a surprise
for him! He was frightened to find a boy instead of his cow tied
to the carreton. "Why are you there? Where is my cow?" he shouted
furiously. "Rascal, give me my cow!"

"Oh, don't be angry with me!" said Ambrosio. "Wait a minute, and I
will tell you my story. Once, when I was a small boy, my mother became
very angry with me. She cursed me, and suddenly I was transformed
into a cow; and now I am changed back into my own shape. It is not
my fault that you bought me: I could not tell you not to do so, for
I could not speak at the time. Now, generous farmer, please give me
my freedom! for I am very anxious to see my old home again."

The farmer did not know what to do, for he was very sorry to lose his
cow. When he reached home, he told his wife the story. Now, his wife
was a kind-hearted woman; so, after thinking a few minutes, she said,
"Husband, what can we do? We ought to set him free. It is by the
great mercy of God that he has been restored to his former self."

So the wily boy got off. He rejoined his friend, and they had a good
laugh over the two simple folks.

Notes.

Like the preceding, this story is of Oriental origin. It must
have grown up among a people to whom the idea of metempsychosis
was well known, but who at the same time held a skeptical view of
that doctrine. Whether or not this droll reached the Philippines by
way of the Iberian Peninsula, is hard to say definitely. A Spanish
folk-tale narrating practically the same incident is to be found
in C. Sellers, pp. 1 ff.: "The Ingenious Student." There the shrewd
but poverty-stricken Juan Rivas steals a mule from the pack-train of
a simple-minded muleteer; and while the companions escape with the
animal and sell it, Juan puts on the saddle and bridle, and takes the
place of the stolen beast. His explanation that he has just fulfilled
a long period of punishment imposed on him by Mother Church satisfies
the astonished mule-owner, and Juan escapes with only the admonition
never again to incur the wrath of his spiritual Mother.

The oldest version with which I am familiar is the "Arabian Nights"
anecdote of "The Simpleton and the Sharper" (Burton's translation,
v : 83). This story is practically identical with ours, except that
the Filipino version lacks the additional final comical touch of the
Arabian. The owner of the ass, after the adventure with the sharper,
went to the market to buy another beast, "and, lo! he beheld his
own ass for s