The rooster immediately urged Juan,
“Reach for the crisp fruit!”
“But my arm feels tired,” said Juan.
“I will just open my mouth
And wait for the fruit to fall!”

Several afternoons passed. Juan, open-mouthed,
Waited for his favorite fruit.
Until the guava became fully ripe.

Already full of craving, Juan stood up
And reached for the fruit. To his great surprise,
The guava was already full of holes.
“The Maya birds beat me to it!”

Even his rooster was amazed.
“What could Juan have eaten?
Could it be that my lazy friend
Has changed?”

Juan was lively, and was even swinging his arms
As he hurried towards the market.
“Can I buy some crabs?”
I want those with fleshy claws and lots of fat!”
The plump vendor chose the biggest ones
And tied then up well.

Juan was lively, and was even swinging his arms
As he hurried home,
Carrying the wriggling crabs.

From a distance, he could hear his friends playing
Near the riverbank. They were happily shouting
As they played with paper boats.

Juan wanted to join the fun.
“What about the crabs?” asked the rooster
“Crabs are smart,” said Juan.
“They can easily get to our place!
Don’t worry, I will carefully teach them
The way to our house.”

Juan released the crabs.
They quickly got into the water.
“See! They even found a shorter route!”

Lazy Juan played by the riverbank
Until it was noon.
His stomach was grumbling
As he hurried home.

“Where are the crabs, Juan?”
His mother was so angry.
“What took you so long? Where are the crabs?”

“I sent them home earlier, Mother.
Perhaps the crabs I bought were truants!”

Lazy Juan was so scared that he quickly hid
In their backyard. His rooster just shook its head and said:
“One can never rely on a lazy child.
It is better to be industrious than lazy!”

Even if the sun was already up high, Juan would still be snoring in bed. He could not be relied on to work inside and outside their home. Whenever he was asked to do something, Juan would have an excuse. “My feet hurt, Mother,” he would say when asked to fetch water from the jar. “My hands are numb, “he would say when asked to wash dishes. So Juan would end up sitting around the whole afternoon.

Every afternoon, Juan would lie down under the tree and just gape around. “When will you change?”

Even their pet rooster would wonder. “Why are you so lazy, Juan?”

Source: Lampara Books (Manila, Philippines)

]]> http://www.juantamad.com/juan-tamad-lazy-john/feed 0 http://www.juantamad.com/juan-tamad-courts-mariang-masipag http://www.juantamad.com/juan-tamad-courts-mariang-masipag#comments Sun, 22 Mar 2009 03:59:36 +0000 http://www.juantamad.com/?p=95 Love comes to anyone in an unexpected moment.

Love struck lightning-like the lazy heart of Juan Tamad when he saw the beauteous maid, Mariang Masipag. Every day he came to see her and followed with his eyes her busy hands and feet that never stopped at their tasks from early morn to dusk.

“Every day you come here, Juan Tamad, and lie around making eyes at my daughter,” said the mother of Mariang Masipag, “and eating our food and drinking our tuba. Yet, you cut no firewood nor draw water from the well. You good-for-nothing lout with bones as soft as rice gruel! Be off with you and never set food in our yard again!”

Juan Tamad went away without a word but was back the next day, his arms loaded with big banana leaves. These he laid down carefully one by one from the field into the yard of Maria’s house.

The mother of Mariang Masipag stood watching at the head of the stairs until she could bear her curiosity no more and exclaimed, “What in the name of the dark one are you doing with those banana leaves? And didn’t I tell you never to set foot in our yard again?”

 “I’m not stepping on any part of ground in your yard,” said Juan, “for as you see, my feet touch only the banana leaves.”

“What manner of woman shall I bring home, mother?” said Juan.

“A woman of few words,” said the mother of Juan. So Juan went off in search of a wife and he went east and he went west but everywhere he went the women talked too much.

Finally, he came to a lonely house in the woods where, he was told, lived an old woman and her daughter.

“Tao po…” called Juan at the gate; but no one answered. He ventured into the yard and again called out—

“Tao po…” and still no one answered. He climbed the bamboo steps into the house and found a young girl lying upon a mat on the floor.

“Will you be my wife?” asked Juan. The maiden stared at him but said not a word.

“Ah!” said Juan, “you are the very wife my mother wants for me,” and he lifted the girl in his arms and took her home.

“Oh! You wretched boy!” cried the mother of Juan at sight of Juan’s bride. “You have brought my house enmity and bad luck, for surely at this very hour they are looking for this corpse and heaven help you when they find it here!”

No sooner had the mother of Juan spoken than the relatives of the dead girl arrived and fell to beating Juan with sticks and calling him the worst names. After which they took the corpse away to give it a burial.