“You don’t mean what you say, cruel king,” answered the messengers. “You should not judge before the fight is over.”
“What fools, what fools!” exclaimed the king of the monkeys. “Go to your ruler and tell him my answer,” and he drove the poor little creatures away.
When the king of the dragon-flies received the reply, he immediately ordered his soldiers to go to the battle-field, but without anything to fight with. Meanwhile the monkeys came, each armed with a heavy stick. Then the monkey-king shouted, “Strike the flying creatures with your clubs!” When King Dragon heard this order, he commanded his soldiers to alight on the foreheads of their enemies. Then the monkeys began to strike at the dragon-flies, which were on the foreheads of their companions. The dragon-flies were very quick, and were not hurt at all: but the monkeys were all killed. Thus the light, quick-witted dragon-flies won the victory over the strong but foolish monkeys.
Notes.
A Visayan variant, “The Ape and the Firefly” (JAFL 20 : 314) shows the firefly making use of the same ruse the dragon-flies employ to get the monkeys to slay one another. The first part of this variant is connected with our [No. 60]. The “killing fly on head” incident we have already met with in [No. 9], in the notes to which I have pointed out Buddhistic parallels. It also occurs in [No. 60 (d)]. In a German story (Grimm, No. 68, “The Dog and the Sparrow”) the sparrow employs the same trick to bring ruin and death on a heartless wagoner who has cruelly run over the dog.
A closer analogue is the Celebes fable of “The Butterfly and the Ten Monkeys,” given in Bezemer, p. 292.
Our story belongs to the large cycle of tales in which is represented a war between the winged creatures of the air and the four-footed beasts. In these stories, as Grimm says in his notes to No. 102, “The Willow-Wren and the Bear,” “the leading idea is the cunning of the small creatures triumphing over the large ones .... The willow-wren is the ruler, for the saga accepts the least as king as readily as the greatest.” For the bibliography of the cycle and related cycles, see Bolte-Polívka, 1 : 517–519, and 2 : 435–438, to which add the “Latukika-jātaka,” No. 357, which tells how a quail brought about the destruction of an elephant that had killed her young ones. I am inclined to think that the Bicol and Visayan stories belonging to this group are native—at least, have not been derived through the Spanish.
I have another Visayan story, however, relating a war between the land and the air creatures, which may possibly have come from the Occident. It was narrated by José R. Cuadra, and runs thus:—
The Battle between the Birds and the Beasts.
A great discussion once took place between the lion, king of the land-animals, and the bat, king of the air-animals, over the relative strength of each. The lion claimed to be more powerful than the bat, while the bat claimed to be more powerful than the lion. The final outcome was a declaration of war. The lion then called a general meeting of all his subjects. Among them were tigers, leopards, elephants, carabaos, wolves, and other fierce land-animals. The carabao was appointed leader of the army. Each animal in turn made a speech to the king, promising a sure victory for him. At the same time the bat also called a general meeting of his subjects. There were present all kinds of birds and insects. The leadership of the army was given to the bees and the wasps. Early in the morning the two opposing armies were assembled on the battle-field. At a given signal the battle began. The land-animals tried to chase the air-animals, but in vain, for they could not leave the ground. The bees and wasps were busy stinging the eyes and bodies of their enemy. At last the land-animals retired defeated, because they could not endure longer their severe punishment.