In a moment, Duling realized that the girl was gone, and that he was holding in his arms a nanga-bush, full of thorns. He had thought to catch the girl, but, instead, sharp thorns had pricked him full of sores. Then from above he heard the woman's voice, tauntingly sweet, "Don't feel bad, Duling; for right here is your younger brother."

Yet the young man, gazing here and there, saw around him only tall trees, and could not catch a glimpse of the girl who mocked him.

Immediately, Duling, as he stood there, was turned into a rock. But the little brother married the Tagamaling-girl.

There is a place high up in the mountains of Mindanao, about eight hours' ride west of Santa Cruz, where you may see the rock, and you will know at once that it is a human figure. There is Duling, with the trap and the decoy cock on his shoulder. You may see the cock's feathers too.

The S'iring

The S'iring [120] is the ugly man that has long nails and curly hair. He lives in the forest trees. If a boy goes into the forest without a companion, the S'iring tries to carry him off. When you meet a S'iring, he will look like your father, or mother, or some friend; and he will hide his long nails behind his back, so that you cannot see them. It is the S'iring who makes the echo (a'u'd). When you talk in a loud voice, the S'iring will answer you in a faint voice, because he wants to get you and carry you away.

There was once a boy who went without a companion into the forest, and he met a man who looked just like his own father, but it was a S'iring; and the S'iring made him believe that he was his father. The S'iring said to the boy, "Come, you must go with me. We will shoot some wild birds with our bow and arrows."

And the boy, not doubting that he heard his father's voice, followed the S'iring into the deep forest. After a while, the boy lost his memory, and forgot the way to his own house. The S'iring took him up on a high mountain, and gave him food; but the poor boy had now lost his mind, and he thought the food was a milleped one fathom long, or it seemed to him the long, slim worm called liwati.

So the days went on, the boy eating little, and growing thinner and weaker all the time. When he met any men in the forest, he grew frightened, and would run away. When he had been a long time in the forest, the S'iring called to him and said, "We will move on now."

So they started off again. When they reached the high bank of a deep and swift-flowing river, the S'iring scratched the boy with his long nails. Straightway the boy felt so tired that he could no longer stand on his legs, and then he dropped down into the ravine. He fell on the hard rocks, so that his bones were broken, and his skull split open.

All this time, the mother at home was mourning for her son, and crying all day long. But soon she arranged a little shrine (tambara [121]) under the great tree, and, having placed there a white bowl with a few betel-nuts and some buyo-leaf as an offering for her son, she crouched on the ground and prayed for his life to the god in the sky.

Now, when the S'iring heard her prayer, he took some betel-nuts, and went to the place where the boy's body lay. On the parts where the bones were broken, he spit betel-nut, and did the same to the boy's head. Immediately the boy came to life, and felt well again. Then the S'iring took him up, and carried him to the shrine where the mother was praying; but she could not see the S'iring nor her boy. She went home crying.

That night, as the woman slept, she dreamed that a boy came close to her, and spoke about her son. "To-morrow morning," he said, "you must pick red peppers, and get a lemon, [122] and carry them to the shrine, and burn them in the fire."

Next morning, the woman hastened to gather the peppers, and get a lemon, and with happy face she ran to the shrine under the big tree. There she made a fire, and burned the lemon and the red peppers, as the dream had told her. And, as soon as she had done this, her son appeared from under the great tree. Then his mother caught him in her arms, and held him close, and cried for joy.

When you lose your things, you may be sure that the S'iring has hidden them. What you have to do is to burn some red peppers with beeswax (tadu ka petiukan [123]), and observe carefully the direction in which the smoke goes. The way the smoke goes points out where your things are hidden, because the S'iring is afraid of the wax of bees. He is afraid, too, of red peppers and of lemons.

How Iro Met the S'iring

Not long ago, a young man named Iro went out, about two o'clock in the afternoon, to get some tobacco from one of the neighbors. Not far from his house, he saw his friend Atun coming along; and Atun said to him, "I've got some tobacco hidden away in a place in the woods. Let us go and get it."

