t demonstrable that all those tales were imported,
it would not necessarily follow that the savage idea behind them,
too, was imported. Their adoption by the natives might indicate,
on the contrary, that the basic idea was already well known.

I might call attention to the fact that the number 500 and the
monkey-prince suggest vaguely Buddhistic lore.

TALE 42

THE PRINCE'S DREAM.

Narrated by Gregorio Frondoso, a Bicol of Tigaon, Camarines. The
narrator says, "This story was told to me by my guardian while I was
in Nueva Caceres. He told it to me in the Bicol dialect, and said
that this must be a Bicol story."

Once there lived a young prince who, after his father's death,
succeeded to the throne as the sole heir of a vast, rich kingdom. He
indulged himself in all worldly pleasures. He gave dances, and
all sorts of merry-making surrounded his court to attract the most
beautiful ladies of the kingdom. Meanwhile the royal treasury was
being drained, and his subjects were becoming disloyal to him; for,
his time being chiefly absorbed in personal cares, he often neglected
his duties as king. Disappointed by his conduct, his counsellors
plotted against him: they resolved to dismiss him from the realm. The
prince's mother, the widowed queen, learned of their plot. So, when
he returned to the palace from his evening walk one day, she said
to him, "My son, I wish you would turn from your foolish trifling,
and govern your people as you ought to do; for your advisers are
planning to dethrone you." The prince, who was not bad at heart,
followed his mother's sensible advice: he now began to devote himself
to the welfare of his subjects. His ministers, too, gave up their plan,
and aided the young king in his royal tasks.

One noon, when the prince was taking his siesta, he had a dream. A
ghost appeared to him, and spoke in this manner: "Your father left
a hidden treasure of gold and diamonds, which he forgot to mention
in his will. Should you care to have that treasure, go to the city
of Black. There you will find a Negro, the richest in that city,
who will tell you all about the treasure." On hearing these words,
the prince woke up, and hurriedly acquainted his mother with his
dream. "Undeceive yourself," she said. "Never believe in dreams. I
don't believe in them myself." In spite of his mother's words, he
decided to look for the Negro.

The next day, disguising himself as a poor traveller, the prince set
out fo