d, out jump a corporal and six soldiers to
do whatever they are ordered to do. The exchange is made. The youth
travels on, taps the knapsack, and orders the soldiers to bring him the
wishing-cloth that the charcoal-burner has. In this same way the youth
acquires from two other charcoal-burners successively a magic hat which
shoots off artillery and destroys the owner's enemies, and a magic horn
a blast from which throws down walls, fortifications, and houses. By
means of these articles the hero finally wins the king's daughter to
wife, and becomes ruler. Further adventures follow when the wife tries,
but without ultimate success, to steal his treasures from him.
The magic articles are not at all constant in this cycle, as may be
seen from an examination of Bolte-Polivka's variants (1 : 467-470),
but most of the lists include the wishing-cloth and articles in the
nature of weapons or soldiers for offensive purposes. A comparison of
our story with this formula discloses an undoubted relationship between
the two. The hero trades his wishing-cloth for two fighting stones,
which he later sends back to fetch the cloth. He then acquires two
magic canes (but not by trickery this time). Later, when he becomes
an object of envy, and an attempt is made by a rich neighbor to steal
his wealth (corresponding to the envy of the king), the magic stones
and canes kill all his opponents. Compare the Tagalog variant in the
notes to the following tale (No. 27).
The extraordinary articles are found as machinery in other Philippine
stories, though not in the above sequence: a "table, spread yourself"
and a magic cane occur in No. 27; a magic guitar, in No. 28; a
magic buyo, cane, purse, and guitar, in No. 35. Compare also the
magic articles in the various forms of No. 12. I know of no other
occurrence in folk-tales of two fighting stones. This detail sounds
very primitive. It might be compared with the magic "healing stones"
in No. 12 (b), "Three Brothers of Fortune," though the two objects
are wholly dissimilar in power.
As a whole, while our story is reminiscent of at least three different
cycles of tales, it nevertheless does not sound like a modern bit of
patchwork, but appears to be old; how old, I am unable to say. The most
unreasonable part of our narrative is the fact that the hero should
find himself so many miles from home when going to buy five cents'
worth of rice. It must be supposed that the trip to the snake-cave
occupie
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