So they went along together. When they reached the forest, Atun disappeared, and Iro could not see which way he had gone. Then he concluded that it was not Atun, but a S'iring, whom he had met. He started for home, and reached there about eight o'clock in the evening. To his astonishment, he saw Atun sitting there in the house. Confused and wondering, he asked Atun, "Did you carry me away?"

But his friend Atun laughed, and said, "Where should I carry you? I have not been anywhere."

Then Iro was convinced that a S'iring had tried to lure him into the forest.

When you have a companion, the S'iring cannot hurt you.

CHAPTER IV

Animal Stories: Metamorphosis, Explanatory Tales, Etc.

The Kingfisher and the Malaki

There came a day when the kingfisher (kobug [124]) had nothing to drink, and was thirsty for water. Then she walked along the bed of the brook, searching for a drink; but the waters of the brook were all dried up.

Now, on that very day, the Maganud went up the mountain to get some agsam [125] to make leglets for himself. And when he came near to where the bulla grows, he stopped to urinate, and the urine sprinkled one of the great bulla-leaves. Then he went on up the mountain. Just then, the kingfisher came along, still looking for a mountain-stream. Quickly she caught sight of the leaf of the bulla-tree all sprinkled with water; but the man had gone away. Then the kingfisher gladly drank a few drops of the water, and washed her feathers. But no sooner had she quenched her thirst, and taken a bath, than her head began to pain her. Then she went home to her little house in the ground.

Now, every day the kingfisher laid one egg, and that day she laid her egg as usual. But when the egg hatched out, it was no feathered nestling, but a baby-boy, that broke the shell.

"Oh!" cried the frightened bird. "What will become of me?" Then she ran off a little way from her nest, and started to fly away.

But the little boy cried out, "Mother, mother, don't be afraid of me!"

So the kingfisher came back to her baby. And the child grew bigger every day.

After a while, the boy was old enough to walk and play around. Then one day he went alone to the house of the Maganud, and climbed up the steps and looked in at the door. The Maganud was sitting there on the floor of his house; and the little boy ran up to him and hugged him, and cried for joy. But the Maganud was startled and dismayed; for he was a chaste malaki, [126] and had no children. Yet this boy called him "father," and begged for ripe bananas in a very familiar manner. After they had talked for a little while, the Maganud went with the child to the home of the kingfisher.

The kingfisher had made her nest at the foot of a great hollow tree. She had dug out a hole, about four feet deep, in the soft ground, and fixed a roof by heaping over the hole the powdered rotten bark of the old tree. The roof stood up just a few inches above the ground; and when the Maganud saw it, he thought it was a mere little heap of earth. Immediately, however, as he looked at the lowly nest, it became a fine house with walls of gold, and pillars of ivory. The eaves were all hung with little bells (korung-korung [127]); and the whole house was radiantly bright, for over it forked lighting played continually.

The kingfisher took off her feather coat, and became a lovely woman, and then she and the Malaki were married. They had bananas and cocoanut-groves, and all things, and they became rich people.

The Woman and the Squirrel

One day a woman went out to find water. She had no water to drink, because all the streams were dried up. As she went along, she saw some water in a leaf. She drank it, and washed her body. As soon as she had drunk the water, her head began to hurt. Then she went home, spread out a mat, lay down on it, and went to sleep. She slept for nine days. When she woke up, she took a comb and combed her hair. As she combed it, a squirrel-baby came out from her hair. After the baby had been in the house one week, it began to grow and jump about. It staid up under the roof of the house.

One day the Squirrel said to his mother, "O mother! I want you to go to the house of the Datu who is called 'sultan,' and take these nine kamagi [128] and these nine finger-rings to pay for the sultan's daughter, because I want to marry her."

Then the mother went to the sultan's house and remained there an hour. The sultan said, "What do you want?"

The woman answered, "Nothing. I came for betel-nuts." Then the woman went back home.

The Squirrel met her, and said, "Where are my nine necklaces?"

"Here they are," said the woman.

But the Squirrel was angry at his mother, and bit her with his little teeth.

