Juan Manalaksan.

 Narrated by Anicio Pascual of Arayat, Pampanga, who heard the story from an old Pampangan woman.

 

Once upon a time there lived in a certain village a brave and powerful datu who had only one son. The son was called Pedro. In the same place lived a poor wood-cutter whose name was Juan Manalaksan. Pedro was rich, and had no work to do. He often diverted¹ himself by hunting deer and wild boars in the forests and mountains. Juan got his living by cutting trees in the forests.

 

One day the datu and his son went to the mountain to hunt. They took with them many dogs and guns. They did not take any food, however, for they felt sure of catching² something to eat for their dinner. When they reached the mountain, Pedro killed a deer. By noon they had become tired and hungry, so they went to a shady³ place to cook their game. While he was eating, Pedro choked on a piece of meat. The father cried out loudly, for he did not know what to do for his dying⁴ son. Juan, who was cutting wood near by, heard the shout. He ran quickly to help Pedro, and by pulling the piece of meat out of his throat he saved Pedro’s life. Pedro was grateful, and said to Juan, “To-morrow come to my palace, and I will give you a reward for helping⁵ me.”

 

The next morning Juan set out for the palace. On his way he met an old woman, who asked him where he was going.

 

“I am going to Pedro’s house to get my reward,” said Juan. “Do not accept any reward of money or wealth,” said the old woman, “but ask Pedro to give you the glass which he keeps in his right armpit. The glass is magical. It is as large as a peso, and has a small hole in the centre. If you push a small stick through the hole, giants who can give you anything you want will surround you.” Then the old woman left Juan, and went on her way.

 

As soon as Juan reached the palace, Pedro said to him, “Go to that room and get all the money you want.”

 

[80]But Juan answered, “I do not want you to give me any money. All I want is the glass which you keep in your right armpit.”

 

“Very well,” said Pedro, “here it is.” When Juan had received the glass, he hurried back home.

 

Juan reached his hut in the woods, and found his mother starving. He quickly thought of his magic glass, and, punching⁶ a small stick through the hole in the glass, he found himself surrounded by giants.

 

“Be quick, and get me some food for my mother!” he said to them. For a few minutes the giants were gone, but soon they came again with their hands full of food. Juan took it and gave it to his mother; but she ate so much, that she became sick, and died.

 

In a neighboring village ruled another powerful datu, who had a beautiful daughter. One day the datu fell very ill. As no doctor could cure him, he sent his soldiers around the country to say that the man who could cure him should have his daughter for a wife. Juan heard the news, and, relying on his charm⁷, went to cure the datu. On his way, he asked the giants for medicine to cure the sick ruler. When he reached the palace, the datu said to him, “If I am not cured, you shall be killed.” Juan agreed to the conditions, and told the datu to swallow the medicine which he gave him. The datu did so, and at once became well again.

 

The next morning Juan was married to the datu’s daughter. Juan took his wife to live with him in his small hut in the woods.

 

One day he went to the forest to cut trees, leaving his wife and magic glass at home. While Juan was away in the forest, Pedro ordered some of his soldiers to go get the wood-cutter’s wife and magic glass. When Juan returned in the evening, he found wife and glass gone. One of his neighbors told him that his wife had been taken away by some soldiers. Juan was very angry, but he could not avenge⁸ himself without his magical glass.

 

At last he decided⁹ to go to his father-in-law¹⁰ and tell him all that had happened to his wife. On his way there, he met an old mankukulam,1 who asked him where he was going. Juan did not tell her, but related¹¹ to her all that had happened to his wife and glass while he was in the forest cutting trees. The [82]mankukulam said that she could help him. She told him to go to a certain tree and catch the king of the cats. She furthermore¹² advised him, “Always keep the cat with you.” Juan followed her advice.

