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 White Squash

_Ilocano_

In a queer little bamboo house in front of a big garden lived a man
and his wife all alone. They had always been kind and good to everyone,
but still they were not happy, because the child for which they longed
had never come to them. Each day for many years they had prayed for
a son or a daughter, but their prayers had been unanswered. Now that
they were growing old they believed that they must always live alone.

In the garden near their house this couple grew fine white squash,
and as the vines bore the year around, they had never been in need
of food. One day, however, they discovered that no new squash had
formed to take the place of those they had picked, and for the first
time in many seasons they had no vegetables.

Each day they examined the vines, and though the big, yellow flowers
continued to bloom and fade, no squash grew on the stems. Finally,
one morning after a long wait, the woman cried out with delight, for
she had discovered a little green squash. After examining it, they
decided to let it ripen that they might have the seeds to plant. They
eagerly watched it grow, and it became a beautiful white vegetable,
but by the time it was large enough for food they were so hungry that
they decided to eat it.

They brought a large knife and picked it, but scarcely had they
started to open it when a voice cried out from within, "Please be
careful that you do not hurt me."

The man and woman stopped their work, for they thought that a spirit
must have spoken to them. But when the voice again called and begged
them to open the squash, they carefully opened it, and there inside
was a nice baby boy. [153] He could already stand alone and could
talk. And the man and his wife were overjoyed.

Presently the woman went to the spring for a jar of water, and
when she had brought it she spread a mat on the floor and began to
bathe the baby. As the drops of water fell off his body, they were
immediately changed to gold, so that when the bath was finished gold
pieces covered the mat. The couple had been so delighted to have the
baby that it had seemed as if there was nothing mo