Again he said to his mother, "You go there and take the nine necklaces."

So the woman started off again. When she reached the sultan's house, she said to him, "I have come with these nine necklaces and these nine finger-rings that my son sends to you."

"Yes," said the sultan; "but I want my house to become gold, and I want all my plants to become gold, and everything I have to turn into gold."

But the woman left the presents to pay for the sultan's daughter. The sultan told her that he wanted his house to be turned into gold that very night. Then the woman went back and told all this to her son. The Squirrel said, "That is good, my mother."

Now, when night came, the Squirrel went to the sultan's house, and stood in the middle of the path, and called to his brother, the Mouse, "My brother, come out! I want to see you."

Then the great Mouse came out. All the hairs of his coat were of gold, and his eyes were of glass.

The Mouse said, "What do you want of me, my brother Squirrel?"

"I called you," answered the Squirrel, "for your gold coat. I want some of that to turn the sultan's house into gold."

Then the Squirrel bit the skin of the Mouse, and took off some of the gold, and left him. Then he began to turn the sultan's things into gold. First of all, he rubbed the gold on the betel-nut trees of the sultan; next, he rubbed all the other trees and all the plants; third, he rubbed the house and all the things in it. Then the sultan's town you could see as in a bright day. You would think there was no night there—always day.

All this time, the sultan was asleep. When he woke up, he was so frightened to see all his things, and his house, of gold, that he died in about two hours.

Then the Squirrel and the daughter of the sultan were married. The Squirrel staid in her father's home for one month, and then they went to live in the house of the Squirrel's mother. And they took from the sultan's place, a deer, a fish, and all kinds of food. After the sultan's daughter had lived with the Squirrel for one year, he took off his coat and became a Malaki T'oluk Waig. [129]



The Cat

Very long ago the cocoanut used to be the head of the cat. That is why the cat loves cocoanut so much. When the Bagobo are eating cocoanut, they let the cat jump up and have some too, because her head once turned into a cocoanut. When the cat hears the Bagobo scraping cocoanut in the kitchen, she runs quickly to get some to eat.

We cut off some of the fur from the tip of the cat's tail, and put the hairs under one of the big stones (sigung) where the fire burns. This is why the cat loves the house where she lives.

When the cat dies, her gimokud takawanan [130] goes down to Gimokudan, where the spirits of dead people go.

Why the Bagobo Likes the Cat

An old man was fishing in the brook; but the water kept getting muddy, and he did not know what was the matter. Then he went away, and he walked and walked. After he had gone some distance, he saw in the mud a big lion [131] that eats people. The Lion had been sleeping in the mud. He said to the man, "If you'll pull me out of the mud and ride me to my town, I will give you many things." Then the man drew the Lion from the mud.

The Lion stood still a while, and then said, "Now you must ride on me."

So the man mounted the Lion, and rode until they came to a large meadow, when the Lion said, "Now I am going to eat you."

The man replied, "But first let us go and ask the Carabao."

The Lion consented, and they went on until they reached the Carabao.

"This Lion wants to eat me," complained the man.

"Yes, indeed! eat him, Lion," answered the Carabao, "for the men are all the time riding on my back, and whipping me."

There were many Carabaos in the field, and they all agreed to this.

Then the man said to the Lion, "You may eat me; but we will first go and tell the Cows."

Soon they reached the Cows' home, and the man told them that the Lion wanted to eat him.

At once the Cows exclaimed, "Yes, eat him, Lion, because all day long the people drive us away from their fields."

"All right!" assented the man; "but first let us speak to the Dogs."

When they came to the Dogs' home, the man cried, "The Lion is going to eat me."

The Dogs said to the Lion, "Devour this man; for every day, when men are eating, they beat us away from the food."

At last the man said, "Sure enough, you will eat me up, Lion; but let us just go to the Cat."

When they reached the Cat's home, they found her sitting at the door, keeping her nice house. It had groves of cocoanut-palms around it. The Cat lived all alone.

The man said to her, "This Lion wants to eat me."

