me by
Manuel Reyes, a native of Manila. It runs as follows:

Mabait and the Duende.

Menguita, a king of Cebu, had two slaves,--Mabait and Masama. Mabait
was honest and industrious, while Masama was envious and lazy. Mabait
did nearly all of the hard work in the palace, so he was admired very
much by the king. Masama, who was addicted to gambling, envied Mabait.

One night, while Mabait was asleep, a duende [76] awakened him, and
said, "I have seen how you labor here patiently and honestly. I want
to be your friend."

Mabait was amazed and frightened. He looked at the duende carefully,
and saw that it resembled a very small man with long hair and a white
beard. It was about a foot high. It had on a red shirt, a pair of
green trousers, a golden cap, and a pair of black shoes. At last
Mabait answered in a trembling voice, "I don't want to be a friend
of an evil spirit."

"I am not evil, I am a duende."

"I don't know what duendes are, so I don't want to be your friend."

"Duendes are wealthy and powerful spirits. They can perform magic. If
you are the friend of one of them, you will be a most fortunate man."

"How did you come into the world?" said Mabait.

"Listen! When Lucifer was an angel, a contest in creating animals
arose between him and God. He and his followers were defeated and
thrown into hell. Many angels in that contest belonged neither to
God's side not to Lucifer's. They were dropped on the earth. Those
that fell in the forests became tigbalangs, ikis, and mananangals;
[77] those in the seas became mermaids and mermen; and those in the
cities became duendes."

"Ah, yes! I know now what duendes are."

"Now let our friendship last forever," said the duende. "I am ready
at any time to help you in your undertakings."

From that time on Mabait and the duende were good friends. The duende
gave Mabait two or three isabels [78] every day, and by the end of
the month he had saved much money. He bought a fine hat and a pair
of wooden shoes.

Masama wondered how Mabait, who was very poor, could buy so many
things. At last he asked, "Where do you get money? Do you steal it?"

"No, my friend gives it to me."

"Who is your friend?"

"A duende."

Masama, in great envy, went to the king, and said, "Master, Mabait,
your favorite slave, has a friend. This friend is a duende, which
will be injurious to us if you let it live here. As Mabait said,
it will be the means of his acquiring all of your wealth