands. And when they arrived there some of their number were shot by the soldiers who accompanied them, for this was ordered by the officials who sent these men into banishment.

However, Mariano was not one of those who were shot. He staid there until, after the victory of the Americans, he was given the liberty of returning to his family. When he came back to the latter, his one child was seven years old and the second, five.

15. THE STORY OF THE CHINESE CARPENTER.

Juan was a carpenter who had for neighbor a Chinaman who also was a carpenter. This Chinaman was a skilled carpenter and his cleverness showed itself in his skilful use of the plane. One day he bought a piece of wood forty feet in length. This he proceeded to smoothe. He tried to see if he could obtain shavings without a break for the whole length of the wood. What with the excellence of his tools and his skill at carpentry, this feat went off as if there was nothing to it. Every time he pushed his plane he obtained a shaving without a break, forty feet in length. In order to show this his skill to his neighbor, the Tagalog carpenter, he sent him one shaving every day.

The Tagalog carpenter, Juan, marvelled at the skill of the Chinaman. In order to make return for the shavings he had received, he too tried to use the plane and to send the shavings to the Chinaman. However, the longest shavings he succeeded in getting were only fifteen feet. These it would have been humiliating to send to the Chinaman.

Juan was skilled in the use of the daras, and he was able to smoothe boards by the use of the daras alone. Any piece of wood which he had chopped smooth with the daras did not require the use of the plane; but the pieces he chopped off were only short splinters, not suited to show his skill, and he could not send them to the Chinaman.

While Juan did not know what to do, the Chinaman did not stop sending long shavings. Juan was filled with anger. He took his daras and went over to the Chinaman's. The latter was surprised and frightened when he saw Juan.

The latter said: "What do you mean to say by sending me those shavings? You are offensive to me and you shall pay for it. I am going to cut your hair with this daras."

The Chinaman was frightened, for he knew that if that daras struck his head, he would surely not survive. He tried to escape, but Juan seized him, tied him to a bench, and began to use the daras on the Chinaman's head.

The daras is a large tool, the size of a pick, and heavy, but in Juan's skilful hand it was like a mere pair of scissors. The descent of the daras on the Chinaman's head was very gentle, and only the hair was cut by the edge.

The Chinaman in his fright shouted and said: "Wapelo! Come helpee me, Juan bad man, not Chlistian!"

This was heard by the neighbors and passers-by.

Accordingly they came into the Chinaman's workshop, but there Juan said to them: "Don't you mix in here! I am not hurting this Chinaman. I am just cutting his hair."

And he kept on with his chopping.

When the Chinaman's hair was completely cut, the onlookers were greatly astonished, for the Chinaman's hair was as if cut by the shears of a skilful barber. The Chinaman too, when he saw in the looking-glass that his head was unhurt, was greatly astonished and did not stop praising Juan's skill in the use of the daras.

16. A MAN WHO HAD THE POWER OF A DEER.

In a certain town in the Philippine Islands there once became celebrated the name of a certain man, both among his fellow-townsmen and the people of the neighboring towns, on account of his unusual strength in running and jumping.

He was not a proud man, but he had some astuteness in money matters and also some courage. He did not let his rare good fortune make him proud, nor did he lie about the source of his unusual strength. He told those who were curious that the source of his strength was the power of the deer which he had made his own.

He did not tell how this power had come into his possession, but he was not stingy about doing favors by helping with his strength both friends and strangers.

Like most people, he wanted to get rich, and it was toward this end that he used his strength. He often entered into races, and these races were always means of winning much money. He always made large bets. He refused no one that wanted to race with him. Sometimes he ran races with people, sometimes with horses, with dogs, and with other animals that are fast at running.

After a few days the money he had won in bets made up a large sum. His friends also, who had bet on him, got much money. When people came to know that he had the power of a deer, they did not want to run against him. Therefore, so as not to stop winning and making money, he gave large handicaps to his opponents. The handicaps which he gave were so great that many people contended with him. Still he always came out the winner. In jumping-matches also he was always victorious.

