s
examine Juan's back, and they see only a little lizard clinging to his
worn-out camisa (loose, thin cotton coat). [98] Some of the robbers
get angry, and some laugh at Juan's foolishness. The captain tells
Juan that he may go away, for he is not worth anything. He also tells
Juan not to tell anybody that he has been with them, for, if he does,
they will kill him.

Juan leaves the band of robbers, and decides to live up in a tree,
because he is all alone, he says. He takes a low bamboo table and
goes up into a very large mango-tree. He chooses a well-hidden place,
and there he ties his table firmly to the branches. He spends the day
in the neighboring towns looking for food, but at night he comes back
to the tree and sleeps there.

Early one morning Juan wakes up and hears faint whispers. He looks
down, and sees two men talking very earnestly together. One is carrying
a bag of money. Juan loosens his table and lets it fall on the men. It
makes a loud crash, and they run away. Juan quickly climbs down the
tree and makes off with the bag of money. He now decides to live in
town. After he has found a barrio that suits him, he buys a house, a
carabao, and a cart. He lives peacefully in his new house. Sometimes
he works; but he spends most of his time sleeping, for he is a very
lazy fellow.

One morning the capitan of the town sends a town crier around to
announce an order to the people. The town crier says, "The capitan
orders you all to sprinkle with water the street in front of your
houses." Juan takes a small cocoanut-shell full of water, and goes
out and sprinkles the street. In the afternoon the capitan of the
town goes about the streets to see if the people have obeyed his
orders. He sees that everybody has obeyed him except Juan. He goes
to Juan's house, and asks him why he has not sprinkled the street;
and Juan tells him what he has done. The capitan then tells him that
he must use much water. As soon as the capitan has left, Juan begins
to pour buckets of water on the street. But when the water all flows
away, Juan thinks that his irrigation is not good enough: so he takes
his cart and carabao, and with their help he digs a large ditch. All
night long Juan works filling the ditch with water. The next morning,
when the capitan sees the ditch, he becomes very angry, and summons
Juan. Juan excuses himself by saying that the laws of the town are
not stated clearly. So the capitan has to let Juan go.

When Sunday