Heungboo and Nolbu

by unkown
Long, long ago, there were two brothers. The older brother was called Nolbu,
and the younger brother was called Hungbu. The older brother, despite being
very rich, was an extremely greedy and vindictive man who constantly caused
trouble for his neighbors. On the other hand, his brother was poor, but very
kind-hearted. Hungbu was a very hard worker, but for some reason he didn't
have much luck. His wife and children knew no days but hungry ones. They led
a very pitiable life.
One day, just after Hungbu had returned from work, a snake appeared and
began to attack a swallow's nest. The swallow and almost all her young were
eaten alive. Only one young swallow escaped death. Even still, the young
swallow had been injured. When it was fleeing, its leg had got caught in a
bamboo blind and it had fallen to the ground. Seeing this, Hungbu quickly
brought some ointment and rubbed it on the swallow's wounded leg. Then, he
carefully wrapped some string around it to give it some support. Next, he
carefully placed the young swallow back in the nest.
In due course, the day came for the swallows to fly south. The swallow at
Hungbu's house, now fully recovered, flew off in fine spirits. In due course,
winter passed, spring came, and it was the third day of the third lunar month.
The swallow which Hungbu had helped also flew back chirping cheerfully.
Hungbu was delighted. Then the swallow dropped a gourd seed on the ground.
Thinking that this was strange, Hungbu picked up the seed and planted it in
the garden.
After a few days, the seed began to sprout. The plant began to grow at a great
rate. It pushed forth leaves and flowers, and eventually it bore five large gourds.
Realizing that they were indeed wondrous gourds, Hungbu consulted with his
wife about what they should do. "Those gourds are many times larger than
normal ones. Maybe we should cut one open to see if there might be something
inside." No sooner had they cut open the gourd when rice began to flow out of
the gourd.

They filled five huge containers, but there was still lots remaining. They then
took another gourd and cut it open. This time, it was gold which flowed out in
large quantities. Hungbu and his wife danced with glee. Taking a third gourd,
they cut it open. This time a beautiful nymph appeared. Looking at the two
remaining gourds, she said, "Come out! Come out red and blue bottles! Come
out!" With that, one of the gourds rolled over by itself and split in two.
A red bottle appeared from the center of the gourd and announced, "Here I am!"
Then in the same fashion, the other gourd opened and a blue bottle appeared.
Then the nymph said, "Now you must build a large mansion here." No sooner
had she said this, when out of the blue bottle came a number of carpenters.
Then from out of the red bottle came a large quantity of timber. In no time, the
carpenters had built a splendid house. Then everyone returned to their places.
The nymph disappeared in a puff of white smoke into the blue bottle.
After that, Hungbu became a man of wealth. He and his family lived happily
and wanted for nothing. However, when his elder brother Nolbu heard the
news, he came immediately to Hungbu's house. He demanded to be told how
his younger brother had managed to become so rich in such a short span of
time. "Hey, you! How on earth did you do it? It's a miracle. Tell me now how you
did it." Hungbu told him all about the injured swallow and what had happened
afterwards.
Hearing that story, Nolbu went home and decided that he too would gain great
wealth. So, he immediately built a swallow's nest and waited for a swallow to
come and make its home there. Then it happened that one unfortunate swallow
did come and hatched some baby swallows there. In due course, Nolbu threw
one of the swallows out of the nest and broke its leg.
Then he rubbed some ointment on the injured leg, wrapped it up with string,
and placed the bird back in its nest. Winter passed and Nolbu's swallow
returned in the spring. The bird dropped a gourd seed in front of the waiting
Nolbu. Nolbu immediately planted the seed. Things continued to happen just
as Hungbu

had

described. Then, when the

gourds appeared,

immediately split open one gourd to see what was inside.

Nolbu

However, out of the gourd came many little imps wielding sticks. "We must
punish you for your greed," they said and beat him mercilessly. Then the imps
disappeared. Convinced that the other gourds contained gold, Nolbu struggled
and managed to open another gourd. This time a number of debt collectors
appeared. "Give us money. Repay your loans or else we will take everything
from you." Eventually, they took everything and left. Nolbu, thinking that
everything would be all right if he could just open up the other gourds, split
open the third gourd. This time a flood of dirty, smelly water poured from the
gourd and deluged the house.
Nolbu couldn't take it any more and ran to Hungbu's house for help. His
compassionate brother took pity on him and welcomed him warmly. The greedy
brother reflected on his deeds and was very sorry for everything that he had
done that was wrong. From then on, he became a very humble person. Hungbu
divided his fortune equally with his brother and both of them lived happily ever
after!

