Week 9 Reading Notes: Flipino Popular Tales, Part A

Three Brothers of Fortune - I'm a fan of any story that deals with three people obtaining three different objects/things and then finding out that only one of the objects was truly valuable. In this story, the first brother (Ambo) bought a book, the second (Iloy) bought a mat, and the third (Suan) picked up stones ("with them he would be able to unite things of the same or similar kind"). I like this idea of uniting things--that could be really meaningful.

With the book, Ambo brought someone back to life. Iloy used his map to transport the woman and the other two brothers to a ship that took them to another country. The ship wrecked, though, and Suan used his stones to repair the broken planks. Once the four got to safety, they argued over who would marry the woman. Each brother listed an individual reason he should have her (which is also a classic writing tool that I like). A king decided to divide the woman into three parts for the brothers. The first two brothers obviously couldn't do anything with their portions, but the third brother used his stones to unite his brothers' shares and brought the woman to life again. I like how the story ends: "after all, Suan was the most fortunate."

In Cochinango, a boy hears that whoever can answer a set of questions correctly can marry the princess. On his way to her palace, he meets a series of people (who end up being God), helps them, and obtains certain objects:

1. a weary traveler; Cochinango gives him food; traveler gives C buyo
2. old man; C helps him get to other side of stream; man gives C magical cane that magically supplies food
3. old woman; C gives her a centavo; woman gives C magical purse that supplies endless money
4. "young fellow with a small guitar"; C gives him donkey; boy gives him guitar that can make anybody dance

The princess puts the boy in prison because she doesn't like that a poor boy could answer all of her questions, and she refuses to marry him. He shows off his objects in prison and helps people with it. The princess wants these objects of his but C won't give them away unless he can kiss her. Eventually after C uses the guitar to make people dance, the princess agrees to marry the boy. I really liked how this story progressed, although in the end it almost seemed like he forced the princess to marry him against her will (he wouldn't stop playing the dancing guitar until she married him). I would definitely change that bit. 

In The Enchanted Prince, I really like the heart/spirit of the girl who ends up becoming queen. I could see writing a story solely about her, or her journey (since the original story focused on the prince). 

The Wicked Woman’s Reward - I might write a story based on the last paragraph, where the boy grows up. I would love a story about him learning about his past and what happened in this story. 

The Monkey and the Crocodile - I love the moral of this one (use your own judgement and don't rely on others too much for their opinion) and I think it could make for a great re-telling. 

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Bibliography: Filipino Tales unit. Story source: Filipino Popular Tales by Dean S. Fansler (1921).

Image Information: Three Brothers from Wikimedia Commons. The image is unrelated to the Three Brothers of Fortune, but I still thought it was a great image for the concept of a three-brothers type of story.