on
before the king. He decided to divide the young woman into three
parts to be distributed among the three brothers. His judgment was
carried out. When each had received his share, Iloy and Ambo were
discontented because their portions were useless, so they threw them
away; but Suan picked up the shares of his two brothers and united
them with his own. The young woman was brought to life again, and
lived happily with Suan. So, after all, Suan was the most fortunate.
Pablo and the Princess.
Narrated by Dolores Zafra, a Tagalog from La Laguna. She heard the
story from her father.
Once upon a time there lived three friends,--Pedro, Juan, and
Pablo. One morning they met at the junction of three roads. While
they were talking, Pedro said, "Let each of us take one of these
roads and set out to find his fortune! there is nothing for us to
do in our town." The other two agreed. After they had embraced and
wished each other good luck, they went their several ways. Before
separating, however, they promised one another to meet again in the
same plate, with the arrangement that the first who came should wait
for the others.
Pedro took the road to the right. After three months' travelling,
sometimes over mountains, sometimes through towns, he met an old
man. The old man asked him for food, for he was very hungry. Pedro
gave him some bread, for that was all he had. The old man thanked the
youth very much, and said, "In return for your kindness I will give
you this carpet. It looks like an ordinary carpet, but it has great
virtue. Whoever sits on it may be transported instantly to any place
he desires to be." Pedro received the carpet gladly and thanked the
old man. Then the old man went on his way, and Pedro wandered about
the town. At last, thinking of his two friends, he seated himself on
his carpet and was transported to the crossroads, where he sat down
to wait for Juan and Pablo.
Juan had taken the road to the left. After he had travelled for three
months and a half, he, too, met an old man. This old man asked the
youth for something to eat, as he was very hungry, he said. So Juan,
kind-heartedly, shared with him the bread he was going to eat for his
dinner. As a return for his generosity, the old man gave him a book,
and said, "This book may seem to you of no value; but when you know of
its peculiar properties, you will be astonished. By reading in it you
will be able to know everything that is happening in the w
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