A Study in Tinguian Folk-Lore Part 6

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A man encounters a large being, which, from its odor, he recognizes as the spirit of a dead man. He runs to get his friends, and they find the spot trampled like a carabao wallow.

58

The dead wife of Baluga harvests his rice during the nighttime. He hides and captures her. They go together to the spirit town, in the ground, and secure her spirit which is kept in a green bamboo cup. As they are returning to the ground they are pursued, but Baluga cuts the vine on which their pursuers are climbing. When they reach home, they hold a great celebration.

59

An alan takes the afterbirth and causes it to become a real child named Sayen. Afterbirth child marries a servant, thinking he has married her mistress. Learns he is deceived, and causes death of his wife; then kills many people in the town of the girl who has deceived him. She gets him to desist, and after he revives some of the slain marries him. People of neighboring town are troubled by the komau, an evil spirit, who always causes the death of as many people as the hunters have secured deer. Sayen kills the komau. He fights with the great spirit Kaboniyan. Neither is able to overcome the other, so they become friends. They fight together against their enemies. Sayen often changes himself into a fish or chicken, and hides after a fight. This is observed by people who set a trap and capture him. He is killed.

60

A man while in the woods hears the alan near him. He feigns death and the spirits weep for him. They put gold and beads on the body. He springs up and seizes the offerings. They demand the return of one bead; he refuses, and the spirits burn his house.

61

Two men who have killed a wild pig desire fire. One goes to house of an alan and tries to secure it while the spirit sleeps. She awakes and goes with the man to the pig. Man carries liver of the animal back to the baby alan. He eats the liver and then throws the child into a caldron of hot water. He tells his companion what he has done, and they climb a tree near the water. The alan discovers their hiding place by seeing their reflection in the water. She climbs up, feet first, but they cut the vine on which she is ascending, and she is killed. They go to her house and secure a jar of beads and a jar of gold.

62

The flat earth is made by the spirit Kadaklan. He also makes the moon and sun, which chase each other through the sky. The moon sometimes nearly catches the sun, but becomes weary too soon. The stars are stones, the lightning a dog.

63

A flood covers the land. Fire has no place to go, so enters bamboo, stones and iron. It still lives there and can be driven out by those who know how.

64

A man finds his rice field disturbed even though well fenced in. He hides and in middle of night sees some big animals fly into it. He seizes one and cuts off its wings. The animal turns out to be a mare which is pregnant and soon has male offspring. The place where the wings once grew are still to be seen on the legs of all horses.

65

A lazy man, who is planting corn, constantly leans on his planting stick. It becomes a tail and he turns into a monkey.

66

A boy is too lazy to strip sugar cane for himself. His mother in anger tells him to stick it up his a.n.u.s. He does so and becomes a monkey.

67

A lazy girl pretends she does not know how to spin. Her companions, in disgust, tell her to stick the spinning stick up her a.n.u.s. She does so and at once changes into a monkey.

68

A war party are unable to cross a swollen river. They wish to become birds. Their wish is granted and they are changed to kalau, but they are not able to resume the human forms. Those who wore the white mourning bands, now have white heads.

69

A mother puts a basket over her lazy son. When she raises it a bird flies away crying "sigakok" (lazy).

70

A young man who owns a rice field gets a new wife. He leaves her to harvest the crop. She is discouraged over the prospect and wishes to become a bird. Her wish is fulfilled, and she becomes a kakok.

71

The dog of Ganoway chases a deer into a cave. The hunter follows and in the darkness brushes against shrubs which tinkle. He breaks off some branches. Cave opens again on the river bank, and he finds his dog and the dead deer at the entrance. He sees that fruits on the branches he carries are agate beads. Returns, but fails to find more. His townspeople go with him to seek the wonderful tree, but part of the cave is closed by the spirit Kaboniyan who owns it.

72

The jar Magsawi formerly talked softly, but now is cracked and cannot be understood. In the first times the dogs of some hunters chased the jar and the men followed, thinking it to be a deer. The jar eluded them until a voice from the sky informed the pursuers how it might be caught. The blood of a pig was offered, as the voice directed, and the jar was captured.

73

The sun and moon fight. Sun throws sand in moon's face and makes the dark spots which are still visible.

74

A man who went with a war party is away so long that he does not recognize his daughter when he returns. He embraces her when she meets him at the town gate. In shame she changes herself into a coconut tree.

75

Two flying snakes once guarded the gap in the mountains by which the Abra river reaches the sea. Two brave men attack them with banana trunks. Their wings stick in the banana trees and they are easily killed. The men are rewarded with gold made in the shape of deer and horses.

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