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While the bear was busy pulling up the crops, the fox was busy cutting off the roots for
himself. Soon, he filled his own baskets full and slipped away quietly. The bear gathered
her green and carried them to her cave.
But next morning, when the bear got up, she found the leaves had begun to wither and
die. She tried eating the few, but they were bitter.
I wonder how the fox made out, the bear thought to herself and hurried over to visit
him.
When she got to the foxs home she found him lying in the sun, nibbling on a tender,
juicy carrot. And she saw that the fox had many baskets full of tender sweet carrots.
Were those the roots I pulled up yesterday? the bear asked in surprised.
why, yes, Mrs. Bear, the fox answered without even looking up. How were your
greens?
They have already begun to dry. I couldnt eat any this morning, she said forlornly.
Could I have a few of yours carrots, Mr. fox?
The fox shook his head. Remember we made a bargain. You got everything that grew
on top of the soil, and I got everything underneath. A bargain is a bargain.
A few weeks later, just when the bear had begun to forget about the clever fox, he
appeared again in front of the bears cave.
I admit I wasnt very fair the last time, said the fox. lets plant another crop and this
time,you choose which half of the crop youd like.
The bear wasnt going to be fooled again.
very well, she said, this time , I want the half that grows beneath the soil. You take
that grows on top.
Anything you say, the fox answered and again he trotted away to get the seeds while
the bear plowed ang dug up the field.
After a few weeks, the bear and the fox met look at their crop. There were rows and
rows of beautiful green leaves.
Now, Mr. fox, you take whats on top, said the bear. Ill take whats under the ground.
The fox nodded and quickly got to work picking his crop. When his arms is full, he went
home.
When the bear dug up the roots, she found a few thin, scraggly things about an inch
long.
why, these arent carrots! she thought angrily. I cant eat these tiny roots. She ran to
see what the fox had taken home. She found him with several baskets full of beautiful
red strawberries.
Mr. fox, youve tricked me again, the bear cried angrily. let me at least taste one of
your strawberries. But the fox shook his head. you chose the bottom half. You cant
have any of the top. And so the bear wandered off sad and hungry.
One day as the bear was eating some meat, the fox strolled up. good day, mrs. Bear,
he said, bowing low . my, that looks like a piece of meat. May I have just a taste.
The bear suddenly had a plan. go right ahead, she said, take all you want.
The fox ate until he was full. where did you get such good meat?
The bear smile to herself. Its really very easy, especially for someone your size, she
said.
tell me, the fox asked anxiously. where do I go? What do I do?
well, the bear went on, I discovered that just beyond the mountain is a wide meadow.
The meadow is full of green grass, and you will see man horses grazing there.
yes, yes, the fox said, listening carefully.
pick out the biggest horse. Tie your tail to its tail, and then bite one of its hind legs as
hard as you can.
is it all? asked the fox.
The bear nodded, as soon as you bite, the horse will weaken and die. You will then
have all the meat you can eat.
The fox ran quickly as he could to the meadow. He stole up behind a big, white horse
and tied his own tail securely to the horses. Then he bit one of its hind legs as hard as
he could. The horse gave a terrible cry, kicked up its hind legs , and run wildly over the
field, dragging the fox behind it.
Help! Stop! Shouted the fox, but the frightened horse just ran all the more. The fox
was kicked and dragged over all the stones and stumps that lay in the meadow, and
finally was thrown against a big tree. He was sitting there holding his aching head and
moaning to himself when the bear came along to see what had happened.
look at me! the fox whimpered, licking his wounds. look what that terrible horse did to
me!
But the bear didnt feel a bit sorry for the fox. mr. fox, she said quietly, you got exactly
what you deserved. And she walked away into the forest without even looking back.
ANALYSIS:
Authors biography:
Yoshiko Uchida almost single-handedly created a body of Japanese-American literature for children,
where none existed before. As the first Nissei writer to devote an entire career to writing for young people
about her own rich cultural heritage, she expanded the range of children's reading, with important results
for young readers of all ethnic backgrounds.
