Lucas did not know
how to thank them. He gave a banquet in honor of these two men. After
the feast was over, Lucas told his friends every detail of all that
had happened to him, how he had lent the lead, how his wife had found
the stone in the fish, and how a rich man had bought it for twenty
thousand pesos.
Luis was now convinced that Lucas was honest, and had told the truth
on former occasions. Lucas lived in his big house happily and in
peace with his wife and children.
Notes.
These two Tagalog stories are probably derived from the same ultimate
source; the second, "Lucas the Rope-Maker," being very much closer to
the original. That source is the "History of Khevajah Hasan al-Habbal"
in the "Arabian Nights Entertainments" (see Burton's translation,
Supplemental Nights, III : 341-366). There is also a Tagalog literary
version of this story,--"Life of a Rope-maker in the Kingdom of
Bagdad," by Franz Molteni. I have at present no copy of this chap-book;
but the work may safely be dated 1902-05, as those were the years in
which Molteni published. This story follows faithfully the "Arabian
Nights" tale.
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