A Philippine Folklore

Juan and the

Rice Cakes
Adopted from an Old Folktale
Teresita Arcos - Surot

St. Thomas More Montessori SchooL

 Part of the Philippine folklore are various tales about Juan Tamad, a caricature of
the lazy and foolish, but at times witty country dweller. Each tale presents a clean
comedy, which creates unforgettable and now almost immortal comic character.

Juan and the Rice Cakes is one of the many famous adventures of Juan Tamad,
being adapted for a play.
Narrator: The sun is already up, and Juan’s mother has finished cooking and preparing the rice cakes which
she wanted Juan to sell to the marketplace in the town, but Juan is still glued on his bed.

Mother: Get up, Juan, and sell these rice cakes in town.

Narrator: As expected, it is hard to wake up someone who is already awake. Juan refuses to rise from his
bed.

Juan: But Mother, the sun is up, and it is too hot outside. I’ll surely have a headache again.

Mother: Precisely, the sun is up, and you should be out on the streets selling these rice cakes and not
sleeping at this time of the day.
Juan: ( tries to cover his head with a blanket ) But, Mother, I can’t. . .

Mother: ( removes the blanket and pulls Juan’s hand to force him to rise ) Enough of your excuses. ( rolls
up a piece of rag and coils it into a round pad and sets it on Juan’s head and upon the pad she
places the heavy basket of rice cakes ) Now, move along before I lose my patience.

( grumbles to himself ) What a way to begin the day.

Juan:

Narrator: The sun grows warmer and warmer as Juan trudges town ward with the rice cakes. Now and then,
he stops to rest under a bamboo or soak his feet in the cool river or eat a rice cake or two. Soon the
sun is dipping in the west and frogs are croaking in the rice paddies.
 Ko – kak Ko – kak Ko – kak.
Frogs:

Juan: ( turns to the frog ) Yes, yes, yes, I will come back for the payment next week.

Frogs: Ko – kak Ko – kak Ko - kak

Narrator: And with that, Juan flings what remained of the rice cakes into a paddy and sets off home. As
soon as he enters the house, he says…

Juan: I sold the cakes, Mother, but the buyers will pay next week.

Narrator: Juan’s mother believes him, but the next week and the following weeks, Juan says the same story
again. Finally, Juan’s mother loses all patience and, tucking the corners of her overskirt into her
waist, says to Juan. . .
Mother: Lead me to your shameless creditors!

Narrator: So, Juan leads her to the rice paddies and pointing at the frogs, says. . .

Juan: Here are the customers, mother.

Narrator: And the mother soars into a rage and nags and scolds her son all the way home. Never again did
she send Juan to town to sell rice cakes.

~ END~
 Answer the following questions.

1) The play you have just read, is an adaptation from an old Filipino folktale. It gives a
picture of a foolish boy at his age. Do you think people like Juan still exist nowadays?
Can you give an example?

2) What could be the reason why Juan had difficulty understanding his mother and
exercising his good judgement?

3) Have you ever experienced a similar event when you were not able to follow a
simple direction and later did something funny and foolish? Kindly share your
experience.
4) What should you do, when someone is giving you an order or direction? Why?

5) What moral lesson have you learned from the selection?