will only provide me
with a rope made of sand taken from the seashore."

The king did not know what to answer. He left Juan without saying
anything, went into his room, and began to think of some more
difficult work.

The next day he called Juan. "Juan, take this small bird and make
fifty kinds of food out of it," said the king.

"Yes, sir!" said Juan, "if you will only provide me with a stove,
a pan, and a knife made out of this needle," handing a needle to the
king, "with which to cook the bird." Again the king did not know what
to do. He was very angry at Juan.

"Juan, get out of my palace! Don't you let me see you walking on my
ground around this palace without my consent!" said the king.

"Very well, sir!" said Juan, and he left the palace immediately.

The next day King Tasio saw Juan in front of the palace, riding on
his paragos [31] drawn by a carabao.

"Did I not tell you not to stand or walk on my ground around this
palace? Why are you here now? Do you mean to mock me?" shouted
the king.

"Well," said Juan, "will your Majesty's eyes please see whether I am
standing on your ground or not? This is my ground." And he pointed
to the earth he had on his paragos. "I took this from my orchard."

"That's enough, Juan," said King Tasio. "I can have no more
foolishness." The king felt very uncomfortable, because many of his
courtiers and servants were standing there listening to his talk
with Juan.

"Juan, put this squash into this jar. Be careful! See that you do
not break either the squash or the jar," said the king, as he handed
a squash and a jar to Juan. Now, the neck of the jar was small, and
the squash was as big as the jar. So Juan had indeed a difficult task.

Juan went home. He put a very small squash, which he had growing
in his garden, inside the jar. He did not, however, cut it from the
vine. After a few weeks the squash had grown big enough to fill the
jar. Juan then picked off the squash enclosed in the jar, and went
to the king. He presented the jar to the king when all the servants,
courtiers, and visitors from other towns were present. As soon as
the king saw the jar with the squash in it, he fainted. It was many
hours before he recovered.

Notes.

A third version (c), a Bicol story entitled "Marcela outwits the
King," narrated by Gregorio Frondoso of Camarines, resembles closely
the Pampango story of Marcela, with these minor differences:--

The heroine is the daughter of the kin