Tagalog Texts with Grammatical Analysis — Context and Discussion

short time had passed, they heard a noise. They went toward the place from which the noise came. There they saw a great giant bathing by the side of a well. They looked round about the place, and by the side of a tree they saw the clothes of the giant. The seventh child sent his brothers and sisters away and told them to hide, and he would steal the giant's shoes. They did this and the child stole the shoes.

When the giant had finished bathing and was getting dressed, he could not find his shoes. He got angry and cursed. He called for help. When the one who had stolen the shoes heard this, he quickly approached. When the giant saw him, he did not suspect him, for, on account of his smallness, the giant thought that he would not be able to carry the shoes.

Therefore the giant said to him: "If you will carry this bag of money of mine to my wife and tell her to buy some shoes and to bring them to me, I shall pay you much money."

He said further that he could not walk without shoes, and therefore he should hurry. Taking the bag of money, the child promised to return at once. However, when he had gone some distance, he called his hidden brothers and sisters, and when they were assembled, he suggested that they go home. But his brothers and sisters answered that they did not know the way home. He however answered that they should follow the stones and bread he had dropped on the way.

One of his brothers said that, if he had known what he had done with the bread, he would have given him some when he asked for it. They were sorry for the stinginess they had shown toward their brother.

It was not long before they came upon the trail of stones along their way. This they followed and arrived at their house, bringing with them the bag of money, which they at once gave to their parents. The latter rejoiced and were sorry for their bad conduct toward their children,--they rejoiced because they had now the means of living for a long time to come.

9. A POLICEMAN WHO PLAYED VAMPIRE.

In the summer of the year 1902, when the ripe fruits of the fruit-trees were hanging from the branches, there circulated all through the town of San Antonio the rumor that a vampire was going about the town.

The people of San Antonio in those years believed in ghosts, vampires, dwarves, and other objects of terror. Most of them had not been fortunate enough to get an education, but, in spite of this, they were kindly, quiet, and industrious people.

The houses in this town were built of nipa-fibre and bamboo. There were also some frame houses. Most of them stood in large enclosures, and the rear part of these yards was planted with trees that have tasty fruits, such as the custard-apple, grape-fruit, santol, mabolo, mango, and the like.

These fruits were just getting ripe, when the rumor spread that, for several nights back, some women had caught sight of the vampire in various back yards. The women and children were filled with great terror; accordingly, as soon as darkness came down, they staid still in their houses. Most of the men also were afraid, but there were some who said that they were not afraid, because they had not yet come across a vampire and therefore did not know whether it was really to be feared.

A vampire is a being of great power. It changes its body into various forms. At some times it has a body like a human being, but black, at others it is a large dog or pig. It eats people, especially children. But its favorite food, by far, and that which it most commonly eats, is the child yet unborn and still in its mother's womb. Therefore the pregnant women in the town had great fear. They did not allow their husbands to sleep, for watching at their side. A vampire is hard to kill with knife or gun, because it has but one place which one must hit or wound in order to kill it, and this place is secret. The only thing it flees from is garlic, which therefore is much used in driving off vampires.

A surprising thing, however, about this vampire was its habit of keeping itself in back yards. Strange was also the fact that it was mostly young girls who said that they had caught sight of this vampire in back yards, up in grape-fruit trees and other trees. A few bold men said that they suspected that this spook was a thief and no vampire.