However, though the advantages which he gained through this power were great, yet there were also some disadvantages which he obtained through it. On account of these disadvantages he did not manage to keep this power as his own through all his life. Through this power he had become very nervous. The sounds of falling bodies, noises, and the barking of dogs at night, did not allow him to sleep. These noises often made him start up with a jump from his sleep. Especially when the barking of a dog, for instance, woke him up, he jumped high up from his bed, and before he recovered his wits he was running at full speed. He could exercise no care about his involuntary jumping up and usually went way up to the ceiling, and, since this was low, his body got full of bruises and his head full of bumps from striking against the ceiling. Likewise in his unintentional running whenever he woke up with a start, his whole body got knocked again and again against the walls of his house.

This was hard to bear, and he thought that he should not live long, what with not sleeping of nights. Therefore he decided to get rid of this power in a few days. When the seventh day of his possession of the power came, he was very sore and thought he should die of soreness. His head was covered with bumps. His face was full of black and blue marks, and though he had broken no bones, his muscles were badly bruised.

Therefore, without saying a word, he went to a forest and there abandoned the power which he had got hold of, seeing that he had already won much money.

17. THE PET MONKEY.

Andrés had a pet monkey which he prized very highly, because this monkey gave him much service. At night the monkey spread out his sleeping-mat for him; in the morning it handed him his water for washing, and whatever order he gave was obeyed by the monkey.

Every night this monkey slept underneath the bedstead on which its master slept. This was not pleasing to the latter, for owing to its great value, Andrés wanted to give it a good place to sleep in. However, no matter what efforts Andrés made to force it, his pet monkey could not be brought to sleep in any other place.

Andrés was a man who feared and loved God. Therefore, every night, before he went to sleep, he made the Sign of the Cross and called upon God. At his bed-time every night he found that his monkey was already under his bedstead. Not once did he get ahead of the monkey in going to bed.

One day the priest of the town visited Andrés in his house. After some time had elapsed in conversation, Andrés told the priest that he had a pet monkey which was very useful, because it served him well and obeyed his every command, and he also said that this monkey was more diligent than his other servants.

The priest was much surprised and asked that the monkey be shown to him. So Andrés called the monkey. Usually the monkey came at once at a single call by Andrés, but on this occasion it did not appear even when he had called ten times. Andrés got angry, arose, and looked for the monkey in the nooks and corners of the house.

He found it in a corner, clinging tightly to a post. He called it and tried to get it out of the corner, but the monkey would not come away, no matter what Andrés did to it. Therefore he called the priest to look at his pet monkey there in the corner.

At the approach of the priest the monkey trembled with fear. The priest conceived the suspicion that this monkey was an evil spirit. So he made the Sign of the Cross, and blessing a little water, sprinkled it over the monkey.

When the water struck the latter's body, there was a report like that of a gun, and in the place of the monkey they saw only some smoke, which soon disappeared.

Thereupon the priest questioned Andrés concerning his faith in God. Andrés said that his firm faith had not changed and that he prayed every night before going to sleep. The priest then asked where the monkey used to sleep. Andrés answered that it slept every night under his bedstead.

Thereupon the priest informed him that this monkey was an evil spirit which had been lying in wait for him, and that if he had ever failed to call upon God before he went to sleep, on that very night the evil spirit would have thrown him into Hell.

18. THE OLD MAN OF THE ANT-HILL BY LIGHT OF DAY.

Pedro was a brave man. He had often heard stories about vampires, dwarves, sorcerers, and old men of the ant-hill, but what made Pedro wonder was why he had never chanced to meet even a single one of these creatures. He wanted to get a sight of at least one of them, so that he might know whether it was true that they had powers not common to most persons.

One night he walked about in a dark and haunted place, because he had heard that many people had there seen an old man of the ant-hill.

The cigar of such an old man is of terrifying size, and when he draws at it, the light given forth is like the light of a bonfire.