Analysis:
Country: korea
PLOT: The story is about the two bother (Heungboo and nolbu) one of the them
is a rich man but greedy and the other is poor but generous. This story show
us that we should be generous and not be greedy for it might bring us agony or
problem.
Character: Nolbu a rich man but greedy and Heungbu a poor man but
generous.
Setting: both house of Nolbu and Heungboo
Climax: because of his greediness Nolbu went home and decided that he too
would gain great wealth. So, he immediately built a swallow's nest and waited
for a swallow to come and make its home there. Then it happened that one
unfortunate swallow did come and hatched some baby swallows there. In due
course, Nolbu threw one of the swallows out of the nest and broke its leg.

Denouement: when the bird brought 3 gourd seed for Nolbu and he planted it
but when he cut the tree, monsters (Imps, debt collectors, a flood of dirty,
smelly water) comes out instead of money. Nolbu couldn't take it anymore and
ran to Hungbu's house for help. His compassionate brother took pity on him
and welcomed him warmly. The greedy brother reflected on his deeds and was
very sorry for everything that he had done that was wrong. From then on, he
became a very humble person
Point of view: Third person
Theme: The true Love of brotherhood.
Moral lesson: Never be greedy for it will brought agony to your life and also
learn to love and live with others.

HOW THE TONGUE SURVIVED THE TEETH

Ch'ang Ch'uang was sick and Laotse went to see him.
The latter said to Ch'ang Ch'uang, "You are very ill. Have you not something to
say to your disciple?"
"Even if you did not ask me, I was going to tell you," replied Ch'ang Ch'uang.
"Do you know why one has to get down from one's carriage when coming to
one's old village?"
And Laotse replied, "Doesn't this custom mean that one should not forget one's
origins?" "Ah, yes," said Ch'ang Ch'uang.
Then the sick man asked again, "Do you know why one should run when
passing under a tall tree?"
"Doesn't this custom mean we should respect what is old?" "Ah, yes," said
Ch'ang Ch'uang.
Then Ch'ang Ch'uang opened his mouth wide and asked Laotse to look into it,
and said, "Is my tongue still there?"
"It is," replied Laotse.
"Are my teeth still there?" asked the old man.

"No," replied Laotse.

"And do you know why?" asked Ch'ang Ch'uang.
"Does not the tongue last longer because it is soft? And is it not because the
teeth are hard that they fall off earlier?" replied Laotse. "Ah, yes," said Ch'ang
Ch'uang. "There you have learned all the principles concerning the world. I
have nothing else to teach you."

Analysis:
Author: Liu Shiang (A Parable)
Country: China
Setting: house of Chang chuang
Character: Chang and Chuang and Lao-tse
Plot: Frist Scene: Lao-tse went to the house of Chang Chuang
Second Scene: they talk each other.
Third Scene: Chang Chuang Give wisdom to lao-tse.
Denouement: when Chang allow his disciple to realize things.
Point of view: Third-Person central point of view.
Climax: When Chang ask Lao-tse about his tongue
Theme: The story is about how people should not forget where they came
From in their travels and accomplishments in their lives.

Zen Story: The Thief Who Became a Disciple

One evening as Shichiri Kojun was reciting sutras (Buddhist scriptures) a thief
with a sharp sword entered, demanding either his money or his life. Shichiri
told him: Do not disturb me. You an find the money in that drawer. Then he
resumed his recitation.
A little while afterwards he stopped and called: Dont take it all. I need some to
pay taxes with tomorrow.

