I should like to go then and be gay with my friends,
So all that I wish is a light."



IV


"You shall have it at once," said the gratified King,
And he fastened a light to the fly,
Who straightway returned to his home with the prize
That was worth more than money could buy.
So now you can see him at night with his light
And from him this lesson may learn:
To keep your eyes open and see the least thing,
And Fortune will come in its turn.




Mangita and Larina

This is a tale told in the lake district of Luzon. At times of rain
or in winter the waters of the Laguna de Bai rise and detach from the
banks a peculiar vegetation that resembles lettuce. These plants,
which float for months down the Pasig River, gave rise, no doubt,
to the story.

Many years ago there lived on the banks of the Laguna de Bai a poor
fisherman whose wife had died, leaving him two beautiful daughters