Philippine Folk-Tales | Page 8

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.



CHAPTER 2
Truth and Falsehood.
One day Truth started for the city to find some work. On his way he
overtook Falsehood, who was going to the city for the same purpose.
Falsehood asked permission to ride on the horse with Truth, and his
request was granted.
On the way they questioned each other as to the sort of work they
wanted. Truth stated that he intended to be a secretary, so that he might
always be clean and white. Falsehood declared that he would be a cook,
because then he would always have plenty of fine things to eat.
As they were riding along, they met a man carrying a corpse to the
cemetery. He had no one to help him, and Truth, in his great pity for
the man, jumped off his horse and helped him. After the corpse was
buried, Truth asked: "Did you pray for the repose of the soul of the
dead?" "No," was the reply, "I do not know how to pray, and I have no
money to pay the priest for candles." Then Truth gave the man all the
money he had, that he might have prayers said for the dead man, and
went back to his companion.
When dinner time came, Falsehood was very angry at finding out that
Truth had given all his money away, but finally proposed that they
should go to the river and catch some fish for dinner. When they
arrived at the river, they found some fish which had been caught in a
shallow pool near the bank, and caught all they wanted. But Truth was
very sorry for the fish, and threw his half back into the river. Falsehood
murmured at him and said: "It would have been better for you to give

them to me. If I had known that you would throw them into the river, I
would not have given you any of them." Then they rode on. As they
were going through a thick wood in the heart of the mountain they
heard a noise as of crying, far away. Truth went forward to find what it
was, but Falsehood, trembling with fear, hid himself close behind his
comrade. At last they saw seven little eagles in a nest high in a tree.
They were crying with hunger, and their mother was nowhere to be
seen. Truth was sorry for them, and killed his horse, giving some of the
meat to the young eagles, and spreading the rest on the ground beneath
the tree, so that the mother-bird might find it.
Falsehood hated his comrade for having killed the horse, because now
they were obliged to travel on foot. They went down the mountain, and
entering the city, presented themselves before the king, desiring to be
taken into his service, the one as secretary and the other as cook. The
king granted both requests.
When Falsehood saw that his former companion sat at the table with
the