The Rich and the Poor.

 Narrated by José L. Gomez, a Tagalog from Rizal province.

 

Once upon a time there lived in the town of Pasig two honest men who were intimate¹ friends. They were called Mayaman1 and Mahirap,2 because one was much richer than the other.

 

One pleasant afternoon these two men made up their minds to take a long walk into the neighboring woods. Here, while they were talking happily about their respective² fortunes, they saw in the distance a poor wood-cutter, who was very busy cutting and collecting fagots for sale. This wood-cutter lived in a mean cottage on the outskirts³ of a little town on the opposite shore of the lake, and he maintained⁴ his family by selling pieces of wood gathered from this forest.

 

When they saw the poor man, Mayaman said to his friend, “Now, which one of us can make that wood-cutter rich?”

 

“Well, even though I am much poorer than you,” said Mahirap, “I can make him rich with just the few cents I have in my pocket.”

 

They agreed, however, that Mayaman should be the first [138]to try to make the poor man rich. So Mayaman called out to the wood-cutter, and said, “Do you want to be rich, my good man?”

 

“Certainly, master, I should like to be rich, so that my family might not want anything,” said the wood-cutter.

 

Pointing to his large house in the distance, Mayaman said, “All right. Come to my house this evening on your way home, and I will give you four bags of my money. If you don’t become rich on them, come back, and I will give you some more.”

 

The wood-cutter was overjoyed at his good luck, and in the evening went to Mayaman’s house, where he received the money. He placed the bags in the bottom of his banca,3 and sailed home. When he reached his little cottage, he spread out all the gold and silver money on the floor. He was delighted at possessing such wealth, and determined⁶ first of all to buy household articles with it; but some dishonest neighbors, soon finding⁷ out that the wood-cutter had much money in the house, secretly stole the bags.

 

Then the wood-cutter, remembering the rich man’s promise, hastily⁸ prepared his banca and sailed across to Pasig. When Mayaman saw the wood-cutter, he said, “Are you rich now, my good man?”

 

“O kind master!” said the wood-cutter, “I am not yet rich, for some one stole my bags of money.”

 

“Well, here are four more bags. See that you take better care of them.”

 

The wood-cutter reached home safely with this new wealth; but unfortunately it was stolen, too, during the night.

 

Three more times he went to Mayaman, and every time received four bags of money; but every time was it stolen from him by his neighbors.

 

Finally, on his sixth application, Mayaman did not give the wood-cutter money, but presented him with a beautiful ring. “This ring will preserve you from harm,” he said, “and will give you everything you ask for. With it you can become the richest man in town; but be careful not to lose it!”

 

While the wood-cutter was sailing home that evening, he thought he would try the ring by asking it for some food. So he said, “Beautiful ring, give me food! for I am hungry.” In an instant twelve different kinds of food appeared in his banca, [139]and he ate heartily⁹. But after he had eaten, the wind calmed down: so he said to the ring, “O beautiful ring! blow my banca very hard, so that I may reach home quickly.” He had no sooner spoken than the wind rose suddenly. The sail and mast⁵ of his little boat were blown away, and the banca itself sank. Forgetting all about his ring, the unfortunate man had to swim for his life. He reached the shore safely, but was greatly distressed¹⁰ to find that he had lost his valuable ring. So he decided¹¹ to go back to Mayaman and tell him all about his loss.

 

The next day he borrowed a banca and sailed to Pasig; but when Mayaman had heard his story, he said, “My good man, I have nothing more to give you.” Then Mayaman turned to his friend Mahirap, and said, “It is your turn now, Mahirap. See what you can do for this poor man to enrich¹² him.” Mahirap gave the poor wood-cutter five centavos,—all he had in his pocket,—and told him to go to the market and buy a fish with it for his supper.

 

The wood-cutter was disappointed at receiving so small an amount, and sailed homeward in a very downcast mood; but when he arrived at his town, he went straight to the market. As he was walking around the fish-stalls, he saw a very fine fat fish. So he said to the tendera,4 “How much must I pay for that fat fish?”

 

“Well, five centavos is all I’ll ask you for it,” said she.

 

“Oh, I have only five centavos; and if I give them all to you, I shall have no money to buy rice with. So please let me have the fish for three!” said the wood-cutter. But the tendera refused to sell the fish for three centavos; and the wood-cutter was obliged¹³ to give all his money for it, for the fish was so fine and fat that he could not leave it.

