The Indolent Husband (folklore)

The Indolent Husband is a Bikolano folklore penned by Damiana Eugenio in her book Philippine Folk Literature: The Folktales

in 2002. It is a part of The Indolent Husband Universe. A version narrated by Gregorio Frondoso is available online.

A game titled The Father's Riddles is be available on the Windows OS and MacOS. It is a continuation of the The Indolent Husband which will center on Alejo and Barbara's youngest son, Samuwel. It takes place fifteen (15) years after the events of the story.

Full story of The Indolent Husband by Damiana Eugenio.

Characters

 * Alejo is the husband of Barbara and father to their children. He is inherently lazy but loves his family dearly. He is also slightly naive. He was gifted the purse, goat, table and cane by The Old Man, which he used to change his and his family's lives.
 * Barbara is the wife of Alejo and mother to their children. She is the breadwinner of their family. She is shrewish and often nags at Alejo. She is very skeptical but is also forgiving an understanding.
 * The Deceitful Couple are friends of Alejo and Barbara. They took advantage of Alejo's naivety and took The Old Man's gifts from Alejo. They are eventually found out and they return the gifts to Alejo.
 * The Old Man is the one who gave the gifts to Alejo. Not much is known about his intentions nor motivations. He remains a mystery in The Indolent Husband Universe.

Plot Summary
In the village of Higranoy in Tigaon, Camarines Sur, there lived Alejo, his wife Barbara, and their children. Alejo is inherently lazy and does not do any work, only depending on Barbara as the breadwinner. Although he is a freeloader, he loves his family dearly and is affectionate towards them. However, Barbara gets annoyed and exasperated with Alejo and frequently berates hum. Alejo eventually gets fed up with his wife always berating him and he decides to leave their home, partly to get away from Barbara, and partly to seek his fortune. On his journey, he encounters an old man, a hunchback, at an old tree by the riverbank and shares his troubles. The Old Man, in return, gives him a purse, and tells him to utter magic words, and money will come out from the purse. Alejo thanks the old man and journeys back home to show his family. He makes a detour to his friends' house, a couple, and shares to them the good fortune he has encountered. The couple, devious, fools Alejo and replaces the purse with a fake one, taking the real one for themselves. When Alejo arrives at his home and shows his wife the fake purse, she gets infuriated and kicks him out of the house. Alejo returns to The Old Man and tells him what has happened. The Old Man gifts him a goat that can once more, manifest money. Once more, Alejo drops by his friends' house, and when he goes home to Barbara to show her the goat, the magic does not work. This cycle repeats when The Old Man gives Alejo a table that can conjure food. For the last time, The Old Man gives Alejo a cane as a gift and advises him to utter magic words. Alejo goes home, directly this time, and tells Barbara to call all their friends and relatives because he is going to hold a banquet. When everyone was present, including The Deceitful Couple, Alejo says the magic words and the cane suddenly begins whipping The Deceitful Couple. The couple subsequently promises Alejo to return all of the items they have taken. Alejo tells the cane to stop and he gets back the purse, goat and table. From then on, Alejo and his family lived a happy, rich life.