The Spider and the Fly

The Spider and the Fly

Ang kwento ng gagamba at ang langaw

This is a Visayan children's story. (The Visayan islands are in the central part of the Philippine archipelago.) This is one of those stories that explains why certain things in nature are the way they are. For example, why are spiders the mortal enemies of flies? 

Mr. Spider wanted to marry Miss Fly. Many times he told her of his love and begged her to become his wife, but she always refused for she did not like him.

One day when Miss Fly saw Mr. Spider coming again, she Fly closed all the doors and windows of her house and prepared a pot of boiling water. Then she waited, and when Mr. Spider called, begging her to allow him to enter, she answered by throwing boiling water at him. This made Mr. Spider very angry and he cried:

“I will never forgive you for this. I and my descendants will always despise you. We will never give you any peace.”

Mr. Spider kept his word, and even today one can see the hatred of the spider for the fly.