The intruder gathered up most of the money and started to leave. Thank a
person when you receive a gift, Shichiri added. The man thanked him and
made off.
A few days afterwards the fellow was caught and confessed, among others, the
offence against Shichiri. When Shichiri was called as a witness he said: This
man is no thief, at least as far as I am concerned. I gave him the money and he
thanked me for it.
After he had finished his prison term, the men went to Shichiri and became his
disciple.
Analysis:
Country: Japan(A zen Story)
Setting: House of Shinichiri Kojun
Character: Shinichiri Kojun and the thief
Plot: First Scene: Shinichiri kojun wa praying. Second Scene: the thief entered
the house of Shinichiri Kojun, he allow the thief to took the money that he had.
Third Scene: the Thief went back to Shinichiri Kojun and become the disciple of
Shinichiri.
Point of view: Third-Person central point of view
Climax: When the thief was caught and confessed, offense against
shinichiri koju.
Denouement: when Shinichiri Koju become the state witness and he said
that,that man is not a thief, at least as far as I concerned.I gave him the
Money and he thanked me for it.
Ending: the thief become the disciple of Shinichiri koju.
Theme: The story is about how we should be kind to those who are indeed.

The lion maker

In a certain town were four Brahmans who lived in friendship. Three of them
had reached the far shore of all scholarship, but lacked sense. The other found
scholarship distasteful; he had nothing but sense.
One day they met for consultation. What is the use of attainments, said they,
If one does not travel, win the favor of kings, and acquire money? Whatever we
do, let us all travel.
But when they had gone a little way, the eldest of them said: One of us, the
fourth, is a dullard, having nothing but sense. Now nobody gains the favorable
attention of kings by simple sense without scholarship. Therefore we will not
share our earnings with him. Let him turn back and go home.
Then the second said: My intelligent friend, you lack scholarship. Please go
home. But the third said: No, no. This is no way to behave. For we have played
together since we were little boys. Come along, my noble friend. You shall have
a share of the money we earn.
With this agreement they continued their journey, and in a forest they found
the bones of a dead lion. Thereupon one of them said: A good opportunity to
test the ripeness of our scholarship. Here lies some kind of creature, dead. Let
us bring it to life by means of the scholarship we have honestly won.
Then the first said: I know how to assemble the skeleton. The second said: I
can supply skin, flesh, and blood. The third said: I can give it life. So the first
assembled the skeleton, the second provided skin, flesh, and blood. But while
the third was intent on giving the breath of life, the man of sense advised
against it, remarking: This is a lion. If you bring him to life, he will kill every
one of us.

You simpleton! said the other, it is not I who will reduce scholarship to a
nullity. In that case, came the reply, wait a moment, while I climb this
convenient tree.
When this had been done, the lion was brought to life, rose up, and killed all
three. But the man of sense, after the lion had gone elsewhere, climbed down
and went home.

Analysis:
Setting: Forest
Country: India
Character: Four Brahmans
Plot: First Scene: There are four Brahmans who lived in friendship; three of
them had reached the far shore of scholarship but locked of sense. The other
fund scholarship distasteful; he had nothing but the sense.
Second Scene: they go for a travel and they found a bone of the lion and 3 of
them decided to put it into life but the other one disagree so he did not do what
the other want to do so he climb in a tree and the three give the dead lion a life.
Third Scene: lion had its life and the three Brahmans was eaten by the lion.
Point of view: Third-Person central point of view.
Conflict: the three wants to give life the dead lion.
Climax: The three give life the lion.
Denouement: The Three was eaten by the lion but the person who has the
Sense had set his self from death.

The Origin of Landak River

Long time ago, there was a poor farmer lived with his wife. One day, it was a
very hot day. The farmer was working on his field. He was there for several
hours. He was very tired and wanted to take a rest. Just before he found a nice
place to rest,he saw something very shiny.
He came to the shiny object and took it. It was a hedgehog statue. It was very
beautiful. Its eyes were made of diamond. Those were the shiny objects he saw.
The farmer then brought the statue home. He wanted to show it to his wife. His
wife was so happy. They were so poor and planned to sell the statue.
At night, the farmer had a dream. A giant hedgehog came to him. He said,

