ut, alas! a dead grandmother, instead of a pretty
lady! He was so angry that he seized his bolo and chopped the boat
to pieces, leaving the body to float away.

But Parotpot thought that he might succeed better with a fish-trap,
like his friend Camanla's. When he had finished it, he sent it to the
river, saying: "My taon, pot, go now to the river, pot, and catch many
fishes, pot, for my dinner, pot." The taon went. It was Sunday and the
people of the town were killing cattle for their Sunday dinner, and
throwing the waste into the river. All this filth floated into the taon
and filled it. Then it ran back home. While the taon had been gone,
Parotpot had been making preparations for a great dinner. He cooked
the rice and washed the dishes, and then invited his friends to come to
his house and share his excellent dinner. When he saw the taon coming,
he said: "My taon, pot, is coming now, pot, to bring me many fine fish,
pot, for my dinner, pot." When his neighbors saw what was in the taon,
they laughed, and Parotpot said: "I can never be as happy as my friend
Camanla." Then he took the taon and threw it into the fire.

CHAPTER 4

Juan, the Student.

There was once a poor couple who lived happily in a quiet place. They
had one son, named Juan, whom at first they loved very much; but
afterwards, either because their extreme poverty made it difficult
for them to support him, or because of his wickedness and waywardness,
they began to hate him, and made plans to kill him.

In order to carry out this purpose, the father called his son to him
one evening, and said: "My son, to-morrow we will go to the mountain to
get some lumber with which to repair our house. I want you to prepare
our breakfast very early, so that we may set out before the sun rises."

On the next morning they arose very early and ate their breakfast. As
it consisted only of rice and a few small fishes, it was soon finished,
and they set out for the mountain. When they had arrived at a lonely
spot, the man seized his son and fastened him to a large tree. Then
he took his bolo and cut down the tree in such a way as to cause it
to fall on the boy and kill him. Then he returned home, thinking that
he should have no more trouble on account of his son.

Early the next morning, the man heard a noise as of some one
approaching the house. On opening a window he perceived his son,
whom he supposed he had killed on the previous day, coming towards
the house an