Philippine Folktales

The First Banana Plant There once lived a couple in a village by the sea. They had a beautiful daughter named Juana. Under the loving care of her parents, Juana grew up and, because of her beauty, many suitors vied for her. One of Juana’s suitors was a fellow named Aging. At first Juana and Aging were just friends. But friendship soon turned to love. Juana’s father came to know of the love affair. He told Juana not to entertain Aging. In spite of this, the two lovers found ways to see each other. Early one evening Juana’s father arrived from the field where he had been working all day. To his surprise he saw Aging by the window of the house. The sight of Aging made the father angry. Quickly, he reached the window and, with his sharp bolo, he struck Aging on the arm. Down fell the arm of Aging. Then Aging rushed out of the house, followed by Juana who kept crying and calling Aging’s name at he same time. Juana was not able to find Aging. After she had comforted herself, she went back to the house, took Aging’s Arm, and buried it in the yard. The next morning Juana’s father went to the garden. What did he see? Near the spot where Juana buried Aging’s Arm, there was a small green plant pushing it self up. The plant had wide green leaves and yellow fruits shaped like clusters of fingers. He shouted in surprise. Then he called Juana to come down. “ What plant is this?” asked the father. “I’ve never seen one like it before!”. Upon seeing the plant, Juana remembered the arm she had buried on the spot the night before. The name of Aging kept lingering on her mind. Then Juana said, “That pant is Aging! It is the arm of Aging!”. From that time on, the plant with clustered fruits came to be known as Aging, which was later changed to Saging.

Juan Tamad (Lazy John) Every day, in the morning, the whole town would hear Juan’s mother shouting. “Lazy Juan! Get uuuuup! Lazy Juan, it’s almost noon!” Even if the sun was already up high, Juan would still be snoring in bed. He could not be relied on to work inside and outside their home. Whenever he was asked to do something, Juan would have an excuse. “My feet hurt, Mother,” he would say when asked to fetch water from the jar. “My hands are numb, “he would say when asked to wash dishes. So Juan would end up sitting around the whole afternoon.

Every afternoon, Juan would lie down under the tree and just gape around. “When will you change?” Even their pet rooster would wonder. “Why are you so lazy, Juan?” Source: Lampara Books (Manila, Philippines)

The Legend of Sampaloc Lake San Pablo, a picturesque and progressive city in Southeastern Luzon, is sometimes known as the city of the seven lakes. All the seven lakes are rich with tales about thier respective origin. A favorite story is that Sampaloc Lake – the largest and most beautiful of the seven lakes. Once upon a time there lived in the northern side of San Pablo a well-to-do but childless couple. They had a large garden of tarmarind trees which bore the sweetest fruits in all the land. Many people from far and wide heard of the tamarind trees. And many of them wanted to taste the sweet tamarind fruits. The couple felt very proud of their rich possession. They built a fence around their yard so that no strangers would pick any of the tamarind fruits. Just ti make sure no one could enter their yard, they placed a big watchdog to guard it God wanted to test the hospitality of the couple. And so, one day a fairy, disguised as an old beggar bent and wrinkled by age, approached the couple’s garden begged for some fruits. “Please give me some tamarind fruit. I am hungry!” The old woman pleaded. The couple did not even look at the old woman. “Begone! We don’t want to give any of our tamarind fruit away!” replied the couple angrily. “Please, I am so hungry, and a fruit or two will satisfy me,” the old beggar insisted. “I know your tamarind trees are laden with most delicious fruits.” Then, without any further ado, the old woman came near one of the large trees. She stretched out her wrinkled, skinny hand to pluck a curly thick pod hanging from one of the lower branches. Upon seeing what the old beggar had done, the couple grew angry. They became so angry that they hurried back to their house, let their big dog loose, and set it on the poor woman. Alas the poor old woman was badly bitten.

Patiently, the old beggar bore her pain. But before turning away from that inhospitable spot, she touched the tamarind tree and, looking at the couple, said, “You shall be punished for your selfishness.” Then she went slowly on her way. Even before the old woman was out of sight, thesky became overcast. In a short while a terrible storm broke out, and heavy rain fell through the night. The following morning all was peaceful. The man and his wife went out for their daily round as usual. They had hardly taken a few steps when, to their surprise, instead of the tall and green tamarind trees, there stretched before their unbelieving eyes a vast expanse of water shining in the morning sun. Still unconvinced about what had happened, the couple went forward up to the bank of what now appeared to be a natural lake. And, wonder of wonders, they saw through the transparent water the dark mass of tamarind trees still rooted to the suken ground. From that day on, the place became known as “Sampaloc Lake” – sampaloc being the Tagalog word for tamarind. Nowadays Sampaloc Lake is a tourist spot to which many lovers of nature. both young and old, go in order to admire the splendor and beauty.

