you." He did so, first
with one foot, and then with the other. At last he could no longer
move, and he began to curse the statue. Juan, who had been hiding
in a bush near by, now presented himself, and said to the monkey,
"Now I have caught you, you thief!" He would have killed the monkey
at once, had not the monkey begged for mercy, and promised that he
would at some future time repay him for his kindness if he would only
spare his life. So Juan set the monkey free.

It was now the month of April. The monkey, impatient to fulfil his word
to Juan, went one day to the field, and there he found Juan hard at
work. "Good-morning, Master Juan!" he cried. "I see that you are busy."

"Busy indeed!" replied Juan.

"Master Juan, do you want to marry the king's daughter? If you do,
I'll arrange everything for you," said the monkey.

Juan replied, "Yes," little thinking that what the monkey promised
could be true.

The monkey scampered off towards the market. When he entered the
market, he saw a boy counting his money. The monkey pretended to be
looking in the other direction, but walked towards the boy. When he
saw that the money was fairly within his reach, he seized it and ran
back to Juan. After telling his master what he had done, the monkey
went to the king's palace, and said, "Sir, my master, Juan, wants
to borrow your ganta, for he desires to measure his money." The king
gave him the ganta. In three days the monkey appeared at the palace
again to return the measure, in the bottom of which he stuck three
centavos. "My master, Juan, thanks you for your kindness," said the
monkey. The monkey was about to leave the room when the king perceived
the three centavos sticking to the bottom of the measure.

"Here, monkey, here are your three cents!" said the king. "Oh, oh,
oh, oh, oh!" answered the monkey, laughing, "my master cares not for
three cents. He has too much money. He is very, very rich." The king
was much surprised to hear that there was a man richer than himself.

Two weeks later the monkey returned to the palace again, and said,
"Pray, king, my master, Juan, desires to borrow your ganta again. He
wants to finish measuring his money."

The king was filled with curiosity; and he said, "I'll let you borrow
the ganta, monkey, but you must tell me first who is this Juan whom
you call your master."

"My master, Juan," replied the monkey, "is the richest man in the
world."

Before giving the measure to the monkey