On this night he had gone some distance on his ramble, when he saw a flare of light. His hair stood on end and he thought of going back, but he overcame his fear and continued on his walk.

He was met by the smoker. When he approached, Pedro examined the old man's figure, but as he did not succeed in gratifying his curiosity, he was taken with the desire of seeing the old man by daylight. To bring this about, he would have to hold the old man fast, for these spirits return to their abode in Hell or some other place of the kind as soon as morning comes.

Therefore what he did was suddenly to seize hold of the old man. The latter began to wrestle with him. Sometimes Pedro was below, sometimes he was on top, but he did not let go of the old man. He held him as tightly as possible and made up his mind that he would follow no matter where the old man bore him, should the latter prove stronger than he.

They wrestled till three o'clock. By this time Pedro was as tired as can be and ready to sink to the ground, but he did not let go of his fellow-wrestler. When four o'clock came his opponent ceased to move. When another half hour had passed, the rays of the sun began to fall upon them, but it was not yet light enough for Pedro to make out what sort of thing it was he had hold of. When five o'clock came, he was greatly surprised to see that he was embracing a post which was not much higher than he. It was, however, firmly fixed in the ground and completely charred.

19. JUAN'S GOBLIN.

One night Juan while rambling about, crossed a river. While he was still on the bank and just walking on the sandy beach, he felt some sand being showered on his back. He thought he would watch for the person who was throwing sand on him and catch him, so, while walking, he kept turning suddenly right about at short intervals, but he saw nothing.

This frightened him a little, and he began to wonder if he was not perhaps dealing with some old man of the ant-hill or some goblin. Therefore he hastened his running, but the faster he went, the more frequent grew the striking of sand on his back. His fear increased and he returned home running with all his might.

When he got there he was out of breath and unable to speak. It was only when he had rested a while that he was able to answer the many questions of his father and the other members of the household. He told his father that he had been pursued by dwarves on his walk and showered with sand.

His father asked him where the scene of this was, and he said on the bank of the river. His father burst into peals of laughter and said that these were no dwarves, but only his own feet, which sent the sand up on his back at every stride he made.

But Juan refused to believe this, and for several days he did not leave the house. His father therefore wanted to show him the truth of what he had said, so one night he told Juan to go for a walk to that same place, and he would accompany him.

Juan consented and they both went to the river-bank. When they got there, Juan's father dropped behind. When Juan walked on the sandy beach and felt the sprinkling of sand on his back, he was again filled with terror and shouted to his father that they were already starting to throw sand on his back.

He made Juan come back and walk on again. This time he followed at his back. Accordingly Juan's father saw that every time Juan took a step, the sandals he was wearing carried along some sand, and when he raised his foot the sand thus carried along was sprinkled on his back.

His father now had him take off the sandals he was wearing and made him walk on again. This time, no matter how much ground Juan walked over, he felt no scattering of sand on his back.

From this time on he had no more fear of old men, dwarves, vampires, and other spooks.

20. JUAN THE SUITOR.

Young Maria was famed for beauty in her district. She had no suitors, however, except only Juan. But Maria's father had a great dislike for Juan. Juan could converse with the girl he was courting only in secret, for when Maria's father knew of it, he would punish them both with his stick.

Sometimes, when the father's anger was great, he used a club on Juan, so that he was in danger of getting his bones broken whenever they were caught talking together.

One dark night Maria's father had gone out. When Juan found this out, he went to Maria's to talk with her. They forgot themselves in their conversation, and so were surprised by Maria's father on his return.

He was at once filled with anger and in a loud voice addressed Juan: "What do you want, you brute? I've told you not to set foot in my house here. What do you mean by coming here?"

And when he had said this he seized a bamboo cane and made ready to give Juan a caning. In his terror the latter jumped out of the window, but he was followed by the father. So he took to running with all his might.

The night was dark as coal and he could not make out which way to go, but he kept running nevertheless. He fell on his face again and again as he ran, but he got up quickly and kept on running.

It was not long before he came upon a large black object. He recognized it as a carabao, so he leaped quickly on its back and made it run.