Uchida was born in Alameda, California, on 24 November 1921, the second daughter of Takashi
("Dwight") and Iku Umegaki Uchida. Dwight Uchida immigrated to the United States from Japan in 1903
and worked for the San Francisco offices of Mitsui and Company, where he eventually became a
manager. His daughter remembered him as a cheerful man with gregarious habits and a love of
gardening. Iku Umegaki, the eldest daughter of a prefectural governor of Japan, immigrated to the United
States in 1916 to marry Dwight Uchida. Both were graduates of Doshisha University, one of the early
Christian universities of Japan, where relationships between students and teachers were exceptionally
close; following the advice of two professors at Doshisha, Dwight and Iku began a year-long
correspondence that culminated in their marriage.
Story Analysis
Title: the fox and the bear
Characters: Mrs. Bear
Mr. Fox
Settings: Japan
Plot: the fox and the bear had a planned that they will plant a crop. They plant a crop
and when the crop grows they will divide it in to two. The fox decide that he will take the
half that grows under the soil. Then the bear agreed. After the fox had finished taking
the half of the crop, he slipped away quietly. And after the bear gathered her green, she
carried them to her cave. Morning came then the bear woke up. She found the leaves
had begun to wither and die. She tried eating the few, but they were bitter.
She go to the fox and saw that the fox was eating. She came near to the fox and asked
if where the roots she pulled out yesterday are. In addition she said that the leaves
dried. And the bear add, if she could taste some of the carrots. The fox then said that
they have a bargain.
a few weeks later, the fox appeared again to the bear . Then he said that they plant
another crop and the bear would choose now. The bear is tricked again by the fox so
the bear planned to tricked the fox. The bear is eating meat and the fox saw it. So the
fox immediately went to the bear to asked if where did she get the delicious meat. And
the bear said that he get it from a horse, so the fox run quickly and bit the leg of the
horse. But the horse kicked the fox and was throwned and was stocked in a biggest
tree.
Summary:
The fox and the bear had a planned that they will plant a crop. They plant a
crop and when the crop grows they will divide it in to two. The fox decide that he will
take the half that grows under the soil. Then the bear agreed. After the fox had finished
taking the half of the crop, he slipped away quietly. And after the bear gathered her
green, she carried them to her cave. Morning came then the bear woke up. She found
the leaves had begun to wither and die. She tried eating the few, but they were bitter.
She go to the fox and saw that the fox was eating. She came near to the fox and asked
if where the roots she pulled out yesterday are. In addition she said that the leaves
dried. And the bear add, if she could taste some of the carrots. The fox then said that
they have a bargain.
a few weeks later, the fox appeared again to the bear . Then he said that they plant
another crop and the bear would choose now. The bear is tricked again by the fox so
the bear planned to tricked the fox. The bear is eating meat and the fox saw it. So the
fox immediately went to the bear to asked if where did she get the delicious meat. And
the bear said that he get it from a horse, so the fox run quickly and bit the leg of the
horse. But the horse kicked the fox and was throwned and was stocked in a biggest
tree.
Cultural Strains:
Crops
Meat
Reflection:
In the story, we get a lesson from it. We have no right to deceived or cheat to
others because time will come that the one who you cheated will cheat on you too.
ANALYSIS:
Authors biography:
Richardo Keens-Douglas, born in 1953, is a Canadian film and stage actor.
Richardo Keens-Douglas is one of Canada's best known names in storytelling circles as well as in
literature and art. He is also very well known for his work as an actor, playwright, television and radio host.
He was born in the fifties in the southern Caribbean island of Grenada commonly known as the Isle of
Spice, and spent his childhood there. He is the youngest of seven brothers and sisters, including popular
Trinidadian writer, Paul Keens-Douglas. His love of acting and performing blossomed at a young age and
when he was seventeen, Keens-Douglas moved to Montreal to attend Dawson Theater
School.Continuing his love affair with the stage, he went on to perform at the Ontarios Stratford Festival.
