Philippine Folk-Tales | Page 7

that they might prove of interest to
people at home. Many of the stories were written by our boys and girls
as part of their work in English composition. Others were prepared by
the native teachers, some of whom had been well educated by the
Spaniards and had already learned to write very fair English. Indeed, a
few were able, at about the time that these stories were written, to pass
the civil service examination for appointment as insular teachers. The
articles on the superstitious beliefs of the people were prepared by one
of these teachers, so that they might be as nearly correct as possible.
As might be expected, the stories are often very crude and simple,
presenting no difficult situations nor intricate plots. Sometimes they
resemble well-known tales from other lands, although great care has
been taken to collect only those from original sources.
The tales here presented were collected during the spring of 1904, in

the island of Panay, belonging to the Visayan group of the Philippine
Islands, and were obtained in our own class rooms, from native
teachers and pupils. Mr. Maxfield was stationed at Iloilo, and Mr.
Millington at Mandurriao, places five miles apart. We daily came in
contact with about one thousand pupils. The tales were gathered in both
places, and were found to be substantially alike, the differences being
only in petty details. After collecting one version, we endeavored to
ascertain whether the same narrative was current among natives in
other localities of the island. We were surprised to discover that they
seemed to be known wherever we became acquainted with the people
and had obtained their confidence sufficiently to induce them to talk
freely. There were often variations, but the framework was always the
same. If any stories were obtained from native teachers who knew
Spanish, we have always verified them by getting children or natives
from other places, who knew no Spanish, to relate them, in order to
assure ourselves that the narrative could not be a mere translation of a
Spanish tale.
We who have collected these stories can claim little credit for any more
than the mere arrangement of them, as, so far as possible, even the
wording of the original manuscripts has been retained. Doubtless, much
of the interest we have felt in the work is due to our personal
acquaintance with the writers who put on paper for us these simple
tales, yet we hope that they will not be wholly unattractive to those for
whose sake they have been collected.
February, 1906.
B. L. M.
W. H. M.

CHAPTER 1
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