Riding on a carabao is not very difficult, owing to the breadth of its back and the slowness of its pace. Therefore, even though he had no reins, Juan was not afraid to ride. Owing to the darkness of the night it happened that in his mounting he faced the tail-end of the carabao and not the head.

He urged on the carabao. Now it happened that this carabao was owned by Maria's father. It was not long before Juan saw a lighted house in the direction toward which the carabao was going. He confidently expected that this house was his neighbor's. Therefore he got down from the carabao and went up into the house on the run.

Great was his surprise and terror when, upon entering, he was met by Maria's father and beaten all over his body and addressed: "What have you come back for? Haven't I got rid of you yet, you shameless rascal?"

When Juan came to himself he jumped from the porch and ran toward home, but this time he did not ride on anything.

21. MARIA THE MISER.

When Maria was still alive, she lived in her pleasant house in the middle of wide grounds with beautiful gardens and trees. As she was very rich, her life was one constant pleasure.

She had not reached the age of forty years, when she died. All her wealth she divided between her sister and the church. She did not remember the poor acquaintances and those of her neighbors who were poor.

The sister who was left had a series of masses said during the seven days after death, so that Maria's soul might be admitted by Saint Peter at the gates of heaven.

When her sister Maria was still alive, she was known far and wide for her avarice. She herself rarely had masses said or made offerings of candles. When beggars asking for alms called on her, she had them driven away and gave them no alms. Often also she had them chased with dogs. She forced her peons to work without pay, and when she gave them rations it was without meat or vegetables,--only boiled rice with salt. To propitiate her, her peons, whenever they went home, brought chickens, eggs, young pigs, and vegetables or fruits to give to Maria. They did not make these presents for love of Maria, but as a kind of bribe, so that they might not be too harshly treated during their stay in her house. But when Maria went to the country to her workmen, she appropriated without saying a word and without paying for it, everything she saw in their house that took her fancy. When, for instance, she saw at her workmen's a new basket, tray, sieve, sack, mat, pot, cup, dipper, brazier, or other household utensil, she took it and carried it off to her house. When she could not make use of the things she had taken, she sold them. She acted in the same way about animals that belonged to her servants. In this way she had quickly grown rich.

When she had been dead about three days, her sister was at her house, spending the period of mourning. One evening, when she was walking in the garden she came to the side of a well that was in the yard. She was surprised, for from the depth of the well she heard someone calling her name. She turned her head toward the well and there she again clearly heard the calling, although she could see nobody whatever.

The voice said: "My sister, I am Maria. I am paying now for my life of avarice, selfishness and cruelty. I am here in the Lord's place of punishment for all sinners. If it may be, do not follow my example, but seek some means to save me from the boiling oil here which is now my place of dwelling."

Her sister was much grieved then and went at once to the priest to ask to what means she could resort to rescue her sister from Hell. The priest advised her to go to a certain town where there was a wonder-working image of Saint Peter. This image of Saint Peter talked with people and advised various means of getting into Heaven. This was its miracle.

Maria's sister went immediately to the town where stood the miraculous Saint Peter. When she got there and talked with Saint Peter, she told him the whole story. She said that her sister had told her that her avarice, selfishness, and cruelty had caused her to be thrown into Hell.

"In that case," said Saint Peter, "find you but one single person, animal, or plant that was the object of an act of kindness on the part of your sister. When you have managed to find it, come back to me, and I shall give you a means to rescue your sister from damnation."

Maria's sister went home to their town at once and there she inquired of all the townspeople which of them owed any debt of gratitude to her sister, or which of them had been well treated or kindly spoken to by her. But not one of them was able to answer. The animals also of the neighbors and on Maria's own grounds were interrogated by her, but here she found none that had been done a kindness by her sister.

One dog, a creature of skin and bones, said to her: "One afternoon I was very hungry. I found a bone in her yard. I seized it and was carrying it off, when she saw me. She had me chased at once, and when I dropped the bone she had it buried in the ground. Was that an act of kindness?"