The Monkey and the Tortoise / Ang Buhay ni Matsing at ni Pagong
Illustrated by José Rizal
(Tagalog translation by Federico B. Sebastian) Bilingual (English-Tagalog) version with sketches
The tortoise and the monkey found once a banana tree floating amidst the waves of a river. It was a very fine tree, with large green leaves, and with roots, just as if it had been pulled off by a storm. They took it ashore.
Let us divide it
, said the tortoise, and plant each its portion.
They cut it in the middle, and the monkey, as the stronger, took for himself the upper part of the tree,
Isang araw, ang matsing at ang pagong ay nakakita ng punong saging na lumulutang sa maalong tubig ng ilog. Ito’y isang magandang puno, may malalaki’t luntiang dahon, at may mga ugat pang wari’y kabubuwal lamang pagkatapos ng bagyo. Iniahon nila sa pampang ang punong saging. Ito ay hatiin natin
, ang sabi ng pagong, at saka itanim.
Pinutol nila ang punong saging sa gitna. Ang matsing ay higit na malakas kaysa pagong kaya naari niyang kunin ang gawing dulo,