irst happened
also to him, and so to the third in turn. As soon as the youngest
brother heard the third fall, he thought of looking for his share. He
crept about to find the cocoanuts. Alas! he discovered that his three
brothers lay dead on the ground. He went away from the place crying
very loud.

Now, his crying happened to disturb the patianac, [23] who were
trying to sleep. They went out to see what was the matter. When
they found the poor helpless blind man, they were very much moved,
and they gave him food and shelter for the night. They also gave
him the tail of a pagui, [24] which would help him find his fortune,
they said. At daybreak they showed him the way out of the grove.

The blind man walked on and on, until he was hailed by a lame man
resting under a shady tree. "Friend, carry me on your shoulders,
and let us travel together!" said the lame man to the blind.

"Willingly," replied the blind man.

They travelled for many hours, and at last came to a big, lonely
house. They knocked at the open door, but nobody answered. At last
they entered, and found the place empty. While they were searching
through the house, the owner came. He was a two-headed giant. The
blind man and the lame man were upstairs.

The giant was afraid to enter the house, but he called in a voice of
thunder, "Who's there?"

"We are big men," answered the two companions.

"How big are you?" asked the giant.

"We are so big that the foundation of the house shakes when we walk,"
the two replied.

"Give me a proof that you are really big men!" cried the giant again.

"We will show you one of our hairs," they answered, and they dropped
from the window the tail of the pagui.

The giant looked at it in wonder. He was immediately convinced that
they were more powerful than he was. So, picking up the "hair,"
the giant went away, afraid to face such antagonists in single combat.

So the prediction of the patianac came true. The house and all the
property of the giant fell into the hands of the blind man and the
lame man. They lived there happily all the rest of their lives.

Juan the Blind Man.

Narrated by Pedro D. L. Sorreta, a Bicol from Virac, Catanduanes,
where the story is common.

Many years ago there lived in a little village near a thick forest
eight blind men who were close friends. In spite of their physical
defects, they were always happy,--perhaps much happier than their
fellow-villagers, for at night they would a