23 h 35 minAudiobook7 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at costPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
What if quick wit could outmatch wealth and power, and a slow turtle could answer a monkey’s tricks?
In Filipino Popular Tales, edited by Dean Spruill Fansler, clever tricksters, talking animals, kings, princes, and ordinary people share the stage. These folk stories come from several peoples and languages of the Philippines. Wit and luck offer ways through trouble, even when someone else holds the power.
Meet Juan Pusong, who thinks his way out of trouble, and a monkey and turtle who quarrel and cheat each other. Alongside the tales, Fansler’s introduction and comparative notes explore connections with stories from other lands. The collection brings the islands’ rich oral tradition into view without reducing it to a single story.
What you’ll discover
- Wit against power Follow Juan Pusong as quick thinking helps him outsmart people with greater wealth or power.
- A quarrel of animals Watch a clever turtle answer a boastful monkey’s cheating with tricks of his own.
- A rogue in trouble Meet Pedro de Ordimalas, a rogue who lives by his wits through mischief.
- Stories across the islands Explore tales from different Philippine peoples and languages, with ordinary people beside kings and princes.
- Threads beyond the Philippines Let Fansler’s introduction and notes guide you toward connections with tales from other lands.
Who will love it
Readers who love folk tales, tricksters and talking animals, and anyone curious how one story travels between India, Europe and the Philippine islands.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- Students wrote down tales their elders told
- Quick wits can beat kings and rich men
- Small strong boys outgrow their cruel parents
- Odd objects help weak heroes bluff giants
- Clever women answer a king's impossible demands
- Magic objects bring wives but invite thieves
- Animals settle quarrels with wit, not strength
- Why-stories explain the world with a wink
- The notes trace roads from India, Europe and home
Who’s who
- SuanA quick-witted boy who pretends to see hidden things and risks his head for a princess.
- CarancalA tiny boy with a huge appetite and great strength whose parents cannot afford to feed him.
- MarcelaA clever young woman who answers a king's absurd orders with equally absurd conditions.
- Juan PusongA crooked, poor farmer whose monkey friend promises him a royal wedding in thanks for his mercy.
- ChonguitaA monkey princess married to a prince, who must pass the king's tests of her skill.
- TurtleA small, patient animal who outwits a selfish monkey and the monkeys' court.
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- Audiobook
- 23 h 35 min, complete, read by Lucas Linden.
- 15-minute summary
- The key ideas in about 7 minutes, to read or to hear.
- Paperback
- 6 × 9 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Hardcover
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- Large print paperback
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Large print hardcover
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Contes populaires philippins
by Dean Spruill Fansler (éditeur) · 1921
Suan skips school and spies from a tree, then amazes his mother by naming her market purchases.
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In short
Suan hides in a tree to spy on his mother's shopping, then lets her believe he can guess anything. A datu soon asks him to find his daughter's ring, and Suan relies on a bluff.
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
Students wrote down tales their elders told
Dean Spruill Fansler gathers tales collected between 1908 and 1914. The tales are recorded in English, and most entries name the teller, the town and the province. Fansler chose hero tales, animal fables and why-stories, and mostly left out myths and spirit stories.
A Pampangan woman's tale sits beside one from a Tagalog in Manila, a Bicol on Catanduanes and an Ilocano from La Union. Many tellers say they heard the story from a grandmother, a nurse or a servant. After many tales comes a block of notes that sets the story beside versions from India, Europe, Africa and Borneo.
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What is Filipino Popular Tales about?
It is a collection of folk tales told across the Philippines, including trickster stories, hero tales, animal fables and why-stories. Most name their tellers, and the notes compare stories with similar tales in other lands.
Who collected these stories and when?
Dean Spruill Fansler edits tales gathered between 1908 and 1914. Filipino students wrote them down in English, usually naming the teller, the town and the province.
Are these stories native Filipino or borrowed?
The notes say it is mixed. Some tales, such as the blind man and the lame man, look Indian. Others look European. The editor tries to judge each case and admits when the evidence is thin.
The author
Dean Spruill Fansler
American folklorist
Dean Spruill Fansler is the scholar behind Filipino Popular Tales, a collection first published in 1921 that gathered folk stories, fables, and legends from oral tradition across the Philippines.
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