The Kind Deer A big lion got trapped under a heavy trunk of a tree and could hardly move. A deer that was passing by saw him, the deer was afraid of him but it was so kind-hearted that it decided it help him get out of the heavy trunk. It scratched the soil around vigorously, then the soil under his body. After a long while, the lion was freed but he could not move easily because some parts of his body were painful. He then asked the deer to accompany him to his cave, and there, he promised to give the deer some food as a sign of his gratitude. The deer simply smiled at him and said it didn’t want to try its luck any further. It was enough for the deer that he was in pain and could not kill it. The deer left.

Planting The Seed Two foxes were eating fruits they took from an orchard. The first fox told the second fox to plant the seed of the fruits so they could have a steady supply of fruits. But the second fox just smiled and threw the seeds of the fruits it was eating. The first fox however planted the seed. Soon the seed grow and the first fox patiently took care of the plant until it bore fruits. Now the first fox had a steady supply of fruits and he didn’t have to sneak into a man’s

orchard to have something to eat. When the second fox asked for some fruits, he gave it seeds instead and told it to plant the seeds.

A Wrong Move A dog saw a lonely heron and asked her why she looked so glum. The heron said she was so hungry but there was no fish in the swamp as it had dried up because of the summer heat. The dog told the heron that he knew a place where she could catch lots of fish. But he made her promise that she would give him a share of the catch. The heron gladly agreed and so they went. They ended up in a small creek where lots of fish were swimming leisurely. The heron happily went to the water and in an instance had caught a big fish. The dog approached her and asked her of his share in the catch. But the heron got greedy and decided to fly with the fish. She was about to fly when the dog grabbed her by the feet with his mouth. “You don’t want to give me fish so you will be my food,” said the angry dog.

Two Cocks at Quarrel Two cocks fought to be the master of a poultry yard. When the duel was over, the victor crowed and clapped its wings in great delight. It made so much noise that an eagle passing by swooped down and carried it away. Now the entire yard belonged to the defeated cock.

The Legend of the Green Snakes (Dahong Palay) In the beginning of time, snakes were believed not to possess venom as they do now. For which reason, they were not feared nor respected. They were often shoved away and killed. Given their undignified state, they longed to be protected in some way or another to dissuade man and beast alike from murdering them by numbers. Thus, one day the golden cobra or ulupong the undisputed king of snakes prayed and asked for some form of safeguard from Bathala for their kinds. At first, Bathala ignored his request. One day, the God (Bathala) descended to earth and brought with him venoms to give away to the snakes. The first to obtain the venom was the cobra that explains why its venom it the most lethal of all. Each one of the other snakes also obtained his share of venom, though in decreasing potency, except for the green snake or Dahong Palay, who was late in learning about the free distribution of venom.

When he came to the place where venoms have been giben out, the only thing left of the venom supply were drops of it remaining in the bamboo mug Bathala left hanging around the bark of a certain palm tree. In his earnest desire to possess venom like all other snakes, he took the mug over so that its remaining contents dropped out on the bark of the tree. There was just too little left to drink or even lick with his tongue. Had he arrived earlier, Bathala would have him drank the venom as did the other snakes. After circle below around the bark of the tree so he could at leasd wipe the green-colored venoms against his scaly skin. It is not surprising that the green snake, as its name suggests, appears green all over owing to the green-colored venom it painted to its body. Though found on its skin, and not inside its mouth near the fangs as all other snakes do, the venom remains poisonous to those who bite or come in contact with its skin. Thus, it possesses a serious threat to those of its enemies who tried to attack him, and provided the necessary protection for the green snakes that came after him are born equipped with the venom on their skin, which along with their pair of sharp fangs elicits natural fear in everyone of us toward them, and commands our respect for their kinds for all times to come.

The Intelligent Frog Goblin was a frog that was very intelligent. He could discuss almost everything under the sun with such ease and facility. All frogs in the community turned to him whenever they had problems. He was envied and admired by all the frogs in their village. Because of the attention he was getting, he became boastful. One day, he went to a nearby brook to take a bath and catch small insects to eat. He was enjoying the cool water of the brook that he didn’t notice he was going further and further away from their village. It was already getting dark when he realized that he lost his way. No matter how much he tried he could not find his way home. Some frogs along the way asked him if he wanted help but he was too proud to admit that he lost his way. When he finally decided to seek help, there were no more frogs around because it was night

The Lazy Dog A group of animals were preparing to go to a nearby rice field because it was harvest time. It was the custom of the people in the merrymaking. It was to take place after the harvest. One of the animals, the dog, was too lazy to go with the others. He preferred to sleep instead of looking for something to eat. So when the group departed, he just slept.

