Written by The most beautiful girl in all the world was Aponibolinayen of Nalpangan. Many young men had come to her brother, Aponibalagen, to ask for her hand in marriage, but he had refused them all, for he awaited one who possessed great power. Then it happened that the fame of her beauty spread over all the […]
One day Aponibolinayen and her sister-in-law went out to gather greens. They walked to the woods to the place where the siksiklat grew, for the tender leaves of this vine are very good to eat. Suddenly while searching about in the underbrush, Aponibolinayen cried out with joy, for she had found the vine, and she […]
Langgona and his wife had twin boys named Bulanawan and Aguio. One day, when they were about two years old, the mother took Bulanawan to the field with her when she went to pick cotton. She spread the fiber she had gathered the day before on the ground to dry near the child, and while […]
Dogedog had always been very lazy, and now that his father and mother were dead and he had no one to care for him, he lived very poorly. He had little to eat. His house was old and small and so poor that it had not even a floor. Still he would rather sit all […]
Aponibolinayen was sick with a headache, and she lay on a mat alone in her house. Suddenly she remembered some fruit that she had heard of but had never seen, and she said to herself, “Oh, I wish I had some of the oranges of Gawigawen of Adasen.” Now Aponibolinayen did not realize that she […]
One day a mother took her two children with her when she went to color cloth. Not far from her home was a mud hole where the carabao liked to wallow, and to this hole she carried her cloth, some dye pots, and two shell spoons. After she had put the cloth into the mud […]
One day the Moon, who was a woman named Kabigat, sat out in the yard making a large copper pot. The copper was still soft and pliable like clay, and the woman squatted on the ground with the heavy pot against her knees while she patted and shaped it. Now while she was working a […]
One day in the times when the sky was close to the ground a spinster went out to pound rice.Before she began her work, she took off the beads from around her neck and the comb from her hair, and hung them on the sky, which at that time looked like coral rock. Then she […]
In the very old times the Tinguian did not know how to plant and harvest as they now do. For food they had only the things that grew in the forests and fish from the streams. Neither did they know how to cure people who became ill or were injured by evil spirits, and many […]
In the beginning there were four beings, and they lived on an island no larger than a hat. On this island there were no trees or grass or any other living thing besides these four people and one bird.One day they sent this bird out across the waters to see what he could find, and […]
One day Juan’s father sent him to get some ripe guavas, for a number of the neighbors had come in and he wanted to give them something to eat. Juan went to the guava bushes and ate all the fruit he could hold, and then he decided to play a joke on his father’s guests […]
Soon after people were created on the earth, there was born a child named Lumabet, who lived to be a very, very old man. He could talk when he was but one day old, and all his life he did wonderful things until the people came to believe that he had been sent by Manama, […]
One day when Lumawig, the Great Spirit, looked down from his place in the sky he saw two sisters gathering beans. And he decided to go down to visit them. When he arrived at the place he asked them what they were doing. The younger, whose name was Fukan, answered: “We are gathering beans, but […]
Magbangal was a good hunter, and he often went to a certain hill where he killed wild pigs for food. One night as it was nearing the planting season, he sat in his house thinking, and after a long time he called to his wife. She came to him, and he said: “Tomorrow I shall […]
A great many years ago some Tinguian left their little village in the valley early one morning and made their way toward the mountains. They were off on a deer hunt, and each carried his spear and head-ax, while one held in leash a string of lean dogs eager for the chase. Part way up […]
A Tinguian was once walking along a trail in the wood when he heard a strange sound in a large tree near him, and looking up he was startled to see that it was the home of the Alan—spirits who live in the wood. He stopped and gazed for a moment at the horrible creatures, […]
One day a man said to his wife: “My wife, we are getting very poor and I must go into business to earn some money.” “That is a good idea,” replied his wife. “How much capital have you?” “I have twenty-five centavos,” answered the man; “and I am going to buy rice and carry it […]
A long, long time ago Mindanao was covered with water, and the sea extended over all the lowlands so that nothing could be seen but mountains. Then there were many people living in the country, and all the highlands were dotted with villages and settlements. For many years the people prospered, living in peace and […]
In the beginning there lived one man and one woman, Toglai and Toglibon. Their first children were a boy and a girl. When they were old enough, the boy and the girl went far away across the waters seeking a good place to live in. Nothing more was heard of them until their children, the […]
One day, a long time ago, some men went to the mountains to hunt deer and wild pig, and among them was one named Sogsogot. They all went into the thick forest to look for game, but after a while Sogsogot called his dog and withdrew to an open spot near by, where he waited […]