 

One day Pedro’s father commanded his soldiers to cut off the ears of all the men in the village, and said that if any one refused to have his ears cut off, he should be placed in a room full of rats. The soldiers did as they were ordered, and in time came to Juan’s house; but, as Juan was unwilling¹³ to lose his ears, he was seized and placed in a room full of rats. But he had his cat with him all the time. As soon as he was shut up in the room, he turned his cat loose. When the rats saw that they would all be killed, they said to Juan, “If you will tie your cat up there in the corner, we will help you get whatever you want.”

 

Juan tied his cat up, and then said to the rats, “Bring me all the glasses in this village.” The rats immediately scampered¹⁴ away to obey him. Soon each of them returned with a glass in its mouth. One of them was carrying the magical glass. When Juan had his charm in his hands again, he pushed a small stick through the hole in the glass, and ordered the giants to kill Pedro and his father, and bring him his wife again.

 

Thus Juan got his wife back. They lived happily together till they died.

1 diverted   

使转移[向]( divert的过去式和过去分词 )； 娱乐； 转移（某人）的注意力； 改变（资金、材料等）的用途

参考例句：

• Northbound traffic will have to be diverted onto minor roads. 北行车辆将不得不绕次要道路行驶。
• Traffic is being diverted onto a side road because of the accident. 由于交通事故，车辆行人改走边道。

2 catching   

adj.易传染的，有魅力的，迷人的，接住

参考例句：

• There are those who think eczema is catching.有人就是认为湿疹会传染。
• Enthusiasm is very catching.热情非常富有感染力。

3 shady   

adj.成荫的，多荫的，可疑的，靠不住的

参考例句：

• This is a shady avenue.这是条林阴大道。
• He's a rather shady person.他是个相当靠不住的人。

4 dying   

adj.垂死的，临终的

参考例句：

• He was put in charge of the group by the dying leader.他被临终的领导人任命为集团负责人。
• She was shown into a small room,where there was a dying man.她被领进了一间小屋子，那里有一个垂死的人。

5 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

6 punching   

v.用拳猛击( punch的现在分词 )；打孔；冲压；冲切

参考例句：

• I will have no one punching anyone else up in my hotel. 在我的旅馆里我不让任何人动手同别人打架。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• A white girl came and began punching the typewriter. 一个白人姑娘来了，开始用打字机打起字来。 来自辞典例句

7 charm   

vt.使着迷，使陶醉；n.招人喜欢之处，魅力

参考例句：

• With all imperfections the short play has a real charm.尽管有不少缺欠，这出小戏仍颇具魅力。
• He could resist her charm no longer.他再也抗拒不住她的魅力。

8 avenge   

v.为...复仇，为...报仇

参考例句：

• He swore to avenge himself on the mafia.他发誓说要向黑手党报仇。
• He will avenge the people on their oppressor.他将为人民向压迫者报仇。

9 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。

10 father-in-law   

n.岳父，公公

参考例句：

• He met his future father-in-law during his visit to Boston.他在波士顿小住期间遇见了他未来的岳父。
• His father-in-law is a plantation manager.他岳父是个种植园经营者。

11 related   

adj.有关系的，有关联的，叙述的，讲述的

参考例句：

• I am not related to him in any way.我和他无任何关系。
• We spent days going through all related reference material.我们花了好多天功夫查阅所有有关的参考资料。

12 furthermore   

adv.而且，此外

参考例句：

• I don't like her because she is too tall and furthermore she smokes too much.我不喜欢她，因为她太高，另外她抽烟太厉害。
• I don't want to go there,furthermore,I have no time to do so.我不想去那里，而且我也没时间去。

13 unwilling   

adj.不情愿的

参考例句：

• The natives were unwilling to be bent by colonial power.土著居民不愿受殖民势力的摆布。
• His tightfisted employer was unwilling to give him a raise.他那吝啬的雇主不肯给他加薪。

14 scampered   

v.蹦蹦跳跳地跑，惊惶奔跑( scamper的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The cat scampered away. 猫刺棱一下跑了。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• The rabbIt'scampered off. 兔子迅速跑掉了。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》