Philippine Folk-Tales — John Stuart Mill — John Shaqi
Philippine Folk-Tales
John Stuart Mill · en
Having hidden all but a little of his new wealth, he wished to change
one or two of his gold pieces for silver so that he could buy something
to eat. He went to his brother's house to ask him for the favor,
but Pedro was not at home, and his wife, who was at least as mean as
Pedro, would not change the money. After a while Pedro came home, and
his wife told him that Juan had some money; and Pedro, hoping in turn
to gain some advantage, went to Juan's house and asked many questions
about the money. Juan told him that he had sold some wood in town and
had been paid in gold, but Pedro did not believe him and hid himself
under the house to listen. At night he heard Juan talking to his wife,
and found out the place and the password. Immediately taking three
horses to carry his spoils, he set out for the robbers' cave.
Once arrived, he went straight to the cliff and said, "Open the door,"
and the door opened immediately. He went inside and said, "Close the
door," and the door closed tight. He gathered together fifteen great
bags of money, each all he could lift, and carried them to the door
ready to put on the horses. He found all the rich food and wine of
the robbers in the cave, and could not resist the temptation to make
merry at their expense; so he ate their food and drank their fine
wines till he was foolishly drunk. When he had reached this state,
he began to think of returning home. Beating on the door with both
hands, he cried out, "Open, beast. Open, fool. May lightning blast
you if you do not open!" and a hundred other foolish things, but
never once saying, "Open the door."
While he was thus engaged, the robbers returned, and hearing them
coming he hid under a great pile of money with only his nose sticking
out. The robbers saw that some one had visited the cave in their
absence and hunted for the intruder till one of them discovered him
trembling under a heap of coin. With a shout they hauled him forth
and beat him until his flesh hung in ribbons. Then they split him into
halves and threw the body into the river, and cut his horses into bits,
[15] which they threw after him.
When Pedro did not return, his wife became anxious and told Juan
where he had gone. Juan stole quietly to the place by night, and
recovered the body, carried it home, and had the pieces sewn together
by the tailor.
Now the robbers knew that they had been robbed by some one else, and
so, when Pedro's body was taken away, the captain went to town to see
who had buried the body, and by inquiring, found that Juan had become
suddenly rich, and also that it was his brother who had been buried.