When the group came back, each was full and satisfied. They too, enjoyed the merrymaking and the food. Each of them was also carrying some leftovers. The dog who was now so hungry after a long sleep asked each one of the animals for a little food but nobody wanted to give him even a small piece of meat

Two Cocks at Quarrel Two cocks fought to be the master of a poultry yard. When the duel was over, the victor crowed and clapped its wings in great delight. It made so much noise that an eagle passing by swooped down and carried it away. Now the entire yard belonged to the defeated cock.

Two Hungry Cats Wednesday, November 5th, 2008

A man who was watching the fish he was drying under the sun fell asleep. Two hungry cats that were looking for food saw the fish on the tray. They hid themselves in the bush near the wooden bench where the tray was. Then they talked between themselves who was going to get the fish on the tray The white one prodded the yellow one to go and take the fish while he watched the sleeping man. But the yellow cat wanted the white cat to be the one to go and get the fish from the tray. Each one was prodding the other to get at the tray bet no one wanted to go. As they were arguing who would go for the fish, the man was awakened and, seeing the fish had dried, took the tray and left.

Why Filipinos Have Flat Noses In the beginning of time, the early inhabitants of the earth did not have well formed noses as we today. What uses to be the nose were two small holes located at the middle of the face. It was a little later that the creator thought of adding noses on the face that He sent down from the heavens a boat to distribute to man to make him more handsome. Of the five races of man formed by God, our early Filipino ancestors belonged to the brown race. Juan and his friends were browned skinned people among whites, the reds, the yellows, and the blacks living in the same island before the population of each race multiplied that eventually forced them to disperse in search for lands elsewhere to survive. God was experimenting with noses at the time and needed a patient to put it on. He looked down from the heavens and spotted Juan. That time, Juan was playing with his friends. The Creator muddy pool. When he got up, he noticed a handful of mud sticking on the middle of his face. He and his friends tried to remove it for some time but without success. Finally, he gave up. By which time the water of the pool is cleared. He was

alone when he walked over to the pool to have a look at him and was very pleased with the mud formed on his face that has dried up, as was the Creator who was watching from above. From that day on, Juan became more handsome on account of the piece of mud on his face. Everyone in the island, including his friends began to envy him. They flocked to him, asking him where he got the “thing.” As he was an honest boy, he told them everything, and so everybody rushed to the muddy pool try to make the “thing” out of them, but the mud just fell off their faces, leaving them all disappointed and wondering how Juan did it. On another occasion, Juan who was on the way back on an errand for her mother, slipped on a banana peel and fell to the ground on his face. As he struggled to his feet, the piece of mud dropped to the ground. He tried to stick it back to his face, but the mud would not stay on. He tried several times to put it back on, but it kept falling off. Finally he gave up. When he came home without “it,” his mother almost did not recognize him and so did his friends. Then one day, Juan and his friends saw a boat anchored on the shore close to their village. Thinking it was just an ordinary boat they ignored it and just kept on playing. Suddenly one of the white folks came running all excited towards his village that lies on the other side of the island velling. “I’ve got myself a nose!” and even showed it to his folks. He told everyone he met that he got it from a mysterious boat that anchored itself on the shore. The boat carried plenty of noses that they remembered as the mud on Juan’s face ‘Noses for free’ was apparently what was written on the side of the boat. Soon the news spread and had almost everyone rushed madly to the boat that instant. Everyone got himself a nose. But since Juan and his friends were late in coming to the boat as they tried. To finish off their game first, they found only flat-noses. They were actually flattened by heavy footsteps during the earlier mad rush. Reluctantly, they all put it on and were happy with it just the same . To this day, the Filipinos who were believed to have descended from the line of Juan and his friends generally have flat noses. That, according to legend, was why Filipinos have flat nose.

The Cat And The Horse A cat wanted to go to the other side of the river but she didn’t know how to swim. She called the black horse that was crossing the river and asked him if he could carry her on his back so she could go to the other side. The black horse happily agreed and carried her on his back. Upon reaching the ground at the other side of the river, a big snake came into view. The horse was frightened and he retreated back to the water. When the cat saw that the snake would attack the horse, she jumped to the ground and fierce fully fight the snake with her claws.

The snake quickly retreated to the bushes behind them. The cat and the horse then thanked each other.