d restore her to the palace should be
allowed to marry her. When the three brothers heard this news, they
resolved to use their knowledge and skill to find the missing princess.
An-no had brought home with him a spy-glass in which everything hidden
from the eyes of men could be seen. With this instrument, he told his
brothers, he could locate the princess. He looked through his glass,
and saw her confined in a tower on an island. When An-no had given
this information to the king, the next question was how to rescue
her. "We'll do the rest," said the two younger brothers.
Accordingly Berto built a ship. When it was finished, the three
brothers boarded her and sailed to the island where the princess
was confined; but there they found the tower very closely guarded by
armed soldiers, so that it seemed impossible to get into it. "Well,
that is easy," said Tito. "You stay here and wait for my return. I
will bring the princess with me."
The famous young robber then went to work to steal the
princess. Through his skill he succeeded in rescuing her and bringing
her to the ship. Then the four sailed directly for the king's
palace. The beautiful princess was restored to her father. With great
joy the king received them, and a great feast was held in the palace
in honor of the rescue of his daughter. After the feast the king asked
the three brothers to which of them he should give his daughter's
hand. Each claimed the reward, and a quarrel arose among them. The
king, seeing that all had played important parts in the rescue of the
princess, decided not to bestow his daughter on any of them. Instead,
he gave half his wealth to be divided equally among An-no, Berto,
and Tito.
Three Brothers of Fortune.
Narrated by Eugenio Estayo, a Pangasinan, who heard the story from
Toribio Serafica, a native of Rosales, Pangasinan.
In former times there lived in a certain village a wealthy man who
had three sons,--Suan, Iloy, and Ambo. As this man was a lover of
education, he sent all his boys to another town to school. But these
three brothers did not study: they spent their time in idleness and
extravagance. When vacation came, they were ashamed to go back to
their home town, because they did not know anything; so, instead,
they wandered from town to town seeking their fortunes.
In the course of their travels they met an old woman broken with
age. "Should you like to buy this book, my grandsons?" asked the old
woman as she stop
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