Reading Diary A: Filipino Popular Tales

The Three Friends: the Monkey, the Dog, and the Carabao

Characters

·         Monkey

·         Dog

·         Carabao

·         Buñgisñgis

Setting: The jungle and the city

Plot: The three friends wanted to leave the city and go on an adventure. They soon learned there were monsters in the forest as well as the city. Some of them lost their life to the adventure.

My favorite character was the monkey because he was able to outsmart his enemy more than once and save his own life.

Three Brothers of Fortune

Characters:

·         Suan

·          Iloy

·         Ambo

·         The young woman

Setting: Neighboring town, island

Plot: The three brothers did not learn much at school but they went on an adventure to neighboring towns. They all found useful charms and used them to capture a girl, but they could not settle on who would take her hand in marriage. When asking the king he split her evenly among them, which was not satisfying to all of them. When the other two brothers tossed her aside Suan made her whole again and they lived happily together.

I thought this story was a little strange. It was very different from the other ones I have read. I like that Suan was able to put the woman back together and keep her as his.

The Clever Husband and Wife

Characters

·         Wife

·         Pedro

·         Doctor

·         Doctor’s sister

·         Servant

Plot:  The two tricked the doctor, who had brought them together, that they were out of money several times. They also pretended each other had died several times to gain more money.

I thought this story was more realistic because it showed two greedy people taking advantage of someone. I thought it was written in a language easy to understand and more modern. 

Image : Pangasinan, Philippines

Filipino Popular tales