But when he came up against the systemic racism that existed within the performing arts in Canada at
that time, he made a decision to concentrate on writing and performing his own material.
Keens-Douglas had been living in Toronto for more than fifteen years, moving back and forth between the
city and his Grenadian home. Since Hurricane Ivan in 2004, however, he has moved back to Grenada in
order to help rebuild the island, and to write and perform in benefit events.
A review of Keens-Douglas work and themes shows that he is mainly inspired to bring to life the stories of
the Caribbean -- to the stage and to the page. He emphasizes the mystical and magical art of oral culture
and storytelling, not only in English, but also in French and Spanish. Most of his work has been published
by Annick Press and is written mainly for young adults, although he is well known for his work for children.
His first book, The Nutmeg Princess has a very important message: Follow your dreams, and if you
believe in yourself all things are possible. Two of his other works for children, La Diablesse and the Baby
and Freedom Child of the Sea can all be found in the anthology, Tales from the Isle of Spice (2004).
Keens-Douglas performs his children's stories at schools and universities and draws on a diversity of
sources that include anthologies, his poetry and his musical performances.
Over the years, Keens-Douglas career has spanned working on the stage and in films across Canada.
His latest musical play, St. George's: Aye Yay Yay Ivan was performed in Toronto in 2005 to raise funds
for hurricane-hit Grenada. Other plays written and acted in by Keens-Douglas include the stage rendition
of his book The Nutmeg Princess; Mama God, Papa God; and the well known production, Playboy of the
West Indies. Keens-Douglas has hosted the CBC radio program, Cloud Nine and has also written for
radio. Titles include Tell me a Tale, Once Upon an Island and Caribbean Cindy.
Keens-Douglas has received many awards for his work in theater and his literary work. He received a
nomination for the Dora Mavor Moore in 1985 for best actor in his personally penned musical The Obeah
Man. He won the same award in 2000 for his musical rendition of his first children's book, The Nutmeg
Princess. This play was also a finalist in 2000 for the Chalmers Canadian Play Awards. His 1991 play,
Once Upon an Island was nominated for a Sterling Award for best touring production.
For his literary work, Keens-Douglas won a Storytelling World Honor Award for La Diablesse and the
Baby, his second book for children. He also won the Oak Adult Literacy Book Award for Tales from the Isle
of Spice, an award sponsored by the Ontario Library Association.
Title:
The trial of the stone
Characters:
Ah Niew
Paw Kong
Settings:
China
Plot:
There was a boy named Ah NIew selling cakes cooked in oil. One day Ah niew was
lucky because he sell all the cakes. But there were bad happens, he saw an old woman
crossing a street with a basket of fruits. She stumbled and her fruits rolled in the streets.
Ah Niew put her bag with the money on it and came to the womans rescue. And then
when he was done, he turned to egt his basket, but it was gone. He looked around and
saw it beside the bid stone. But the money was gone. So, Ah Niew cried loud. And a
kind-hearted judge helped Ah Niew. And Paw Kong asked the people to pay twenty
cents. So everyone pay twenty cents. And atlast the the man with big nose put twenty
cents. Then Paw Kong ordered his servants to get the man because he is the one who
stole the money of Ah Niew. The servants of Paw Kong check the bag of the man and
they found the money of ah niew. And the man give the money back to Ah Niew.
Summary:
There was a boy named Ah NIew selling cakes cooked in oil. One day Ah niew was
lucky because he sell all the cakes. But there were bad happens, he saw an old woman
crossing a street with a basket of fruits. She stumbled and her fruits rolled in the streets.
Ah Niew put her bag with the money on it and came to the womans rescue. And then
when he was done, he turned to egt his basket, but it was gone. He looked around and
saw it beside the bid stone. But the money was gone. So, Ah Niew cried loud. And a
kind-hearted judge helped Ah Niew. And Paw Kong asked the people to pay twenty
cents. So everyone pay twenty cents. And atlast the the man with big nose put twenty
cents. Then Paw Kong ordered his servants to get the man because he is the one who
stole the money of Ah Niew. The servants of Paw Kong check the bag of the man and
they found the money of ah niew. And the man give the money back to Ah Niew.