Please let me stay in your home. As a return, I will give you everything you
want. Just caress the statues head and say the prayer. There are two kinds of
prayers, one is to start your wish and the second is to stop your wish. Now
memorize the prayers.
The farmer told his wife about his dream. They really wanted to prove it. The
farmer slowly caressed the statue's head. He said the prayer and asked for rice.
Suddenly, a magic thing happened. Rice came out of the mouth of the statue.
The rice kept on coming out from the statue's mouth.
The farmer immediately said the prayer to stop it. It worked! The rice then
stopped coming out from the statue's mouth. Now the farmer mentioned other
things, they were jewelry and other stuffs they needed. In just a moment, the
farmer and his wife became very rich.
They then shared their materials with the neighbors. There was one neighbor
who was very jealous. He was actually a thief! He wanted to know how the poor
farmers became rich. After the thief found out, he stole the magic hedgehog
statue.
He immediately took it and ran away. He was very tired from running and was
very thirsty. He wanted to get some water from the statue. He said the prayer.
His wish came true. Water came out of the statues mouth.
The thief was so happy. He drank and drank the water. He wanted to stop
drinking but he did not know how to stop the water. He forgot the prayer to
stop the wish. Water kept on coming out. He did not know what to do. He was
really panic. He asked for help. People who saw the incident were really scared.
They ran away to avoid the water. More and more water surrounded him.
Slowly, it became a small pond. Water flowed on the ground. It became a river.
People then named the river as Hedgehog River or Sungai Landak.

Analysis:
Setting: House of the Farmer.(Village beside the forest)
Country: Indonesia
Character: Farmer, wife of the Farmer, the thief and the Hedgehog.
Plot: The story is all about the legend of Landak river that once there is a
couple living in the village beside the forest, the couple was very kind hearted
they are generous to their neighbors, one time they saw a vision in their dream
that a hedgehog will give them everything that they need but they need to take
care of the head statue of hedgehog and they need to cast the spell for them to
have the wishes that ask, they need also to cast a spell to stop their wishes.
One day the couple try the magical head statue they asked for rice the statue it
to them but the farmer noticed that the statue didnt giving them rice so the
farmer immediately cast the spell to stop the wish and the couple decided to
help other poor people. Days after they continue to help to the poor people but
there is thief heard about the magical head statue and plan to took the statue
to make the story the thief successfully took the statue and wish for water then
he cast the spell but he didnt know how to stop it so the statue continue gave
water until on the city turns into the water.
Point of view: Third person
Theme: The effect of being selfish.

How My Brother Leon Brought Home A Wife

She stepped down from the carretela of Ca Celin with a quick, delicate grace.
She was lovely. SHe was tall. She looked up to my brother with a smile, and her
forehead was on a level with his mouth.
"You are Baldo," she said and placed her hand lightly on my shoulder. Her nails
were long, but they were not painted. She was fragrant like a morning when
papayas are in bloom. And a small dimple appeared momently high on her
right cheek. "And this is Labang of whom I have heard so much." She held the
wrist of one hand with the other and looked at Labang, and Labang never
stopped chewing his cud. He swallowed and brought up to his mouth more cud
and the sound of his insides was like a drum.
I laid a hand on Labang's massive neck and said to her: "You may scratch his
forehead now."
She hesitated and I saw that her eyes were on the long, curving horns. But she
came and touched Labang's forehead with her long fingers, and Labang never
stopped chewing his cud except that his big eyes half closed. And by and by she
was scratching his forehead very daintily.
My brother Leon put down the two trunks on the grassy side of the road. He
paid Ca Celin twice the usual fare from the station to the edge of Nagrebcan.
Then he was standing beside us, and she turned to him eagerly. I watched Ca
Celin, where he stood in front of his horse, and he ran his fingers through its
forelock and could not keep his eyes away from her.
"Maria---" my brother Leon said.
He did not say Maring. He did not say Mayang. I knew then that he had always
called her Maria and that to us all she would be Maria; and in my mind I said
'Maria' and it was a beautiful name.
"Yes, Noel."
Now where did she get that name? I pondered the matter quietly to myself,

thinking Father might not like it. But it was only the name of my brother Leon
said backward and it sounded much better that way.
"There is Nagrebcan, Maria," my brother Leon said, gesturing widely toward the
west.
She moved close to him and slipped her arm through his. And after a while she
said quietly.
"You love Nagrebcan, don't you, Noel?"
Ca Celin drove away hi-yi-ing to his horse loudly. At the bend of the camino
real where the big duhat tree grew, he rattled the handle of his braided rattan
whip against the spokes of the wheel.
We stood alone on the roadside.
The sun was in our eyes, for it was dipping into the bright sea. The sky was
wide and deep and very blue above us: but along the saw-tooth rim of the
Katayaghan hills to the southwest flamed huge masses of clouds. Before us the
fields swam in a golden haze through which floated big purple and red and
yellow bubbles when I looked at the sinking sun. Labang's white coat, which I
had wshed and brushed that morning with coconut husk, glistened like beaten
cotton under the lamplight and his horns appeared tipped with fire.

