A Negrito Slave.

 Narrated by Jesus de la Rama, a Visayan from Valladolid, Negros Occidental.

 

Once upon a time there were three princes who owned a Negrito slave. Although he was called a slave, he was not really one: he was only nominally¹ a slave; for the princes, especially the youngest, whom he loved most, treated him [288]kindly. One striking characteristic of this Negrito was that his grinning was like that of a monkey; and he often grinned, and grinned without cause. He would often follow his young master when he went out for a walk; and he had a suit similar to the prince’s, so that, when they were out on the street, they looked very much alike. The only difference between them was that he was black, and the prince was white. Yet he owned a ring, a charm which had been given him by a woman for saving her from the hands of a robber. This ring gave him power to call for anything he wanted; and this was the reason, doubtless, why he was treated with kindness by his masters.

 

In a neighboring land there was a king who had a beautiful daughter. This princess wanted to marry. She was so desirous of having a companion, that she could not sleep day or night, meditating² on how she could have a husband that would suit both herself and her father. At last, won over by her many entreaties³, the king proclaimed to all the world that his daughter would marry any one who had a handsome appearance, and who could answer his three difficult questions. Those who came to the court and were unable to answer the questions of the king were to lose their lives.

 

The three princes were all handsome. The two elder brothers tried to answer the king’s questions, but lost their lives. The youngest remained, and, although he wanted to try, he was sure that he would fail too. The Negrito determined⁴ to help him. By means of his ring he was able to make his skin white. He also got a mask that was exactly like the face of his young master. Then he dressed himself to resemble the prince, and went to the court of the king. The king said to him, “Will you have your head cut off, too?” He answered, “Yes, if I cannot answer your questions; but let us see!”

 

“All right,” said the king. Then he asked, “Who owns this kingdom?”

 

The prince answered, “God owns this kingdom.” The king was surprised at his bold reply. However, he could not say that it was not God’s, for that would be untrue: therefore he could not compel the prince to answer that it was his, the king’s. The next question was this: “How much am I worth?”

 

The prince answered, “You are not worth more than thirty pieces of silver.” The king was furious when he heard this, and said that, if the prince could not give a good reason for his insulting words, he would be put to death instantly.

 

[289]“Yes, yes!” said the Negrito. “Our Saviour⁵ was sold for that much: therefore you, who are inferior to the Saviour, cannot be worth more than he was sold for.” The people at the court were astounded⁶ by this bold answer; and they murmured to one another, “The prince is wise. He is wise, indeed!”

 

“Well,” said the king, “answer this third question, and you shall be married to my daughter: Can you drink all the fresh water in the world?”

 

“Yes,” said the prince.

 

“Well, then,” said the king, “drink it.”

 

“But here,” answered the prince, “in many parts of the world the water of the ocean mixes with the fresh water: so, before I drink, you must separate the fresh water from the salt.” As the king was unable to do this, he acknowledged himself vanquished⁷.

 

“All right,” said the king. “To-morrow come here for the wedding.” The Negrito hastened home, and told his young master all that had happened. The prince gave him five thousand pesetas, and promised him that he would urge the princess to give her consent to the marriage of the Negrito with her maid of honor. The next morning the prince and the princess were married, and the following day the Negrito received the maid of honor for his wife.

 

1 nominally   

在名义上，表面地； 应名儿

参考例句：

• Dad, nominally a Methodist, entered Churches only for weddings and funerals. 爸名义上是卫理公会教徒，可只去教堂参加婚礼和葬礼。
• The company could not indicate a person even nominally responsible for staff training. 该公司甚至不能指出一个名义上负责职员培训的人。

2 meditating   

a.沉思的，冥想的

参考例句：

• They were meditating revenge. 他们在谋划进行报复。
• The congressman is meditating a reply to his critics. 这位国会议员正在考虑给他的批评者一个答复。

3 entreaties   

n.恳求，乞求( entreaty的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• He began with entreaties and ended with a threat. 他先是恳求，最后是威胁。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The tyrant was deaf to the entreaties of the slaves. 暴君听不到奴隶们的哀鸣。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 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。

5 saviour   

n.拯救者，救星

参考例句：

• I saw myself as the saviour of my country.我幻想自己为国家的救星。
• The people clearly saw her as their saviour.人们显然把她看成了救星。

6 astounded   

v.使震惊(astound的过去式和过去分词)；愕然；愕；惊讶

参考例句：

• His arrogance astounded her. 他的傲慢使她震惊。
• How can you say that? I'm absolutely astounded. 你怎么能说出那种话？我感到大为震惊。

7 vanquished   

v.征服( vanquish的过去式和过去分词 )；战胜；克服；抑制

参考例句：

• She had fought many battles, vanquished many foes. 她身经百战，挫败过很多对手。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• I vanquished her coldness with my assiduity. 我对她关心照顾从而消除了她的冷淡。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》