Juan was always getting into trouble. He was a lazy boy, and more than that, he did not have good sense. When he tried to do things, he made such dreadful mistakes that he might better not have tried. His family grew very impatient with him, scolding and beating him whenever he did anything wrong. […]
Two men once went to hunt wild pig in the mountains, and after some time they speared and killed one, but they had no fire over which to singe it. One man climbed a tree to see if there was a fire near by, and discovering smoke at some distance, he started toward it. When […]
Two women went to gather some wild fruit from a vine which belonged to the alligator. “You must be careful not to throw the rind with your teeth marks on it where the alligator can see it,” said one of the women to the other as they sat eating the fruit. But the other woman […]
One day the land crabs had a meeting and one of them said: “What shall we do with the waves? They sing so loudly all the time that we cannot possibly sleep.” “Well,” answered one of the oldest of the crabs, “I think we should make war on them.” The others agreed to this, and […]
One day a little boy named Elonen sat out in the yard making a bird snare, and as he worked, a little bird called to him: “Tik-tik-lo-den” (come and catch me). “I am making a snare for you,” said the boy; but the bird continued to call until the snare was finished. Then Elonen ran […]
One very hot day, when a carabao went into the river to bathe, he met a shell and they began talking together. “You are very slow,” said the carabao to the shell. “Oh, no,” replied the shell. “I can beat you in a race.” “Then let us try and see,” said the carabao. So they […]
In the very early days before there were any people on the earth, the limokon (a kind of dove) were very powerful and could talk like men though they looked like birds. One limokon laid two eggs, one at the mouth of the Mayo River and one farther up its course. After some time these […]
In the beginning there were no people on the earth. Lumawig, the Great Spirit, came down from the sky and cut many reeds.He divided these into pairs which he placed in different parts of the world, and then he said to them, “You must speak.” Immediately the reeds became people, and in each place was […]
When the world first began there was no land, but only the stea and the sky, and between them was a kite. One day the bird which had nowhere to light grew tired of flying about, so she stirred up the sea until it threw its waters against the sky. The sky, in order to […]
Many years ago at the foot of a forest-covered hill was a small town, and just above the town on the hillside was a little house in which lived an old woman and her grandson. The old woman, who was very industrious, earned their living by removing the seeds from cotton, and she always had […]
Once upon a time, when the world was flat and there were no mountains, there lived two brothers, sons of Lumawig, the Great Spirit. The brothers were fond of hunting, and since no mountains had formed there was no good place to catch wild pig and deer, and the older brother said: “Let us cause […]
A long time ago there was a very big crab which crawled into the sea. And when he went in he crowded the water out so that it ran all over the earth and covered all the land. Now about one moon before this happened, a wise man had told the people that they must […]
A hawk flying about in the sky one day decided that he would like to marry a hen whom he often saw on earth. He flew down and searched until he found her, and then asked her to become his wife. She at once gave her consent on the condition that he would wait until […]
One day a man who had been to gather his cocoanuts loaded his horse heavily with the fruit. On the way home he met a boy whom he asked how long it would take to reach the house. “If you go slowly,” said the boy, looking at the load on the horse, “you will arrive […]
When Siagon was about eight years old his parents began looking for a girl who would make a suitable wife. At last when they had decided on a beautiful maiden, who lived some distance from them, they sent a man to her parents to ask if they would like Siagon for a son-in-law. Now when […]
A monkey, looking very sad and dejected, was walking along the bank of the river one day when he met a turtle. “How are you?” asked the turtle, noticing that he looked sad. The monkey replied, “Oh, my friend, I am very hungry. The squash of Mr. Farmer were all taken by the other monkeys, […]
Many, many years ago a poor fisherman and his wife lived with their three sons in a village by the sea. One day the old man set his snare in the water not far from his house, and at night when he went to look at it, he found that he had caught a great […]
Once there was a presidente who was very unjust to his people, and one day he became so angry that he wished he had horns so that he might frighten them. No sooner had he made this rash wish, than horns began to grow on his head. He sent for a barber who came to […]
Once there lived two boys whose mother sent them every day to the forest to get wood for her fires. Each morning, as they started out, she gave them some food for their trip, but it was always poor and there was little of it, and she would say: “The wood that you brought yesterday […]
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 she saw Mr. Spider coming again Miss Fly closed all the doors and windows of her house and made ready […]