Cultural strain:
Cakes cooked in oil
Reflection:
We dont neeed to steal money for others. We should work hard and obey other people
and their properties.
Characters:
Four Brahmans
Settings: India
Plot:
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, "ifone
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.And
that is why I say:
Scholarship is less than sense, ... and the rest of it."
Summary:
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, "ifone
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.And
that is why I say:
Scholarship is less than sense, ... and the rest of it."
Reflection:
We must use our senses before doing something.
ANALYSIS
Authors biography:
Nicomedes Mrquez Joaqun (May 4, 1917April 29, 2004) was a Filipino writer, historian and journalist,
best known for hisshort stories and novels in the English language. He also wrote using the pen
name Quijano de Manila. Joaquin was conferred the rank and title of National Artist of the Philippines for
Literature.
Title: May day eve
Characters:
Votaire
Anastasia
Badoy
Doa agueda
Settings:
Manila
Plot:
The ball had ended, the girls were sent upstairs to sleep, while the guest from Europe who were feeling
bad for they want to party some more went out to finish their drink and have some more fun in that
tropical country.
At the girls room Anastasia was telling the girls that witches were abroad for it was a night of divination,
night of lovers, and those who cared might peer in a mirror and would there behold the face of whoever it
was they were fated to marry. One girl told Anastasia to stop and get out of the room and told her that she
is a witch, but another girl said that Anastasia is a maga and was born on Christmas Eve.
One girl is very eager and much interested on Anastasia's story and want Anastasia to tell her everything,
so Anastasia for tell to the girls what to do. That she must go to a mirror close her eyes and say, "mirror
mirror show to me him whose woman I will be", then Anastasia continued that if all goes right then her
lover will appear above her left shoulder and if it does not go right she will see the devil.
Agueda walked to the hall down to the sala bravely. The girls have not able to stop her and in their facing
the mirror, she whispered the incantation. Agueda felt different and after a while, she has a company.
Then she heared her little child talk that she almost forgets was in her lap. The child asks if what did she
saw, if she saw the devil. Then she told her child that yes she saw the devil, it was smiling at her. The
devil has a scar in its face like what his father has but the difference is that of the devil is a mark of sin
while that of his father is a sign of honor. Agueda continued that the devil has mustache too but unlike to
that of his husband that smells of tobacco and is gray, that of the devil is so black and elegant. Agueda
told her child that if she does not want to see a devil, she must stop her habbit of always looking at the
mirror.
"Charms Like Yours have no need for a candle, faire one" Badoy Monitiya told Agueda then mockingly
told her how vain she is that even in the middle of the night she is looking at her face. Agueda got mad
and was about to walk away, but Badoy stop her and told her that she cannot go upstairs until she will
dance with him. For during the ball Agueda has not dance the polka with him. Forcefully Agueda refuses
and then the two got into a talk fight. After a while Agueda piteously cried and Badoy felt sorry for it and
ask forgiveness. He told Agueda that he would let her go upstairs if she will forgive him, but instead of
forgiving Badoy, she bit his knucklesand fled upstairs.
Filled with pain, Badoy did not know what to do, If he will call his mother to let know what happened or he
himself will go upstairs to the girls room and drag Agueda out of the house. Then it came to him how
Agueda looks, those curves and that pretty face. Feeling the pain consciousness came that he must take
revenge. Later he realize, he want to see, touch and hear her harsh voice. Then it came to his mind that
he is madly deeply in love with her, yet he must let her pay.
One May Night Don Badoy Monitiya walks home not even caring to remember what happened years ago.
He walks to the hall and as he glanced at the mirror, he suddenly felt something. A familiar sense, then he
called the ghostly figure in front the mirror then saw that it was his grandson. Voltaire told his grandpa
what the boys in school told him of how he could see his future wife. Don Badoy led his grandsoninto a
seat, and then they talked. He told him about the witch he saw when he was about his age and was so
vain that he wants to see himself dieing because of drunkenness. Voltaire ask how awful the witch look
like, then he told his grandsonthat the witch he saw was a hell so very beautiful lad and how that witch ate
his heart and drank his blood.