"Yes, Lion," the Cat replied; "but first you make a deep hole in the ground. We will race each other into the hole. If you jump in first, then I shall lose and you will win."

And the Lion ran, and jumped into the hole. Then the Cat covered him with earth and stones until he was dead. But before he died, the Lion called to the Cat, "Whenever I see your excrement (tai), I shall eat it." That is why the Cat hides her excrement, because she is afraid the Lion will come.

Now, the Lion is the dog of the Buso.

How the Lizards got their Markings

One day the Chameleon (palas [132]) and the Monitor-lizard (ibid [133]) were out in a deep forest together. They thought they would try scratching each other's backs to make pretty figures on them.

First the Chameleon said to the Monitor-lizard, "You must scratch a nice pattern on my back."

So the Monitor went to work, and the Chameleon had a fine scratching. Monitor made a nice, even pattern on his back.

Then Monitor asked Chameleon for a scratching. But no sooner had Chameleon begun to work on Monitor's back than there came the sound of a dog barking. A man was hunting in the forest with his dog. The sharp barks came nearer and nearer to the two lizards; and the Chameleon got such a scare, that his fingers shook, and the pretty design he was making went all askew. Then he stopped short and ran away, leaving the Monitor with a very shabby marking on his back.

This is the reason that the monitor-lizard is not so pretty as the chameleon.



The Monkey and the Tortoise [134]

One day, when a Tortoise was crawling slowly along by a stream, he saw a baby-monkey drinking water. Presently the Monkey ran up to the Tortoise, and said, "Let's go and find something to eat."

Not far from the stream there was a large field full of banana-trees. They looked up, and saw clusters of ripe fruit.

"That's fine!" said the Monkey, "for I'm hungry and you're hungry too. You climb first, Tortoise."

Then the Tortoise crawled slowly up the trunk; but he had got up only a little distance when the Monkey chattered these words, "Roro s'punno, roro s'punno!" [135] ("Slide down, slide down, Tortoise!")

At once the Tortoise slipped and fell down. Then he started again to climb the tree; and again the Monkey said, "Roro s'punno!" and again the Tortoise slipped and fell down. He tried over and over again; but every time he failed, for the Monkey always said, "Roro s'punno!" and made him fall. At last he got tired and gave it up, saying to the Monkey, "Now you try it."

"It's too bad!" said the Monkey, "when we're both so hungry." Then the Monkey made just three jumps, and reached the ripe fruit. "Wait till I taste and see if they're sweet," he cried to the Tortoise, while he began to eat bananas as fast as he could.

"Give me some," begged the Tortoise.

"All right!" shouted the Monkey; "but I forgot to notice whether it was sweet." And he kept on eating, until more than half of the fruit was gone.

"Drop down just one to me!" pleaded the Tortoise.

"Yes, in a minute," mumbled the Monkey.

At last, when but three bananas were left on the tree, the Monkey called, "Look up! shut your eyes" (Langag-ka! pudung-nu yan matanu [136]).

The Tortoise did so. The Monkey then told him to open his mouth, and he obeyed. Then the Monkey said, "I'll peel this one piece of banana for you" (Luitan-ko 'ni sebad abok saging [137]).

Now, the Monkey was sitting on a banana-leaf, directly over the Tortoise; but, instead of banana, he dropped his excrement into the Tortoise's mouth. The Tortoise screamed with rage; but the Monkey jumped up and down, laughing at him. Then he went on eating the remainder of the bananas.

The Tortoise then set himself to work at making a little hut of bamboo-posts, with a roof and walls of leaves. The upper ends of the bamboo he sharpened, and let them project through the roof; but the sharp points were concealed by the leaves. It was like a trap for pigs (sankil).

When the Monkey came down from the banana-tree, the Tortoise said, "You climb this other tall tree, and look around at the sky. If the sky is dark, you must call to me; for the rain will soon come. Then you jump down on the roof of our little house here. Never mind if it breaks in, for we can soon build a stronger one."

The Monkey accordingly climbed the tree, and looked at the sky. "It is all very dark!" he exclaimed. "Jump quick, then!" cried the Tortoise.

