duck. The giant was terrified, for he had never seen such
a large louse before. Finally the giant said, "Well, you seem to be
larger than I. Let me hear your voice!"
Teofilo fired his gun. When the giant heard the gun and saw it
spitting fire, he trembled, for he thought that the man's saliva
was burning coals. Afraid to challenge his strange guest any more,
the giant ran away and disappeared forever.
And so Teofilo the hunchback lived happily all the rest of his days
in the giant's house without being troubled by any one.
Juan and the Buringcantada.
Narrated by Pacifico Buenconsejo, a Bicol, who heard the story from
his grandmother.
A long time ago, when the Bicols had not yet been welded into one
tribe, there lived a couple in the mountains of Albay who had one son,
named Juan. Before the boy was five years old, his father died. As
Juan grew up, he became very lazy: he did not like to work, nor would
he help his mother earn their daily bread. Despite his laziness,
Juan was dearly loved by his mother. She did not want him to work
in the field under the hot sun. Because of his mother's indulgence,
he grew lazier and lazier.
Every afternoon Juan used to take a walk while his mother was
working. She was a kind-hearted woman, and often told her son to help
anybody he met that needed help. One afternoon, while he was walking
in a field, he saw two carabaos fighting. One was gored by the other,
and was about to die. Juan, mindful of what his mother told him,
went between the two animals to help the wounded one. Suddenly the
two animals gored him in the back, and he fell to the ground. A man,
passing by, found him, and took him to his home. When Juan's mother
learned why her son had been gored, she was greatly distressed that
her son was so foolish.
Juan soon recovered, and one day he invited his mother to go with
him to look for money. He insisted so hard, that finally she agreed
to accompany him. On their way they found an axe, which Juan picked
up and took along with him. They had not gone much farther, when
they saw a long rope stretching across the road. Juan's mother did
not want him to take it, but he said that it would be of some use to
them later. By and by they came to a river, on the bank of which they
found a large drum. Juan took this with him, too.
When they had been travelling about a week, they came upon a big
house. Juan said that he wanted to go see what was in the house, but
his mother
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