Voltaire told his grandpa what his mother told him, about the story of his grandma who as well is eager to
see her lover but then saw the devil. At the very moment Don Badoy realized, that was so long ago. Now
she was dead, perished, that she were at last at peace and that her body was free from the brutal pranks
of the earth from the trap of a May Night, from a snare of summer.
Don Badoy went up to the window and with tears, reminisce that old love.
Summary:
The ball had ended, the girls were sent upstairs to sleep, while the guest from Europe who were feeling
bad for they want to party some more went out to finish their drink and have some more fun in that
tropical country.
At the girls room Anastasia was telling the girls that witches were abroad for it was a night of divination,
night of lovers, and those who cared might peer in a mirror and would there behold the face of whoever it
was they were fated to marry. One girl told Anastasia to stop and get out of the room and told her that she
is a witch, but another girl said that Anastasia is a maga and was born on Christmas Eve.
One girl is very eager and much interested on Anastasia's story and want Anastasia to tell her everything,
so Anastasia for tell to the girls what to do. That she must go to a mirror close her eyes and say, "mirror
mirror show to me him whose woman I will be", then Anastasia continued that if all goes right then her
lover will appear above her left shoulder and if it does not go right she will see the devil.
Agueda walked to the hall down to the sala bravely. The girls have not able to stop her and in their facing
the mirror, she whispered the incantation. Agueda felt different and after a while, she has a company.
Then she heared her little child talk that she almost forgets was in her lap. The child asks if what did she
saw, if she saw the devil. Then she told her child that yes she saw the devil, it was smiling at her. The
devil has a scar in its face like what his father has but the difference is that of the devil is a mark of sin
while that of his father is a sign of honor. Agueda continued that the devil has mustache too but unlike to
that of his husband that smells of tobacco and is gray, that of the devil is so black and elegant. Agueda
told her child that if she does not want to see a devil, she must stop her habbit of always looking at the
mirror.
"Charms Like Yours have no need for a candle, faire one" Badoy Monitiya told Agueda then mockingly
told her how vain she is that even in the middle of the night she is looking at her face. Agueda got mad
and was about to walk away, but Badoy stop her and told her that she cannot go upstairs until she will
dance with him. For during the ball Agueda has not dance the polka with him. Forcefully Agueda refuses
and then the two got into a talk fight. After a while Agueda piteously cried and Badoy felt sorry for it and
ask forgiveness. He told Agueda that he would let her go upstairs if she will forgive him, but instead of
forgiving Badoy, she bit his knucklesand fled upstairs.
Filled with pain, Badoy did not know what to do, If he will call his mother to let know what happened or he
himself will go upstairs to the girls room and drag Agueda out of the house. Then it came to him how
Agueda looks, those curves and that pretty face. Feeling the pain consciousness came that he must take
revenge. Later he realize, he want to see, touch and hear her harsh voice. Then it came to his mind that
he is madly deeply in love with her, yet he must let her pay.
One May Night Don Badoy Monitiya walks home not even caring to remember what happened years ago.
He walks to the hall and as he glanced at the mirror, he suddenly felt something. A familiar sense, then he
called the ghostly figure in front the mirror then saw that it was his grandson. Voltaire told his grandpa
what the boys in school told him of how he could see his future wife. Don Badoy led his grandsoninto a
seat, and then they talked. He told him about the witch he saw when he was about his age and was so
vain that he wants to see himself dieing because of drunkenness. Voltaire ask how awful the witch look
like, then he told his grandsonthat the witch he saw was a hell so very beautiful lad and how that witch ate
his heart and drank his blood.
Voltaire told his grandpa what his mother told him, about the story of his grandma who as well is eager to
see her lover but then saw the devil. At the very moment Don Badoy realized, that was so long ago. Now
she was dead, perished, that she were at last at peace and that her body was free from the brutal pranks
of the earth from the trap of a May Night, from a snare of summer.
