est. Suddenly he
thought of the bird who had promised to help him, and he called,
"Sparrowhawk!" There was a rustle of wings, and the bird swooped
down. He told it of his troubles and it said:

"I will get the water for you."

Then Benito made two light cups of bamboo which he fastened to the
bird's legs, and it flew away. All day the boy waited in the forest,
and just as night was coming on the bird returned with both cups
full. The one on his right foot, he told Benito, was from heaven,
and that on his left was from the lower world. The boy unfastened
the cups, and then, as he was thanking the bird, he noticed that the
journey had been too much for it and that it was dying. Filled with
sorrow for his winged friend, he waited and carefully buried it,
and then he hastened to the palace with the precious water.

When the Princess saw that her wish had been fulfilled she asked the
King to cut her in two and pour over her the water from heaven. The
King was not able to do this, so she cut herself, and then as he
poured the water over her he beheld her grow into the most beautiful
woman he had ever seen.

Eager to become handsome himself, the King then begged her to pour
over him the water from the other cup. He cut himself, and she did
as he requested, but immediately there arose a creature most ugly
and horrible to look upon, which soon vanished out of sight. Then
the Princess called Benito and told him that because he had been
so faithful to his master and so kind to her, she chose him for
her husband.

They were married amid great festivities and became king and queen of
that broad and fertile land. During all the great rejoicing, however,
Benito never forgot his parents. One of the finest portions of his
kingdom he gave to them, and from that time they all lived in great
happiness. [156]

The Adventures of Juan

_Tagalog_

Juan was always getting into trouble. He was a lazy boy, and more
than that, he did not have good sense. When he tried to do things,
he made such dreadful mistakes that he might better not have tried.

His family grew very impatient with him, scolding and beating him
whenever he did anything wrong. One day his mother, who was almost
discouraged with him, gave him a bolo [157] and sent him to the forest,
for she thought he could at least cut firewood. Juan walked leisurely
along, contemplating some means of escape. At last he came to a tree
that seemed easy to cut, and then he drew