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Are prose narratives primarily told for

amusement and individual entertainment

and instructional value, dealing withevents set in an indefinite time and

place.

Bascom They are not considered as

dogma or history, they may or may nothave happened, and they are not to be

taken seriously.

Classified into animal tales or fables,magic tales or (numskull tales and

trickster tales), novelistic tales, religious

and didactic tales.

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1. Fables or Animal tales- are short talesgenerally involving animals which convey amessage of virtue.

2. Magic tales- also called fairy tales ormarchen are stories of fantasy and wonder.

- these are told mainly to entertain, mayalso teach a lesson, the most universal one,the idea of the all- pervading power of loveand the reward for kindness and the

punishment for wickedness.3. Humorous tales- are subdivided into

numskull or noodle- head tales andtrickster tales.

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a. Numskull tales- recount the funny,amusing, odd occasionally heart- rending,clumsy acts of a ridiculous person.

- The crowd is usually moved to sympathy orannoyance or both over the anti herosmisfortunes and follies, which bring disasterupon himself.

- a flat or static character in numskull talespresents the fool who takes things to theletter.

- sometimes it may also prove himself to be a

smart or shrewd character, or a trickster.b. Trickster tales- may narrate thefoolishness of a central character who cheatsor plays tricks on the other people.

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- the trickster may be a human or an animal.

To come out victorious in every adventure,

he may use sweet talk, subterfuge,

substitution, or sleigh-of-hand.

4. Novelistic tales- also called NOVELLAS are a

subtype of the folktale. Unlike magic tales or

fairy tales, human wit and common sense,

rather than magic powers make for the maleor female hero.

5. Religious and didactic tales- are called

miracles tales. They are mainly told to

illustrate the rewards of goodness and the

punishment for evil.

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One day Juan's father sent him to get

some ripe guavas, for a number of the

neighbors had come in and he wanted to give

them something to eat.

Juan went to the guava bushes and ate

all the fruit he could hold, and then he

decided to play a joke on his father's guests

instead of giving them a feast of guavas. Awasp's nest hung near by. With some

difficulty he succeeded in taking it down and

putting it into a tight basket that he had

brought for the fruit. He hastened home andgave the basket to his father, and then as he

left the room where the guests were seated

he closed the door and fastened it.

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As soon as Juan's father opened the

basket the wasps flew over the room; and

when the people found the door locked they

fought to get out of the windows. After a

while Juan opened the door, and when he

saw the swollen faces of the people, he

cried.

"What fine, rich guavas you must have

had! They have made you all so fat!"

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One day when a monkey was climbing a

tree in the forest in which he lived, he ran a

thorn into his tail. Try as he would, he could

not get it out, so he went to a barber in thetown and said: "Friend Barber, I have a thorn in

the end of my tail. Pull it out, and I will pay

you well." The barber tried to pull out the thorn

with his razor, but in doing so he cut off theend of the tail. The monkey was very angry and

cried: "Barber, Barber, give me back my tail, or

give me your razor!"

The barber could not put back the end ofthe monkey's tail, so he gave him his razor. On

the way home the monkey met an old woman

who was cutting wood for fuel, and he said to

her:

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"Grandmother, Grandmother, that is very hard.

Use this razor and then it will cut easily." The

old woman was very pleased with the offer

and began to cut with the razor, but beforeshe had used it long it broke. Then the monkey

cried: "Grandmother, Grandmother, you have

broken my razor! You must get a new one for

me or else give me all the firewood." The oldwoman could not get a new razor so she gave

him the firewood.

The monkey took the wood and was going

back to town to sell it, when he saw a womansitting beside the road making cakes.

"Grandmother, Grandmother," said he, "your

wood is most gone; take this of mine and bake

more cakes."

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The woman took the wood and thanked

him for his kindness, but when the last stick

was burned, the monkey cried out:

"Grandmother, Grandmother, you have burned

up all my wood! Now you must give me all

your cakes to pay for it." The old woman could

not cut more dry wood at once, so she gave

him all the cakes.

The monkey took the cakes and started

for the town, but on the way he met a dog

which bit him so that he died. And the dog ateall the cakes.