So the Monkey jumped; but he got killed from the sharp bamboo-points on which he landed.

Then the Tortoise made a fire, and roasted the Monkey. He cut off the Monkey's ears, and they turned into buyo-leaves. [138] He cut out the heart, and it turned into betel-nut. He took out the brain, and it became lime (apog [139]). He made the tail into pungaman. [140] The stomach he made into a basket. He put into the basket the betel and the lime and the pungaman and the buyo, and crawled away.

Soon he heard the noise of many animals gathered together. He found the monkeys and the deer and the pigs and the wild birds having a big rice-planting. All the animals were rejoiced to see the Tortoise coming with a basket, for they all wanted to chew betel. The monkeys ran up, chattering, and tried to snatch the betel-nuts; but the Tortoise held them back, saying, "Wait a minute! By and by I will give you some."

Then the monkeys sat around, waiting, while the Tortoise prepared the betel-nut. He cut the nuts and the pungaman into many small pieces, and the buyo-leaf too, and gave them to the monkeys and the other animals. Everybody began to chew; and the Tortoise went away to a distance about the length of one field (sebad kinamat), where he could get out of sight, under shelter of some trees. Then he called to the monkeys, "All of you are eating monkey, just like your own body: you are chewing up one of your own family."

At that, all the monkeys were angry, and ran screaming to catch the Tortoise. But the Tortoise had hid under the felled trunk of an old palma brava tree. As each monkey passed close by the trunk where the Tortoise lay concealed, the Tortoise said, "Drag your membrum! here's a felled tree" (Supa tapo! basio' [141]).

Thus every monkey passed by clear of the trunk, until the last one came by; and he was both blind and deaf. When he followed the rest, he could not hear the Tortoise call out, "Supa tapo! basio';" and his membrum struck against the fallen trunk. He stopped, and became aware of the Tortoise underneath. Then he screamed to the rest; and all the monkeys came running back, and surrounded the Tortoise, threatening him.

"What do you want?" inquired the Tortoise.

"You shall die," cried the monkeys. "Tell us what will kill you. We will chop you to pieces with the axe."

"Oh, no! that won't hurt me in the least," replied the Tortoise. "You can see the marks on my shell, where my father used to cut my body: but that didn't kill me."

"We will put you in the fire, then, and burn you to death," chorussed the monkeys. "Will that do?"

"Fire does not hurt me," returned the Tortoise. "Look at my body! See how brown it is where my father used to stick me into the fire."

"What, then, is best to kill you?" urged the monkeys.

"The way to kill me," replied the Tortoise, "is to take the punch used for brass, bulit, [142] and run [143] it into my rectum. Then throw me into the big pond, and drown me."

Then the monkeys did as they were told, and threw him into the pond. But the Tortoise began to swim about in the water.

Exultantly he called to the monkeys, "This is my own home: you see I don't drown." And the lake was so deep that the monkeys could not get him.

Then the monkeys hurried to and fro, summoning all the animals in the world to drink the water in the lake. They all came,—deer, pigs, jungle-fowl, monkeys, and all the rest,—and began to drink. They covered their pagindis [144] with leaves, so that the water could not run out of their bodies. After a time, they had drunk so much that the lake became shallow, and one could see the Tortoise's back.

But the red-billed bakaka-bird that lived in a tree by the water was watching; and as quick as the back of the Tortoise came into sight, the bird flew down and picked off the leaves from the pagindis of the deer. Then the water ran out from their bodies until the lake rose again, and covered the Tortoise. Satisfied, the bird flew back into the tree. But the deer got fresh leaves to cover their pagindis, and began to drink again. Then the bird flew to the monkeys, and began to take the leaves from their pagindis; but one monkey saw him doing it, and slapped him. This made the bird fall down, and then all the monkeys left the Tortoise in the lake, and ran to revenge themselves on the bird.

They snatched him up, pulled out every one of his feathers with their fingers, and laid him naked upon the stump of a tree. All the animals went home, leaving the bird on the stump.

Two days later, one Monkey came to look at the Bakaka. Little feathers were beginning to grow out; but the Monkey thought the bird was dead.

