THE IGNORANT POOR MAN AND THE PRIEST

A BIKOL FOLKTALE

Once there was a man who went to church on Sunday. For the first time in his life, he heard the

priest say: “Brethren, pray earnestly, and in your prayers ask Him anything you want. If you ask

him in earnest. He will give you what you ask.”

The man committed whist sentence to memory, and since he was very poor, he made up his

mind to ask God for some money. He went to church every day and prayed devoutly. His player

was a follows.

“Oh, God! I ask Three to give me one hundred pesos. If you should give me less than that

amount even a centavo less, I will not get it, for I need one hundred pesos. You have said that

anyone who asks Thee earnestly will receive what he asks for. My God, hear my prayer. “The

man repeated the above prayer many times while kneeling, and when he got tired he retired.

Some months elapsed, and the man went to church daily. The priest began to take an interest in

him.

One day the priest woke up early and hid himself near the place where the man was wont to

kneel. He was surprised to hear the prayer of the man. He then decided to see whether the man

was true to his word or not. The next day, he put ninety pesos near the place where the man

used to kneel, and watched whether or not the man would get the money since it was ten pesos

less then what he asked for.

When the man arrived, he took up the money, and began to count the silver pieces. When he

had finished he said. “Oh, good God. I thank thee for hearing my prayers. But i asked you for

one hundred pesos. I also said that i would not get any amount less than that sum. But since i

am in need, i wll get this with a happy heart, and remember, O God, that you still owe me ten

pesos more.” As this man was accustomed to saying his prayer very loud, when he uttered the

last sentence of his prayer the priest burst into laughter, where upon the man pocketed the

money and went home.