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The
Blind Man and the Hunchback
( Tagalog ) |
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| There was once a blind
man and a hunchback who were the best of friends. One
day, these two came upon a tall coconut tree. |
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| "I think I suddenly
have a craving for coconut," the hunchback declared. |
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| "Huh? What are
you talking about?" said the blind man. He did
not see the tree, or the luscious fruits high above.
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| "Just wait here,"
said the hunchback "There is a coconut tree nearby.
I am going to try and climb up to the very top. As you
cannot catch the fruits I will have to throw down, just
wait here and count aloud the number of fruits you hear
falling to the ground. After I get all the fruits from
the tree, we will share." |
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| The
blind man agreed. The hunchback shinnied up the coconut
tree, but the hump on his shoulders was dragging him
down, and once he got halfway up the tree his grip loosened
and he fell to the ground.
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| The hump on his shoulders
touched the ground with a loud THUD! The blind man,
grinning at what he thought was his friend’s good
fortune at being able to pick an unusually heavy coconut,
shouted "One!" |
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| The hunchback was
disgruntled, but he said nothing. He shinnied up the
tree again. But, like before, he got halfway up the
tree and fell back down. |
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| "Two!" the
blind man shouted gleefully. |
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| The hunchback was
getting rather frustrated, and annoyed at what he thought
was stupidity on the part of his best friend. But he
said nothing. In a final, angry effort, he hitched himself
up the tree, and almost got to the top this time, but
didn’t quite make it. |
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| Down, down the hunchback
went, and never before had the blind man heard such
a loud THUD! from a coconut. |
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| "Three!"
the blind man shouted, and was astonished to suddenly
feel his face being bashed in. |
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| The blind man staggered
back. He did not notice it, but the hunchback had hit
him in the face so hard that his sight had returned.
He only retaliated by kicking his friend on the back
so strongly that the hump was suddenly pushed back in!
When the two recovered from their fits and realized
that they had cured themselves, they became friends
again, and resolved immediately that they did not care
that much for coconut anyway. |
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