He faced the sun and from his mouth came a call so loud and vibrant that the
earth seemed to tremble underfoot. And far away in the middle of the field a
cow lowed softly in answer.
"Hitch him to the cart, Baldo," my brother Leon said, laughing, and she
laughed with him a big uncertainly, and I saw that he had put his arm around
her shoulders.
"Why does he make that sound?" she asked. "I have never heard the like of it."
"There is not another like it," my brother Leon said. "I have yet to hear another

bull call like Labang. In all the world there is no other bull like him."
She was smiling at him, and I stopped in the act of tying the sinta across
Labang's neck to the opposite end of the yoke, because her teeth were very
white, her eyes were so full of laughter, and there was the small dimple high up
on her right cheek.
"If you continue to talk about him like that, either I shall fall in love with him or
become greatly jealous."
My brother Leon laughed and she laughed and they looked at each other and it
seemed to me there was a world of laughter between them and in them.
I climbed into the cart over the wheel and Labang would have bolted, for he was
always like that, but I kept a firm hold on his rope. He was restless and would
not stand still, so that my brother Leon had to say "Labang" several times.
When he was quiet again, my brother Leon lifted the trunks into the cart,
placing the smaller on top.
She looked down once at her high-heeled shoes, then she gave her left hand to
my brother Leon, placed a foot on the hub of the wheel, and in one breath she
had swung up into the cart. Oh, the fragrance of her. But Labang was fairly
dancing with impatience and it was all I could do to keep him from running
away.
"Give me the rope, Baldo," my brother Leon said. "Maria, sit down on the hay
and hold on to anything." Then he put a foot on the left shaft and that instand
labang leaped forward. My brother Leon laughed as he drew himself up to the
top of the side of the cart and made the slack of the rope hiss above the back of
labang. The wind whistled against my cheeks and the rattling of the wheels on
the pebbly road echoed in my ears.
She sat up straight on the bottom of the cart, legs bent togther to one side, her
skirts spread over them so that only the toes and heels of her shoes were
visible. her eyes were on my brother Leon's back; I saw the wind on her hair.
When Labang slowed down, my brother Leon handed to me the rope. I knelt on
the straw inside the cart and pulled on the rope until Labang was merely

shuffling along, then I made him turn around.

"What is it you have forgotten now, Baldo?" my brother Leon said.
I did not say anything but tickled with my fingers the rump of Labang; and
away we went---back to where I had unhitched and waited for them. The sun
had sunk and down from the wooded sides of the Katayaghan hills shadows
were stealing into the fields. High up overhead the sky burned with many slow
fires.
When I sent Labang down the deep cut that would take us to the dry bed of the
Waig which could be used as a path to our place during the dry season, my
brother Leon laid a hand on my shoulder and said sternly:
"Who told you to drive through the fields tonight?"
His hand was heavy on my shoulder, but I did not look at him or utter a word
until we were on the rocky bottom of the Waig.
"Baldo, you fool, answer me before I lay the rope of Labang on you. Why do you
follow the Wait instead of the camino real?"
His fingers bit into my shoulder.
"Father, he told me to follow the Waig tonight, Manong."
Swiftly, his hand fell away from my shoulder and he reached for the rope of
Labang. Then my brother Leon laughed, and he sat back, and laughing still, he
said:
"And I suppose Father also told you to hitch Labang to the cart and meet us
with him instead of with Castano and the calesa."
Without waiting for me to answer, he turned to her and said, "Maria, why do
you think Father should do that, now?" He laughed and added, "Have you ever
seen so many stars before?"