 

When he went home and opened the fish to clean it, what do you suppose he found inside? Why, no other thing than the precious ring he had lost in the lake! He was so rejoiced¹⁴ at getting back his treasure, that he walked up and down the streets, talking out loud to his ring:—

 

“Ha, ha, ha, ha!

I have found you now;

You are here, and nowhere else.”

When his neighbors who had stolen his bags of money from him heard these words, they thought that the wood-cutter had found [140]out that they were the thieves, and was addressing these words to them. They ran up to him with all the bags of money, and said, “O wood-cutter! pardon us for our misdoings! Here are all the bags of money that we stole from you.”

 

With his money and the ring, the wood-cutter soon became the richest man in his town. He lived happily with his wife the rest of his days, and left a large heritage¹⁵ to his children.

 

So Mahirap, with five centavos only, succeeded in making the wood-cutter rich.

 

1 intimate   

adj.亲密的，密切的；个人的，私人的；v.暗示、提示、宣布、通知

参考例句：

• The two of them were as intimate as sisters.她们俩处得好像亲姐妹一样。
• I can't tell them my intimate thoughts.我不能告诉他们我内心深处的想法。

2 respective   

adj.各自的，各个的

参考例句：

• He and I are each going to visit our respective teachers.我和他分别要去拜访各自的老师。
• All men have their respective duties.各人有各人的职责。

3 outskirts   

n.郊外，郊区

参考例句：

• Our car broke down on the outskirts of the city.我们的汽车在市郊出了故障。
• They mostly live on the outskirts of a town.他们大多住在近郊。

4 maintained   

保持( maintain的过去式和过去分词 )； 保养； 坚持； 保卫

参考例句：

• He maintained a professional demeanour throughout. 他始终保持着专业人才的风度。
• Throughout his trial he maintained a dignified silence. 在整个审讯过程中，他始终沉默以保持尊严。

5 mast   

n.船桅，桅杆，旗杆，天线杆

参考例句：

• Flags are flying at half-mast across China.全中国将半旗。
• The sails were flapping against the mast.帆拍打着桅杆。

6 determined   

adj.坚定的；有决心的

参考例句：

• I have determined on going to Tibet after graduation.我已决定毕业后去西藏。
• He determined to view the rooms behind the office.他决定查看一下办公室后面的房间。

7 finding   

n.发现，发现物；调查的结果

参考例句：

• The finding makes some sense.该发现具有一定的意义。
• That's an encouraging finding.这是一个鼓舞人心的发现。

8 hastily   

ad.过于匆忙地，急急忙忙地

参考例句：

• I query very much whether it is wise to act so hastily. 我真怀疑如此操之过急地行动是否明智。
• Nothing must be done hastily but killing of fleas. 除非要捉跳蚤，做事不可匆忙。

9 heartily   

adv.衷心地，诚恳地，十分，很

参考例句：

• He ate heartily and went out to look for his horse.他痛快地吃了一顿，就出去找他的马。
• The host seized my hand and shook it heartily.主人抓住我的手，热情地和我握手。

10 distressed   

痛苦的

参考例句：

• He was too distressed and confused to answer their questions. 他非常苦恼而困惑，无法回答他们的问题。
• The news of his death distressed us greatly. 他逝世的消息使我们极为悲痛。

11 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。

12 enrich   

vt.充实，使丰富，使富裕，使富有

参考例句：

• Some cream will enrich the sauce.在调味汁里加一些奶油会使其味道更加丰富。
• Music can enrich your life.音乐能丰富你的生活。

13 obliged   

adj.感激，感谢v.迫使做( oblige的过去式和过去分词 )；使负义务；满足请求；施惠

参考例句：

• We were obliged, faute de mieux, to drink the local beverage. 因为没有更好的饮料，我们只好将就着喝当地的。
• Parents are obliged by law to send their children to school. 法律规定父母必须送子女入学。

14 rejoiced   

（使）欣喜[高兴，快乐]( rejoice的过去式和过去分词 )； 非常高兴； 深感欣喜

参考例句：

• He rejoiced that all the work was after all finished in time. 他很高兴，全部的工作最终还是按时完成了。
• The news of victory rejoiced the heart of the whole nation. 胜利的喜悦使全国人民欢欣鼓舞。

15 heritage   

n.传统，遗产，继承物

参考例句：

• The ancient buildings are part of the national heritage.这些古建筑是民族遗产的一部分。
• We Chinese have a great cultural heritage.我们中国人有伟大的文化遗产。