King Ferdinand and the Tale of the Adarna

Based on a 19 th Century Filipino Epic known as Korrido at Buhay

Pinagdaanan ng Tatlong Prinsipeng Mafkakapatid na anak ni Haring

Ferado at ni Reyna Valeriana sa Kahariang Berbanya. (Corrido and Life

Lived by the Three Princes, children of King Ferando and Queen

Valeriana in the Kingdom of Berbania)

Once there was a king of Barbania, whose name was Ferdinand, and he

had three sons with his wife, Queen Valeriana. Their names were Don

Pedro, Don Diego and Don Juan and like many parents, although they

may not admit it, King Ferdinand had a favourite son. In this case, the

favourite was the youngest son, Juan and as it often the case, the other

two brothers were jealous of the ‘golden child.’

The King was aware of the tensions between the princes and one night

he had a dream that that Pedro and Diego planned to kill Juan due to

their jealousy by throwing him into a deep, deep well. As a result of his

dream, King Ferdinand became ill and could not shake the feeling that

his favourite child was in danger.

Worried for the King, his medical advisors were sent for, and they

advised the King that only the song of the Adarna bird could heal his

ailments.

Determined to get well, the King sent his eldest son, Don Pedro out to

capture the Adarna and return with it to heal his father. Don Pedro failed

spectacularly in this task. He may have made it as fair as Mount Tabor

and the Tree of Piedras where the Adarna had its nest, but his quest

ended there.

The Adarna can sing seven songs, and these songs can either put a

person to sleep, cure them of their illness or, if a person is unlucky, the

Adarna can also turn a person to stone in a way that is … well ….

Unpleasant and probably humiliating for the individual when found!

Don Pedro found this out when after failing to catch the Adarna bird, it

began to sing one of its songs which caused Don Pedro to fall deeply

asleep. The Adarna then defecated on the sleeping Don Pedro turning

him to stone … (as a side note to this story if you ever see a statue

covered in bird mess, take care as you never know what may be in the

area!!!!)

As Don Pedro did not return, the King sent out his middle son, Don

Deigo to find his brother and to capture the bird. Unfortunately for Don

Deigo, his fate was the same as his elder brother.

Although he was reluctant, King Ferdinand had no choice but to send

out his favourite son, Don Juan to look for his missing brothers and to

attempt to capture the Adarna bird to cure his ailing father. Don Juan set

off on his quest and whilst on the road, he passed a hermit. It is worth

noting that the same hermit had passed both Don Pedro and Don Deigo,

but they had been rude to the old man as he was just a scruffy nobody in

their eyes.

As is the case in many folktales, the lesson here is never to insult the old

hermit or the old crone that you pass on your journey as it is almost a

certainty that they are the key to surviving whatever quest you are on!

This is the first rule of folklore quests!!!

Don Juan was a better man than his brothers in so many ways and so

he showed his good manners and upbringing by talking to the hermit

and asking for his advice. Impressed with the young prince, the hermit

offered his wisdom. Unfortunately, advice was not a simple walk in the

park and was not without pain, but it was better Don Juan decided then

being defecated on and turned into a statue.

The hermit gave Don Juan a knife, a Dayap lime (to eat? I am not clear

on this as the stories vary) and instructed him to cut into arms. He was

also provided Don Juan a Calamansi (a hybrid between a Kumquat and

a Mandarin Orange for anyone not up on your citrus) and told him to rub

the juice of the fruit into the cuts. This would prevent him from meeting

the fate of his brothers!

The stinging pain helped to keep Don Juan from falling asleep and after

the Adarna had sung his seventh song, it fell asleep and Don Juan was

able to tie a golden thread given to him by the helpful hermit around its

leg, which gave him control of the Adarna.

The hermit told him that if he wished to turn his brothers back, he could

do so by pouring water over them. Don Juan was a good man and so he

did not think twice about turning his brothers back to themselves – a

kindness that would bite him later on!

Seeing that their younger brother had managed to do what they had not,

Don Pedro and Don Deigo were furious, and their jealousy increased.

Their pride would not allow them to return back to their father and admit

that their younger brother had not only captured the Adarna but had

rescued them from being statues covered in bird poop!

On their journey home, the King’s dream became reality when the two

older brothers beat their younger sibling and threw him into a well before

returning to the palace with the Adarna and denying all knowledge of the

fate of their younger brother.

However, whilst the brothers should have been victorious about their

return, there was a problem. You see the Adarna will only sing for the

one who captured it, and Don Juan was currently at the bottom of a well.

The Adarna remained silent, and the King remained ill.

Don Juan was saved once again by the hermit who healed him from his

wounds and, once he was able to travel, Don Juan returned to the

palace. As soon as Don Juan walked into the room, the Adarna began to

sing.

It sang two songs that day; the first song healed the King of his ailments,

and the second song described in detail the events that had led up to

Don Juan’s return, including his brothers’ jealousy and the attack which

led to poor Don Juan ending up at the bottom of a well.

King Ferdinand was furious at the treatment of his favourite son, and he

was determined to put his treacherous sons to death.

(Writers note – I had discovered more than one ending for this part of the

story so I will present you with them both.)

Don Juan once again showed the world he was a good man, and he

asked his father to spare his brothers. Instead, the King gave Don Pedro

and Don Deigo the responsibility of guarding the Adarna for three hours

every day, which in the scheme of things is a lot better than death but

still the petty princes were angry at their treatment.

Don Pedro, because he is the epitome of an awful older brother,

managed to convince Don Deigo to convince Don Juan that the Adarna

had escaped during his watch and, because he is a good younger

brother, Don Juan immediately sets off to find the bird before his dad

discovers it is missing. Due to the fact that they always get caught, we

are assuming that the two older siblings are not very bright, and the truth

came out. The King was now determined to banish the brothers, but

again Don Juan stepped in and, because if he was not there, his

brothers would have no one to be jealous off he left the kingdom to

explore the world and track down the Adarna bird.

Ending 2 - Don Juan begged his father to spare his bothers and instead

of death, banish them from the Kingdom. Don Pedro and Don Diego

were banished, and peace and happiness spread around the Kingdom

… well at least for a little while and this is not the end of Don Juan’s

story and his scheming, jealous brothers!