"Maggots are breeding in it," said the Monkey.

Three more days passed, and then the Monkey came again. The Bakaka's feathers had grown out long by that time; and the Monkey said, "It was all rotten, and the pigs ate it."

But the bird had flown away. He flew to the north until he reached a meadow with a big tual-tree in the middle. The tree was loaded with ripe fruit. [145] Perched on one of the branches, the bird ate all he wanted, and when done he took six of the fruit of the tual, and made a necklace for himself. With this hung round his neck, he flew to the house where the old Monkey lived, and sat on the roof. He dropped one tual through the roof, and it fell down on the floor, where all the little monkey-children ran for it, dancing and screaming.

"Don't make such a noise!" chided the old Monkey, "and do not take the tual, for the Bakaka will be angry, and he is a great bird."

But the bird flew down into the house, and gave one tual to the old Monkey.

"That is good," said the old Monkey, tasting it. "Tell me where you got it." But the bird would not tell. Then the old monkey stood up, and kissed him, and begged to be taken to the tual-tree.

At last the Bakaka said to all the monkeys, "Three days from now you may all go to the tual-tree. I want you all to go, the blind monkey too. Go to the meadow where the grass grows high, and there, in the centre of the meadow, is the tual-tree. If you see the sky and the air black, do not speak a word; for if you speak, you will get sick."

At the set time, all the monkeys started for the meadow, except one female monkey that was expecting a baby. The deer and all the other animals went along, except a few of the females who could not go. They all reached the meadow-grass; and the monkeys climbed up the tual-tree that stood in the centre of the field, until all the branches were full of monkeys. The birds and the jungle-fowl flew up in the tree; but the deer and the other animals waited clown on the ground.

Then the sky grew black, for the Bakaka and the Tortoise were going around the meadow with lighted sticks of balekayo, [146] and setting fire to the grass. The air was full of smoke, and the little monkeys were crying; but the old Monkey bit them, and said, "Keep still, for the Bakaka told us not to speak."

But the meadow-grass was all ablaze, and the flames crept nearer and nearer to the tual-tree. Then all the monkeys saw the fire, and cried, "Oh! what will become of us?"

Some of the birds and most of the chickens flew away; but some died in the flames. A few of the pigs ran away, but most of them died. The other animals were burned to death. Not a single monkey escaped, save only the female monkey who staid at home. When her baby was born, it was a boy-monkey. The mother made it her husband, and from this pair came many monkeys.

It was the same with the deer. All were burned, except one doe who staid at home. When her little fawn was born, it was a male. She made it her husband, and from this one pair came many deer.

The Crow and the Golden Trees

The liver of the crow is "medicine" for many pains and for sickness. On this account the Bagobo kills the crow so that he may get his liver for "medicine." The liver is good to eat, either cooked or raw. If you see a crow dead, you can get its liver and eat some of it, and it will be "medicine" for your body.

The crow never makes its nest in low-growing trees, but only in tall, big trees. Far from here, the old men say, in the land where the sun rises, there are no more living trees; for the scorching heat of the sun has killed them.all, and dried up the leaves. There they stand, with naked branches, all bare of leaves. Only two trees there have not died from the heat. The trunks of these trees are of gold, and all their leaves of silver. But if any bird lights on one of these trees, it falls down dead. The ground under the two trees is covered with the bones of little birds and big birds that have died from perching on the trees with the golden trunks and the silver leaves. These two trees are full of a resin that makes all the birds die. Only the crow can sit on the branches, and not die. Hence the crow alone, of all the birds, remains alive in the land of the sunrise.

No man can get the resin from these trees. But very long ago, in the days of the Mona, there came a Malaki T'oluk Waig to the trees. He had a war-shield that shone brightly, for it had a flame of fire always burning in it. And this Malaki came to the golden trees and took the precious resin from their trunks.

CHAPTER V

An Ata Story [147]

Alelu'k and Alebu'tud [148]

Alelu'k and Alebu'tud lived together in their own house. They had no neighbors. One day Alelu'k said to his wife, "I must go and hunt some pigs."

