A second time the turtle called, and this time the man looked everywhere in the house except under the shell, but could not find the turtle.  Again and again the turtle called, and finally the man, realizing that all his attempts were unsuccessful, grew so excited that he died.

Then the turtle ran out of the house, and he had not gone far before he met the lizard again.  They walked along together until they saw some honey in a tree, and the turtle said: 

“I will go first and get some of the honey.”

The lizard would not wait, but ran ahead, and when he seized the honey, the bees came out and stung him.  So he ran back to the turtle for help.

After a while they came to a bird snare, and the turtle said: 

“That is the silver wire that my grandfather wore about his neck.”

Then the lizard ran fast to get it first, but he was caught in the snare and was held until the man came and killed him.  Then the wise turtle went on alone.

The Man with the Cocoanuts

Tinguian

One day a man who had been to gather his cocoanuts loaded his horse heavily with the fruit.  On the way home he met a boy whom he asked how long it would take to reach the house.

“If you go slowly,” said the boy, looking at the load on the horse, “you will arrive very soon; but if you go fast, it will take you all day.”

The man could not believe this strange speech, so he hurried his horse.  But the cocoanuts fell off and he had to stop to pick them up.  Then he hurried his horse all the more to make up for lost time, but the cocoanuts fell off again.  Many times he did this, and it was night when he reached home. [90]

The Carabao and the Shell

Tinguian

One very hot day, when a carabao went into the river to bathe, he met a shell and they began talking together.

“You are very slow,” said the carabao to the shell.

“Oh, no,” replied the shell.  “I can beat you in a race.”

“Then let us try and see,” said the carabao.

So they went out on the bank and started to run.

After the carabao had gone a long distance he stopped and called,
“Shell!”

And another shell lying by the river answered, “Here I am!”

Then the carabao, thinking that it was the same shell with which he was racing, ran on.

By and by he stopped again and called, “Shell!”

Again another shell answered, “Here I am!”

The carabao was surprised that the shell could keep up with him.  But he ran on and on, and every time he stopped to call, another shell answered him.  But he was determined that the shell should not beat him, so he ran until he dropped dead. [91]

The Alligator’s Fruit