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After
midnight three of the sailors, vigilant and unafraid, decided
to make an inspection tour through the house. In one room
they discovered the bottom halves of three female bodies
standing against a wall. Only the legs and waists were there,
while the top halves were absent. Evidently, these were
the bodies of the daughters of the house’s owner and his
wife. The sailors had met these women as three companionable
and hospitable people, but now!
Making
no noise, the sailors took ashes from the fireplace and
strewed them over the surfaces of the three severed waists,
where the top halves had been divided from the bottom halves.
Then they changed the positions of the bodies, so the strange
sisters would not be able to locate their lower parts.
Then
the seamen told their captain what they had seen and done.
The captain went to the room where the three half bodies
were standing. At that moment the three top halves came
flying in. He watched as the creatures were unable to rejoin
their bottom halves. The distraught trunks began to cry
and wail, pleading that if they could not rejoin their lower
limbs and have complete human bodies, they would have to
fly about in their present condition forever.
The
captain was kind. He carefully washed the ashes off the
bottom halves of the bodies and replaced them in their original
and required positions. At once the three women stood before
him, whole and hearty. The women were full of gratitude
and promised him much wealth for his kindness. So the captain
and his crewmen settled in the town, and the captain married
a rich lady. The sisters, now restored as normal humans,
pursued and married the three sailors.
-
J.K.
Four Monsters
Many years ago, the green
plains of Mindanao were not yet there. Only the mountains
raised their heads above the sea. On the mountain slopes
were many villages, and numerous people lived in them. They
all lived happily and well.
One
sad day, four monsters arrived out of the ocean and settled
on the mountains.
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