First Task

As planned, the King gathered all the suitors into the main courtyard for an announcement. Juan managed to sneak through the castle and stood back in the shadows. He watched the stage where both the King and Maria stood. The King called for attention,

"As you all know, my precious daughter is now of age to be married. Several of you have visited us over the years and know Maria has a mind about who she will or will not marry. She is strong and independent, and I only wish the best for her in life. Together, Maria and I decided last night how to choose one honorable suitor from the various contenders. We have determined three task that I believe will most effectively exhibit each one's true character. Whoever here can accomplish all three will earn my blessing to marry Maria. Still, the final decision is hers. With all that aside, I am sure you are ready to hear what the first task will be."

There were cheers and applause as the crowd anticipated the challenge from the King. Servants brought out two large barrels. One was full of pristine white sand, and the other barrel was full of rice. Large jars were set up by the barrels.

The King explained the setting before them. "To begin, our points of interest for this task are sand and rice. Each of you who wish to participate will be given two equal parts of sand and rice mixed together. Those who separate the rice and sand by tomorrow morning will progress to the next task. This task will show your determination and dedication to the princess."

After he stated this, the working people started mixing the rice and sand in equal portions. Each jar was filled with a mix of the white sand and rice. Soon, a line of suitors formed and the jars were handed out. Juan kept his head hidden below his hat as he accepted his jar.

With a wide grin, the King announced, "Now that everything has been distributed, you may begin!"

The men went rampant; some ran off to find a place to begin sorting while others started immediately on the ground of the courtyard. Juan took his jar to a place inside the castle where he knew he would not be disturbed, and he began his attempt at sorting. Several hours later, Princess Maria found him as this was a place they had often met. Juan looked up at her with despair as he had only gotten a quarter of the way through the jar.

He gently said, "Maria, I am trying, but I am not sure I will be able to finish separating everything. Every piece of sand is tiny, and there are so many pieces. If I cannot finish this, I will lose my chance to be with you forever." Now that night had dawned, the castle was quiet as exhaustion took numerous victims. With only a few hours until the morning, Maria could tell Juan was straining to stay awake. His hands trembled from the precise effort of separating each speck of sand from each grain of rice for so long. Maria took pity on him.

"Oh, poor Juan. Do not worry. Get some rest. Everything will be resolved in the morning." She cradled his head in her lap and stroked his soft curls until he fell into a deep slumber. When she knew him to be asleep, she continued his work for the next few hours. She knew she could not be found with him, so she left to her bedchambers with only half of the jar sorted. Desperate for Juan to pass, Maria prayed to the goddess Tala.

"Tala, goddess of the stars, you watch over us day and night from your high place in the sky. If you care for me, please help Juan complete his task before the morning. Or else, I may be forced to marry someone whom I do not love." With that, Maria was exhausted and went soundly to sleep.

Tala, startled to hear her name, looked down to who spoke it. She saw Maria sleeping and considered her request. Maria had never asked for much, so Tala did not see any harm in answering her prayer. She had grown to like Maria and wanted to help her. With a twirl of her fingers, the remainder of the jar sorted itself into the two piles of rice and sand.

A loud ruckus of people clamoring to assemble in the courtyard woke Juan. He awoke with a start, and first noticed Maria's absence. But, something did catch his eye. On the table sat two piles: one of rice and the other of white sand. Quickly, he put the piles in jars and joined the crowd in the courtyard.

Juan joined the line of suitors showing off their separated work. The King saw for the first time that Juan had entered the competition and looked at him with disdain. Juan had his jar checked off as completed and did his best to disappear into the mass of people. By the end of the strict analysis, only those with pure separation of rice and sand were allowed to move forward to the next task. Only half of the suitors had completed this first task and would compete the next day.

Author's Note: This story was based on the tale of "The Three Brothers" narrated by Gregorio Frondoso from Filipino Popular Tales by Fansler. In this story, there are three brothers whom are abandoned by their parents in the woods and have to make something of themselves. This storybook page is based on when Juan tries to court a princess. In the original story, Juan gets the princess's attention and speaks to her father about marrying her. The King gives Juan some tasks to complete. In order, the tasks are planting grain and producing a piece of bread from that seed the next morning, separating a jar of mongo, known as mung beans in English, and sand, and finding the King's lost golden ring in the sea. These tasks are nearly impossible on his own, but when Juan tells the princess of each task, the princess is miraculously able to help Juan complete each one which results in Juan being allowed to marry the princess.

I diverged from the original story slightly. I added in Tala, the star goddess to help explain how Maria was able to complete all of these impossible tasks for Juan. The ordering of the tasks did not seem to be in a progression of getting more difficult to me from the original story, so I changed how I wanted the tasks to happen. For the first task, I altered the beans to be rice, as I think white sand and white rice would be much harder to separate. In addition, I thought I could add more to the story by having several contestants compete at once to build up the competition. I did have Maria help Juan as he is the one she loves, and she does not want to marry any of the strange rich suitors.

Bibliography

The Three Brothers narrated by Gregorio Frondoso from Filipino Popular Tales by Fansler.