I looked back and they were sitting side by side, leaning against the trunks,
hands clasped across knees. Seemingly, but a man's height above the tops of
the steep banks of the Wait, hung the stars. But in the deep gorge the shadows
had fallen heavily, and even the white of Labang's coat was merely a dim,
grayish blur. Crickets chirped from their homes in the cracks in the banks. The
thick, unpleasant smell of dangla bushes and cooling sun-heated earth
mingled with the clean, sharp scent of arrais roots exposed to the night air and
of the hay inside the cart.
"Look, Noel, yonder is our star!" Deep surprise and gladness were in her voice.
Very low in the west, almost touching the ragged edge of the bank, was the
star, the biggest and brightest in the sky.
"I have been looking at it," my brother Leon said. "Do you remember how I
would tell you that when you want to see stars you must come to Nagrebcan?"
"Yes, Noel," she said. "Look at it," she murmured, half to herself. "It is so many
times bigger and brighter than it was at Ermita beach."
"The air here is clean, free of dust and smoke."
"So it is, Noel," she said, drawing a long breath.
"Making fun of me, Maria?"
She laughed then and they laughed together and she took my brother Leon's
hand and put it against her face.
I stopped Labang, climbed down, and lighted the lantern that hung from the
cart between the wheels.
"Good boy, Baldo," my brother Leon said as I climbed back into the cart, and
my heart sant.
Now the shadows took fright and did not crowd so near. Clumps of andadasi
and arrais flashed into view and quickly disappeared as we passed by. Ahead,
the elongated shadow of Labang bobbled up and down and swayed drunkenly

from side to side, for the lantern rocked jerkily with the cart.
"Have we far to go yet, Noel?" she asked.
"Ask Baldo," my brother Leon said, "we have been neglecting him."
"I am asking you, Baldo," she said.
Without looking back, I answered, picking my words slowly:
"Soon we will get out of the Wait and pass into the fields. After the fields is
home---Manong."
"So near already."
I did not say anything more because I did not know what to make of the tone of
her voice as she said her last words. All the laughter seemed to have gone out
of her. I waited for my brother Leon to say something, but he was not saying
anything. Suddenly he broke out into song and the song was 'Sky Sown with
Stars'---the same that he and Father sang when we cut hay in the fields at
night before he went away to study. He must have taught her the song because
she joined him, and her voice flowed into his like a gentle stream meeting a
stronger one. And each time the wheels encountered a big rock, her voice would
catch in her throat, but my brother Leon would sing on, until, laughing softly,
she would join him again.
Then we were climbing out into the fields, and through the spokes of the
wheels the light of the lantern mocked the shadows. Labang quickened his
steps. The jolting became more frequent and painful as we crossed the low
dikes.
"But it is so very wide here," she said. The light of the stars broke and scattered
the darkness so that one could see far on every side, though indistinctly.
"You miss the houses, and the cars, and the people and the noise, don't you?"
My brother Leon stopped singing.

"Yes, but in a different way. I am glad they are not here."

With difficulty I turned Labang to the left, for he wanted to go straight on. He
was breathing hard, but I knew he was more thirsty than tired. In a little while
we drope up the grassy side onto the camino real.
"---you see," my brother Leon was explaining, "the camino real curves around
the foot of the Katayaghan hills and passes by our house. We drove through the
fields because---but I'll be asking Father as soon as we get home."
"Noel," she said.
"Yes, Maria."
"I am afraid. He may not like me."
"Does that worry you still, Maria?" my brother Leon said. "From the way you
talk, he might be an ogre, for all the world. Except when his leg that was
wounded in the Revolution is troubling him, Father is the mildest-tempered,
gentlest man I know."
We came to the house of Lacay Julian and I spoke to Labang loudly, but
Moning did not come to the window, so I surmised she must be eating with the
rest of her family. And I thought of the food being made ready at home and my
mouth watered. We met the twins, Urong and Celin, and I said "Hoy!" calling
them by name. And they shouted back and asked if my brother Leon and his
wife were with me. And my brother Leon shouted to them and then told me to
make Labang run; their answers were lost in the noise of the wheels.
I stopped labang on the road before our house and would have gotten down but
my brother Leon took the rope and told me to stay in the cart. He turned
Labang into the open gate and we dashed into our yard. I thought we would
crash into the camachile tree, but my brother Leon reined in Labang in time.
There was light downstairs in the kitchen, and Mother stood in the doorway,
and I could see her smiling shyly. My brother Leon was helping Maria over the
wheel. The first words that fell from his lips after he had kissed Mother's hand
were:

"Father... where is he?"

