A sourced illustration has not yet been added. This gap is included in the coverage record.

Overview

Piriang’s devil fiancé belongs to the Pampango tale supplied by José Laki through his uncle and an older storyteller, printed in Fansler’s 1921 collection. Hearing Piriang say that she would rather marry a devil than an unwanted suitor, he appears as a richly dressed young nobleman. His request that she remove her cross arouses suspicion. Acting on a priest’s advice, her mother displays a Marian image: both the fiancé and his companion turn away.

The mother binds the fiancé with her holy belt, while Piriang whips him with a dried sting-ray tail. They confine him in a jar covered with cloth wetted with holy water; the companion disappears. A hired carrier agrees to bury the jar deeply but accepts money from its prisoner in exchange for a shallow burial. After gambling away successive payments, he threatens harsher confinement. The devil offers a new bargain: he will possess a princess and leave when the carrier arrives, enabling the supposed healer to marry her.

Once free, the devil instead refuses to leave the princess, seeking revenge on the carrier, who faces execution if his cure fails. The man orders bells and shouting, then tells the spirit that Piriang’s mother is coming with her belt. Terrified, the devil departs, and the man marries the recovered princess. This is a specific comic religious folktale involving Catholic objects and a locally named protective animal part; it supplies neither a general exorcism procedure nor a diagnosis of real illness.

Human nobleman disguiseConfined in a jarTreasure bargainsPossession and fear of a former captor
01

Origins & earliest records

Philippines; José Laki of Guagua, Pampanga; from his uncle, who heard an older Pampango storyteller

02

Records & interpretation

Complete tale and shared comparative notes read in the retained 1921-edition transcription.

Selected bibliography

Documented works and useful reading. This is not a list of every appearance.

  1. 01

    Filipino Popular Tales

    Dean S. Fansler, collector and editor; source: José Laki of Guagua, Pampanga; from his uncle, who heard an older Pampango storyteller · 1921

    Tale 24, The Devil and the Guachinango, pp. 214–217; entire comparative discussion and footnotes through p. 223 inspected; American Folk-Lore Society

Family & connections

A source-supported family tree or inspiration record has not yet been compiled for this profile. Related reading below indicates a connection in subject matter, not a proven lineage or creative influence.

Primary records and illustrations

Complete narrative, source statement and full comparative notes inspected

Dean S. Fansler, Filipino Popular Tales (American Folk-Lore Society, 1921)

Part I, Hero Tales and Drolls. 24, The Devil and the Guachinango, pp. 214–217; full notes through p. 223

Cache fansler-24.txt and master fansler1921.html. Named source: José Laki of Guagua, Pampanga; from his uncle, who heard an older Pampango storyteller. Main Pampango devil and embedded Tagalog duende accounts separate. Editor diffusion arguments not adopted as proven historical sequence.

Inspect the digitized plate · Source collection manifest

References

Sources supporting this profile. Linked pages have their own scope and editorial standards.

  1. Historical collected folktaleFansler, 24, The Devil and the Guachinango, pp. 214–217Research access: 2026-10-05

Image credits

A sourced illustration has not yet been added. This gap is included in the coverage record.

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