There was once a poor couple
who lived happily in a quiet
place. They had one son, named
Juan, whom at first they loved
very much; but afterwards, either
because their extreme poverty
made it difficult for them to
support him, or because of his
wickedness and waywardness,
they began to hate him, and
made plans to kill him.
In order to carry out this
purpose, the father called his
son to him one evening, and
said: “My son, to-morrow we will
go to the mountain to get some
lumber with which to repair our
house. I want you to prepare
our breakfast very early, so that
we may set out before the sun
rises.”
On the next morning they arose
very early and ate their
breakfast. As it consisted only of
rice and a few small fishes, it was
soon finished, and they set out
for the mountain. When they
had arrived at a lonely spot, the
man seized his son and fastened
him to a large tree. Then he
took his bolo and cut down the
tree in such a way as to cause it
to fall on the boy and kill him.
Then he returned home, thinking
that he should have no more
trouble on account of his son.
Early the next morning, the man
heard a noise as of some one
approaching the house. On
opening a window he perceived
his son, whom he supposed he
had killed on the previous day,
coming towards the house and
bearing a heavy load of wood.
When the boy had come near he
asked where he should put the
wood. At first the father was too
much frightened to reply, but at
last he told his son to put the
wood down near the house.
For a long time Juan lived at
home, but his parents hated him
continually, and at last decided
to give him poison. One day they
sent him on a long trip, giving
him seven pieces of poisoned
bread for his food along the
way. When he had become
weary and hungry from walking,
he sat down under a tree and
began to open the handkerchief
to get from it some of the bread
to eat. Suddenly a number of
crows flew down from the tree,
seized the bread, ate it, and
almost immediately died. The
boy at once perceived the
intention of his parents and
returned home. As soon as he
arrived there, he declared to his
father and mother his intention
of leaving them and going
elsewhere to live. As soon as
they heard him, they were full of
joy, and readily gave him the
desired permission.
He went to a distant town, and
decided to study. He made such
progress that his teachers were
charmed with his diligence. He
was very fond of debates with his
schoolmates, and one day asked
them the following riddle: “Two
tried to kill one, one killed seven,
two were left, and one went
away.” They searched through
the books for the answer to the
riddle, but as they were unable
to find it, they agreed that Juan
was the cleverest one among
them, since they could not
answer his riddle.
One day the student met a
young lady to whom he gave the
riddle. She asked for a little time
in which to study it, and this
being granted, went home,
disguised herself as a young man
and, returning, asked Juan to tell
the answer to the riddle. “For I
know,” she said, “that many
students have tried to find the
solution of this riddle, but have
not been successful.” Juan finally
granted her request, and told
her the answer to the riddle,
which was the story of his life.
Then the young lady returned
home, put on her own clothes,
and went back to the student’s
house, to give him the answer to
his riddle. When Juan heard her
answer, he thought her a very
clever young woman, since she
had succeeded where so many
young men had failed, so he fell
in love with the young lady and
married her.