Reading Notes: Filipino Tales, Part B

There was an iguana and a turtle who were friends. They went fishing at an old man’s pond and were caught. The iguana got away but the turtle was tied up under the house. The iguana came looking for his friend the next day. When he found the turtle he asked why he was tied up. The turtle said it was because the old man wanted him to marry his daughter, but he doesn’t want to. The iguana really wants a wife so he decided to take the turtle’s place. The old man didn’t really want anyone to marry his daughter and tried to hurt the iguana, but he got away. Later the iguana ran into the turtle again who tricked him one last time.

A mosquito

There once was a crab who was the kind of all land crabs. He brought all of his subjects together and told then to watch his house at night, but to make no noise while doing it. All of his subjects agreed to do so. That night the rain started to pour and the crabs started to laugh. This awake the king, who was angry, but he went back to sleep so he could deal with it in the morning. When he asked the crabs why they were laughing they said that it was because they saw Hu-man carrying his house on his back. He took that as a good reason and didn’t do anything to them. When he asked why Hu-man was carrying his house on his back he said that it was because a creature had brought fire and he was afraid his house would be destroyed. Again the king thought this was a good reason. He then asked the creature why he was carrying fire to which he responded that Lamoc was trying to bite him, and he was protecting himself. The king thought this was a good reason. When the king tried to talk to Lamoc he bit him and so the king ordered him to be killed. After he was killed, Lamoc’s friends chased the executioner around and stayed at him front door humming for the rest of their lives. These friends sometimes mistake humans ears for the door of the executioners home, and this is why mosquitoes hum in our ears.

Bibliography:

Filipino Popular Tales by Dean Fansler