The Little Folk
Legend from the Bikolano People
Once a little boy lived with his mother near a forest. His mother was old and poor and she could not give her son enough food. The boy helped his mother by gathering firewood and selling the wood for fuel in the town. This little boy was Jose. One afternoon, Jose went to the woods together firewood. He was alone. He worked hard and fast so he got many bundles of wood. He put the bundle of firewood on his back. He had not gone far when he heard a sound that seemed to be like the beating of drums. He also heard sounds of distant horns. Jose stopped to listen. Then he heard many footsteps. Suddenly he saw a strange parade coming up the path. He hid behind some thick bushes. He peeped through the leaves and waited for the parade to pass. How he trembled as a strange parade passed by him. He saw many little men with long beards and black caps walking one after the other. Jose knew that these were not people, but tiny folk of the forest from the old men of the village used to call "weeds of the earth" or dwendi[1]. He knew also it is not good to harm these folks, because any one [sic] who would harm them would be sick and will not get well. The dwarfs would make him suffer. The dwarfs did not see Jose, because their eyes were fixed on the path before them and they were also busy playing on their way. Some of the dwarfs were very small. The rest of them had heavy bags on their backs. The last dwarf came along. He looked as if the bag which he carried was too heavy for him. This dwarf did not know that a thorn on the path had torn a hole in the bag. The dwarf did not seem to notice what had happened, but Jose saw something dropped out of the hole in the bag. And the dwarfs were out of sight, Jose stepped out of his hiding place and looked to see what had fallen off the bag. What do you think he saw? He saw several pieces of old gold coins. He quickly put these in his buri hat and ran home to his mother, forgetting the firewood. He gave the pieces of gold and precious stones to his mother. How glad his mother was! They have become rich. And his mother left the village and went to the big town where they bought a new home. They both lived happily the rest of their lives. From Philippine Folk Literature Series: Vol. III, The Legends (2002), compiled and edited by Damiana L. Eugenio, published by The University of the Philippines Press (shopee, amazon)
Mod's Annotations
This is just a different spelling from the word "dwende".
"Buri Hats" is another way to call "Buntal Hats", straw hats made out of buri or corypha palm leaves. These hats are traditionally used by farmers but more formal looking hats resembling a fedora had since been made and was once a common export in the 20th century.
