The Manglalabas.

 Narrated by Arsenio Bonifacio, a Tagalog, who heard the story from his father.

 

Once upon a time, in the small town of Balubad, there was a big house. It was inhabited¹ by a rich family. When the head of the family died, the house was gloomy² and dark. The family wore black clothes, and was sad.

 

Three days after the death of the father, the family began to be troubled at night by a manglalabas.7 He threw stones at the house, broke the water-jars, and moved the beds. Some pillows were even found in the kitchen the next day. The second night, Manglalabas visited the house again. He pinched the widow; but when she woke up, she could not see anything. Manglalabas also emptied all the water-jars. Accordingly the family decided³ to abandon the house.

 

[50]A band of brave men in that town assembled, and went to the house. At midnight the spirit came again, but the brave men said they were ready to fight it. Manglalabas made a great deal of noise in the house. He poured out all the water, kicked the doors, and asked the men who they were. They answered, “We are fellows who are going to kill you.” But when the spirit approached them, and they saw that it was a ghost, they fled away. From that time on, nobody was willing to pass a night in that house.

 

In a certain barrio8 of Balubad there lived two queer⁴ men. One was called Bulag, because he was blind; and the other, Cuba, because he was hunchbacked. One day these two arranged to go to Balubad to beg. Before they set out, they agreed that the blind man should carry the hunchback on his shoulder to the town. So they set out. After they had crossed the Balubad River, Cuba said, “Stop a minute, Bulag! here is a hatchet⁵.” Cuba got down and picked it up. Then they proceeded again. A second time Cuba got off the blind man’s shoulder, for he saw an old gun by the roadside. He picked this up also, and took it along with him.

 

When they reached the town, they begged at many of the houses, and finally they came to the large abandoned house. They did not know that this place was haunted⁶ by a spirit. Cuba said, “Maybe no one is living in this house;” and Bulag replied, “I think we had better stay here for the night.”

 

As they were afraid that somebody might come, they went up into the ceiling. At midnight they were awakened⁷ by Manglalabas making a great noise and shouting, “I believe that there are some new persons in my house!” Cuba, frightened, fired the gun. The ghost thought that the noise of the gun was some one crying. So he said, “If you are truly a big man, give me some proofs.”

 

Then Cuba took the handle out of the hatchet and threw the head down at the ghost. Manglalabas thought that this was one of the teeth of his visitor, and, convinced that the intruder was a powerful person, he said, “I have a buried treasure near the barn. I wish you to dig it up. The reason I come here every night is on account of this treasure. If you will only dig it up, I will not come here any more.”

 

The next night Bulag and Cuba dug in the ground near the [51]barn. There they found many gold and silver pieces. When they were dividing the riches, Cuba kept three-fourths of the treasure for himself. Bulag said, “Let me see if you have divided fairly,” and, placing his hands on the two piles, he found that Cuba’s was much larger.

 

Angry at the discovery, Cuba struck Bulag in the eyes, and they were opened. When Bulag could see, he kicked Cuba in the back, and straightway his deformity disappeared. Therefore they became friends again, divided the money equally, and owned the big house between them.

 

1 inhabited   

adj. 有人居住的 动词inhabit的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• The island is no longer inhabited. 这个岛已经没有人居住了。
• Nomads have inhabited this region for thousands of years. 游牧民族在这地区居住已有数千年了。

2 gloomy   

adj.阴暗的，阴沉的，令人沮丧的，阴郁的

参考例句：

• A few faint gleams of sunshine lit up the gloomy afternoon.几束隐约的阳光使阴暗的下午有些明亮。
• When I saw their gloomy faces,I knew something was wrong.当我看到他们沮丧的脸时，我知道出事了。

3 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

4 queer   

adj.奇怪的，异常的，不舒服的，眩晕的

参考例句：

• I heard some queer footsteps.我听到某种可疑的脚步声。
• She has been queer lately.她最近身体不舒服。

5 hatchet   

n.短柄小斧；v.扼杀

参考例句：

• I shall have to take a hatchet to that stump.我得用一把短柄斧来劈这树桩。
• Do not remove a fly from your friend's forehead with a hatchet.别用斧头拍打朋友额头上的苍蝇。

6 haunted   

adj.闹鬼的；受到折磨的；令人烦恼的v.“haunt”的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• There was a haunted look in his eyes. 他眼中透露出忧虑的神色。
• The country is haunted by the spectre of civil war. 内战仿佛一触即发，举国上下一片恐慌。

7 awakened   

v.（使）醒( awaken的过去式和过去分词 )；（使）觉醒；弄醒；（使）意识到

参考例句：

• She awakened to the sound of birds singing. 她醒来听到鸟的叫声。
• The public has been awakened to the full horror of the situation. 公众完全意识到了这一状况的可怕程度。 来自《简明英汉词典》