Philippine Folk-Tales — John Stuart Mill — John Shaqi
Philippine Folk-Tales
John Stuart Mill · en
Once upon a time there was a great king who had three sons. The oldest
was named Pedro, the next Pablo, and the youngest Juan. One day their
father called them to him, and giving each one a small sum of money,
said: "Go and seek for yourselves wives, for I am getting old and
wish to see you settled down before I die. The one who gets the most
beautiful wife shall have the kingdom. In addition to the money I
have given you, you may each have a horse from my stables."
Pedro and Pablo rushed off and secured the best horses, so that when
Juan, who had stopped to thank his father, arrived at the stable,
he found only an old horse, scarcely able to walk. However, he
determined to set out; but after getting a mile or so from home, he
saw that it was impossible to go farther, so sat down on a well-curb
and wept bitterly. While he was weeping, a frog floated to the top of
the water and asked what the matter was, and Juan told him all about
his trouble. The frog said: "Never mind. Go to sleep for an hour and
I will look for a wife for you."
At the end of the hour the frog awoke Juan and said: "Go home now,
and tell your father that you have found a wife." Juan did so,
and found his brothers at home, each claiming to have found a
wife. Their father said: "I wish to test your wives. Here are three
handkerchiefs. Each of you must take one of them to his bride and
have it embroidered." They took the handkerchiefs and departed; but
Juan, when he had arrived at the well, sat down as before and wept,
because he thought that now he would surely be found out.
The frog floated again to the surface of the well and asked Juan
what the matter was. Juan replied, "I told my father that I had
found a wife, as you bade me, and now he wishes to test my wife,
to see if she is a suitable mate for me, and has sent me with this
handkerchief for her to embroider. I do not know what to do, for now
my father will surely find out that I have deceived him, and I shall be
disgraced." The frog said: "Do not worry. Give me your handkerchief and
go to sleep for an hour and I will have it embroidered for you." At
the end of the hour the frog brought to Juan the handkerchief, all
beautifully embroidered. When Juan arrived at home, he found his
brothers there, each with his handkerchief beautifully embroidered,
but Juan's handkerchief was embroidered the most beautifully of all.