Don Badoy went up to the window and with tears, reminisce that old love.
Reflection:
we dont need to believe to others when we dont have a proof.
"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.
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.
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.
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:
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?"
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."
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.
"Ask Baldo," my brother Leon said, "we have been neglecting him."
"Soon we will get out of the Wait and pass into the fields. After the fields is home---Manong."
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.
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."
"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:
"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.
He reached for his roll of tobacco and hithced himself up in the chair.
"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.
The door opened and my brother Leon and Maria came in.
I told him that Labang was resting yet under the barn.
I looked at Maria and she was lovely. She was tall. Beside my brother Leon, she was tall and very still.
Then I went out, and in the darkened hall the fragrance of her was like a morning when papayas are in
bloom.
ANALYSIS:
Authors biography:
Manuel Estabillo Arguilla (1911-1944) was an Ilokano writer in English, a patriot, and a
martyr.
Title:
How my brother Leon brought home a wife
Characters:
Baldo - younger brother of Leon, fetched Leon and Maria from the road to Nagrebcan
Leon (or Noel) - older brother of Baldo who studied in Manila where he met his wife
Maria - the beautiful and stunning wife of Leon from Manila
Labang - the bull whom Baldo considers as his pet
Norman Tabios - Maria's ex-boyfriend who happened to be a loro
Gagambino - Leon's favorite fictional character who gave him lots of guts to study in
Manila
Churita - Labang's girlfriend/fiance
Settings:
Manila
Plot:
The story is told from the point of view of Baldo, the younger brother of Leon. (The
second paragraph gives you the clue.)
Leon is called Noel by his wife, the beautiful Maria. In the story, you'll get the feeling that
Baldo makes a distinction between traditional names and modern ones. For example,
he takes note that his brother calls his wife "Maria" instead of "Mayang", while Baldo's
sister-in-law calls Baldo's brother Noel, which is the reverse of "Leon."
Baldo also wonders if their father will approve of Leon's new nickname.
Anyway, Baldo fetches his brother and Maria, and takes them home. They do not pass
through the usual route. Instead, they take a shortcut through a field.
I don't know if symbolism is used in How My Brother Leon Brought Home A Wife. What I
felt while reading the story is Manuel Arguilla's great love of Nagrebcan (Bauang, La
Union). Arguilla takes the time to note the shape of clouds, the sounds made by the
rolling wheels or even the rope near the neck of Labang (the bull), and even the scent of
the air.
It's as if Arguilla transports you right there, among Maria and the two brothers. Right
there with their father, mother, and sister Aurelia.
Summary:
The story is told from the point of view of Baldo, the younger brother of Leon. (The
second paragraph gives you the clue.)
Leon is called Noel by his wife, the beautiful Maria. In the story, you'll get the feeling that
Baldo makes a distinction between traditional names and modern ones. For example,
he takes note that his brother calls his wife "Maria" instead of "Mayang", while Baldo's
sister-in-law calls Baldo's brother Noel, which is the reverse of "Leon."
Baldo also wonders if their father will approve of Leon's new nickname.
Anyway, Baldo fetches his brother and Maria, and takes them home. They do not pass
through the usual route. Instead, they take a shortcut through a field.
I don't know if symbolism is used in How My Brother Leon Brought Home A Wife. What I
felt while reading the story is Manuel Arguilla's great love of Nagrebcan (Bauang, La
Union). Arguilla takes the time to note the shape of clouds, the sounds made by the
rolling wheels or even the rope near the neck of Labang (the bull), and even the scent of
the air.
It's as if Arguilla transports you right there, among Maria and the two brothers. Right
there with their father, mother, and sister Aurelia.
Reflection:
For me, this story is telling us about what kind of lovers we filipinos are before, and the
difference of a provincial guy with the "manila" type of girl, this story also tells us that, all
of us changes in some way, and in some time, and also this story is like telling us that
no matter who you are, you can possibly do and get whatever you like, as long as you
trust yourself. well that is what i felt when im reading the story.