"Ohh, ikaw naman Vee ang mag kwento sabi mo kanina diba marami ka rin kwento." Nanlaki naman ang mata ko sa sinabi niya."Gagu kang bakla ka wala akong sinabing ganon!" Bulyaw kong bulong sakanya. "Talaga Ate Vee? Heheh.""Siguro nag handa ng mga magagandang kwento si Ate Ves satin heheh.""Love na love tayo ni Ate Vee heheh.""Wala naman akong sinasabing heheh." Panggagaya ko sa boses nila.Ilang segundo ang lumipas ay tahimik lang sila at ako rin, pati si James. Mukhang may inaantay yata sila eh.Napaisip naman ako sa i-ku-kwento kong bago sakanila. "Okay sige ito na mag k-kwento na ako The king of the ogres."In the land of Annam there once dwelt a man named Su, who sailed the seas as a merchant. Once his ship was suddenly driven on a distant shore by a great storm. It was a land of hills broken by ravines and green with luxuriant foliage, yet he could see something along the hills which looked like human dwellings. So he took some food with him and went ashore. No sooner had he
"The story of the old man who made withered trees to flower."Long, long ago there lived an old man and his wife who supported themselves by cultivating a small plot of land. Their life had been a very happy and peaceful one save for one great sorrow, and this was they had no child.Their only pet was a dog named Shiro, and on him they lavished all the affection of their old age. Indeed, they loved him so much that whenever they had anything nice to eat they denied themselves to give it to Shiro.Now Shiro means "white," and he was so called because of his color. He was a real Japanese dog, and very like a small wolf in appearance. The happiest hour of the day both for the old man and his dog was when the man returned from his work in the field, and having finished his frugal supper of rice and vegetables, would take what he had saved from the meal out to the little veranda that ran round the cottage.Sure enough, Shiro was waiting for his master and the evening tit-bit. Then the old
"Giauna the beautiful."ONCE upon a time there was a descendant of Confucius. His father had a friend, and this friend held an official position in the South and offered the young man a place as secretary. But when the latter reached the town where he was to have been active, he found that his father's friend had already died. Then he was much embarrassed, seeing that he did not have the means to return home again. So he was glad to take refuge in the Monastery of Puto, where he copied holy books for the abbot.About a hundred paces west of the monastery stood a deserted house. One day there had been a great snowfall, and as young Kung accidentally passed by the door of the house, he noticed a well dressed and prepossessing youth standing there who bowed to him and begged him to approach. Now young Kung was a scholar, and could appreciate good manners. Finding that the youth and himself had much in common, he took a liking to him, and followed him into the house. It was immaculately
"Gusto niyo ba ng Japanese story. Sige yong may gusto taas ang kamay, okay sige mukha lahat naman yata gusto ah.""The stone of five colours and the empress Jokwa."Long, long ago there lived a great Chinese Empress who succeeded her brother the Emperor Fuki. It was the age of giants, and the Empress Jokwa, for that was her name, was twenty-five feet high, nearly as tall as her brother. She was a wonderful woman, and an able ruler. There is an interesting story of how she mended a part of the broken heavens and one of the terrestrial pillars which upheld the sky, both of which were damaged during a rebellion raised by one of King Fuki's subjects.The rebel's name was Kokai. He was twenty-six feet high. His body was entirely covered with hair, and his face was as black as iron. He was a wizard and a very terrible character indeed. When the Emperor Fuki died, Kokai was bitten with the ambition to be Emperor of China, but his plan failed, and Jokwa, the dead Emperor's sister, mounted the
"Princess Haise, a story of old Japan.Many, many years ago there lived in Nara, the ancient Capital of Japan, a wise State minister, by namePrince Toyonari Fujiwara. His wife was a noble, good, and beautiful woman called Princess Murasaki (Violet). They had been married by their respective families according to Japanese custom when very young, and had lived together happily ever since. They had, however, one cause for great sorrow, for as the years went by no child was born to them. This made them very unhappy, for they both longed to see a child of their own who would grow up to gladden their old age, carry on the family name, and keep up the ancestral rites when they were dead.The Prince and his lovely wife, after long consultation and much thought, determined to make a pilgrimage to the temple of Hase-no-Kwannon (Goddess of Mercy at Hase), for they believed, according to the beautiful tradition of their religion, that the Mother of Mercy, Kwannon, comes to answer the prayers of
At the time when the Tang dynasty reigned over the Middle Kingdom, there were master swordsmen of various kinds. Those who came first were the saints of the sword. They were able to take different shapes at will, and their swords were like strokes of lightning. Yet these master swordsmen were men of lofty mind, and did not lightly mingle in the quarrels of the world. The second kind of master swordsmen were the sword heroes. It was their custom to slay the unjust, and to come to the aid of the oppressed. They wore a hidden dagger at their side and carried a leather bag at their belt. By magic means they were able to turn human heads into flowing water. They could fly over roofs and walk up and down walls, and they came and went and left no trace. The swordsmen of the lowest sort were the mere bought slayers. They hired themselves out to those who wished to do away with their enemies. And death was an everyday matter to them.Old Dragon beard must have been a master swordsman standing
There was once upon a time a couple of needy folk who lived in a wretched hut, in which there was nothing but black want; so they had neither food to eat nor wood to burn. But if they had next to nothing of all else they had the blessing of God so far as children were concerned, and every year brought them one more. The man was not overpleased at this. He was always going about grumbling and growling, and saying that it seemed to him that there might be such a thing as having too many of these good gifts; so shortly before another baby was born he went away into the wood for some firewood, saying that he did not want to see the new child; he would hear him quite soon enough when he began to squall for some food.As soon as this baby was born it began to look about the room.'Ah, my dear mother!' said he, 'give me some of my brothers' old clothes, and food enough for a few days, and I will go out into the world and seek my fortune, for, so far as I can see, you have children enough.'
"Mannikin."This evening also, Minnikin begged for leave to go down to the sea-shore.'Oh, what can you do there?' answered the kitchen-maid.However, he begged until at last he got leave to go, but he was forced to promise that he would be back again in the kitchen when the roast had to be turned.Almost immediately after he had got down to the sea-shore the Troll came with a great whizzing and whirring, and he was much, much bigger than either of the two former ones, and he had fifteen heads.'Fire!' roared the Troll.'Fire yourself!' said Minnikin.'Can you fight?' screamed the Troll.'If not, I can learn,' said Minnikin.'l will teach you,' yelled the Troll, and struck at him with his iron club so that the earth flew up fifteen yards high into the air.'Fie!' said Minnikin. 'That was not much of a blow. Now I will let you see one of my blows.'So saying he grasped his sword, and cut at the Troll in such a way that all his fifteen heads danced away over the sands.Then the Princess