narrated by leopoldo uichanco, a tagalog of calamba, laguna.

“on my life!” exclaimed old julian one day to his grandson antonio, who was clinging fast to his elbows and bothering him, [258]as usual, “you will soon become insane with stories. now, i will tell you a story on this condition: you must answer the question i shall put at the end of the narrative. if you give the correct answer, then i will tell you some more tales; if not, why, you must be unfortunate.” antonio nodded, and said, “very well!” as he leaned on the table to listen to his grandfather. then the old man began:—

“there was once a young man who had completed his course of study and was to be ordained a priest. now, whenever a man was about to be entrusted with the duty of being a minister of god, and christ’s representative on earth, it was the custom to trace his ancestry back as far as possible, to see that there was no bad member on any branch of his family tree. inquiries were made and information was sought regarding the young man’s relatives. unfortunately his mother’s brother was an insurrecto. but the boy wanted very much to become a priest, so he set out for mount banahaw to look for his uncle.

“as he was walking along the mountain road, he came across his uncle, but neither knew the other. the uncle had a long bolo in his hand. ‘hold!’ shouted the old man as the boy came in sight. ‘hands up!’

“?‘mercy!’ entreated the young man. ‘i am a friend, not an enemy.’

“?‘what are you doing in this part of the country, then? have you come to spy?’

“?‘no,’ said the youth. ‘i have come in search of my uncle named paulino, general of the patriots of banahaw.’

“?‘and who are you to seek for him? what is your name?’

“?‘federico.’

“the uncle stared at him. ‘if that is so,’ he said, ‘i am the man you are looking for. i am your uncle.’ federico was amazed, but was very glad to have found his uncle so easily. then the old man took his nephew to the cave where he dwelt with his soldiers.

“weeks passed by, months elapsed, but federico never thought of going back to his mother. so one day federico’s father went out to seek for his son, and soon found him and his uncle. the father, too, remained there with the soldiers, and never thought of going back home.

“one day josefa received news that the bandits of banahaw had been caught by the government authorities. among the prisoners were her brother paulino, her son federico, and her husband. the captives were to be executed at sunrise without any trial. josefa hurried to the capitan general, and pleaded with him to release her [259]husband, her son, and her brother. besides, the woman presented the officer with some gifts. she pleaded so hard, that finally the capitan general was moved with pity. he consented to release one of the prisoners, but one only. josefa did not know what to do. whom should she select of the three,—her husband, the other half of her life; her son, the fruit of her love; or her brother, that brother who came from the same womb and sucked the same milk from the same mother? to take one would mean to condemn the other two to death. she wished to save them all, but she was allowed to select only one.”

“if you, antonio, were in her place, whom would you select?” antonio did not speak for some moments, but with knitted eyebrows looked up to the ceiling and tried to think of the answer.

“nonsense!” exclaimed the grandfather; “you cannot find the answer in the ceiling! you really do not know, do you? very well. i will give you until next tuesday to get your answer. you have one week in which to think it out. tell me the correct answer before you go to school on that day.”

when tuesday came, antonio had gotten the answer to his grandfather’s puzzle-tale; but the rascally little boy deceived the old man: he had sought the information from his uncle.

“if you were in the place of the woman,” asked the playful grandfather with a smile on his face, “whom would you select?” antonio timidlv said that he would select the brother.

“you are only guessing, aren’t you?” said old julian doubtfully.

“bah! no, sir!” said the boy. “i can give you a reason for my selection.”

“very well, give your reason, then.”

“the woman would be right in selecting her brother”—

“because”—

“because, what to a woman is a husband? she can marry again; she can find another.”

“that is true,” said the old man.

“and what to a woman is her son? is it not possible to bear another one after she marries again?”

“to be sure,” said old julian.

“but,” continued the boy, raising his voice, “is it possible for her to bring into the world another brother? is it possible? the woman’s parents were dead. therefore she would be right in selecting her brother instead of her husband or her son.”

[260]“exactly so, my boy,” returned the satisfied old man, nodding his gray head. “since you have answered correctly, to-morrow i will tell you another story.”