narrated by cipriano seráfica, a pangasinan from mangaldan, pangasinan.

a long time ago there lived in a town a couple who had a son. the father of the husband lived with his son and daughter-in-law happily for many years. but when he grew very old, he became very feeble. every time he ate at the table, he always broke a plate, because his hands trembled so. the old man’s awkwardness soon made his son angry, and one day he made a wooden plate for his father to eat out of. the poor old man had to eat all his food from this wooden plate.

when the grandson noticed what his father had done, he took some tools and went down under the house. there he took a piece of board and began to carve it. when his father saw him and said to him, “what are you doing, son?” the boy replied to him, “father, i am making wooden plates for you and my mother when you are old.”

as the son uttered these words, tears gushed from the father’s eyes. from that time on, the old man was always allowed to eat at the table with the rest of the family, nor was he made to eat from a wooden plate.

moral: do unto others as you want them to do unto you.