"He is in his room upstairs," Mother said, her face becoming serious. "His leg is
bothering him again."
I did not hear anything more because I had to go back to the cart to unhitch
Labang. But I hardly tied him under the barn when I heard Father calling me. I
met my brother Leon going to bring up the trunks. As I passed through the
kitchen, there were Mother and my sister Aurelia and Maria and it seemed to
me they were crying, all of them.
There was no light in Father's room. There was no movement. He sat in the big
armchair by the western window, and a star shone directly through it. He was
smoking, but he removed the roll of tobacco from his mouth when he saw me.
He laid it carefully on the windowsill before speaking.
"Did you meet anybody on the way?" he asked.
"No, Father," I said. "Nobody passes through the Waig at night."
He reached for his roll of tobacco and hithced himself up in the chair.
"She is very beautiful, Father."
"Was she afraid of Labang?" My father had not raised his voice, but the room
seemed to resound with it. And again I saw her eyes on the long curving horns
and the arm of my brother Leon around her shoulders.
"No, Father, she was not afraid."
"On the way---"
"She looked at the stars, Father. And Manong Leon sang."
"What did he sing?"

"---Sky Sown with Stars... She sang with him."

He was silent again. I could hear the low voices of Mother and my sister Aurelia
downstairs. There was also the voice of my brother Leon, and I thought that
Father's voice must have been like it when Father was young. He had laid the
roll of tobacco on the windowsill once more. I watched the smoke waver faintly
upward from the lighted end and vanish slowly into the night outside.
The door opened and my brother Leon and Maria came in.
"Have you watered Labang?" Father spoke to me.
I told him that Labang was resting yet under the barn.
"It is time you watered him, my son," my father said.
I looked at Maria and she was lovely. She was tall. Beside my brother L

Analysis:
Author: Manuel E. Arguilla
Country: Philippines
Characters:
Major characters:
Leon/Noel - Maria's husband, older brother of Baldo
Maria - Leon's wife
Minor Characters:
Baldo - Leon's younger brother, also the narrator of this story
Mother and Father of Leon and Baldo
Aurelia - Leon and Baldo's younger sister
Labang - the carabao
Setting: Nagrebcan, Bauang La Union

Plot:
-Leon and Baldo waited for the arrival of Maria at the barrio.
-Maria was afraid that she won't be accepted by Leon's father because she may
not able -to adapt their way of living in the province.
-Baldo was ignoring to his older brother's question about why they had to go to
waig instead of Camino Real. (The reason is that their father wanted to test
Maria if she is worthy to be Leon's wife.)
-Baldo discussed their travel to his father.
-Leon's entire family talked to Maria. his Father's voice became livelier than
before when he talked to her (which means he accepted her wholeheartedly.)
Point of view: First Person
Conflict: Leon brought a wife to his original home,Nagrebcan,La Union.His
wife,Maria,is a woman who grew up in the city.She was afraid that maybe his
father-in-law and leons family will not accept her as Leons wife nor not liking
her.But then,Leon come to his hometown with a wife. Their neighborhood who
doesnt know that Leon was married to a city girl.No one know what a kind of
girl is Maria except for Leon. Will Maria cope living in a province for the rest of
her life?
Climax: The highest point of the story is when Leon already brought home
Maria as his wife.He introduce Marias as his wife to his family and especially
to his father hoping they will accept and like Maria for him.
Denouement: when Baldo cross the threshold of his father and ask him abut
Maria. Afterwards the door opened and Leon and Maria came in. Baldo look to
Maria so lovely and went out to watered labang which his father told him.it
reflects that loves makes Maria and Leon to go forward and forward wathever
struggles come will be ignore to them. They portrays that accepting ones life
and one may have to sacrifice a small part of ones life in order to be happy.
Theme: Culture Clash or the setting shift when someone form the barrio or
the city is transported to the other.