Then he started out to hunt, taking with him his three dogs. He did not find any wild pigs; but before long he sighted a big deer with many-branched antlers. The dogs gave chase and seized the deer, and held it until the man came up and killed it with the sharp iron spike that tipped his long staff (tidalan [149]). Then the man tied to the deer's antlers a strong piece of rattan, and dragged it home.

When he reached his house, his wife met him joyfully; and they were both very happy, because they had now plenty of meat. They brought wood and kindled a fire, and fixed over the fire a frame of wood tied to upright posts stuck into the ground. On the frame they laid the body of the deer to singe off the hair over the flames. And when the hair was all burned off, and the skin clean, Alelu'k began to cut off pieces of venison, and Alebu'tud got ready the big clay pot, and poured into it water to boil the meat. But there was only a little water in the house, so Alubu'tud took her bucket (sekkadu [150]), and hurried down to the river. When she reached there, she stood with her bare feet in the stream, and dipped the bucket into the stream, and took it out full of water. But, just as she turned to climb up the river-bank, an enormous fish jumped out of the river, seized her, dragged her down, and devoured her.

At home, Alelu'k was watching for his wife to come back bringing the water. Day after day he waited for her, and all day long he was crying from sorrow.

The man (Alelu'k) symbolizes a big black ant that makes its nest in a hollow tree. The woman (Alebu'tud) is a little worm that lives in the palma brava tree. The fish is another man who carried off Alelu'k's wife.

New York.



NOTES

[1] In these legends, in a few instances, the exact phrases of the narrators have been retained for the sake of their quaintness.

[2] Obtained from Jose Teodoro, Bay, Laguna, P.I.

[3] Obtained from Fabian de la Paz, San Fernando, Pompanga, P. I., who says it was "handed down from old time."

[4] Obtained from Camilo Osias, Balayan, Luzon, P. I.

[5] The word here translated "king" is hardly satisfactory, but perhaps nothing better can be substituted. Of course the idea "king" has crept in since the Spanish conquest. "Datto" or "chief" might be more satisfactory. What is really meant, however, is nothing exactly imaged by these words, but rather a sort of "head-man," a man more prominent and powerful than others.

[6] See "Tar-Baby" in Uncle Remus, his Songs and Sayings, p. 7. Also "Puss in Boots" in Lang's Cinderella, p. 36.

[7] See "Uncle Remus" on "Tortoise and the Rabbit," p. 87. Also AEsop's Fables, p. 162.

[8] The incident of Ca Boo-Ug pretending that he did not wish to be thrown into the water is similar to an incident in the "Tar Baby" story (see Uncle Remus, his Songs and Sayings, p. 16).

[9] Juan Puson, or "Jack Paunch," as he would be called in English, is a favorite character in Tagalog folk-lore. His adventures are considered to be the height of humor, and a recital of these never fails to be repaid with peals of appreciative laughter. The character is merely a conventional one, to which all sorts of stories, no matter how inconsistent with each of the others, may be attached. Some of the accounts, which deal with the death of Juan and various members of his family by burning, the writer has suppressed as too coarse for Western ideas.

[10] Anac, child.

[11] Anac hang gabi, young root of the caladium plant. It also means "child of the night."

[12] Any kind of relish to be eaten with rice, meat especially.

[13] Tuba, fermented juice of cocoa, buri, or nipa palms.

[14] "Lightning blast the stick!"

[15] The Tagalog word is literally "hash."

[16] This story is probably derived from a Spanish version of "The Forty Thieves," but like all the stories of this collection, it is from an oral version of the Tagalog tale.

[17] Filipinos do not kiss like Occidental peoples, but touch the tip of the nose, with sometimes the lips, and inhale the fragrance of the face or hair.

[18] Native houses of the poorer classes are very slightly built, of four or six uprights, with bamboo floors and thatched roof and sides, the whole tied together with rattan. They are very safe in earthquakes.

[19] "Honorable people."

[20] Malapad—a copper piece worth about eighty to the peso or 0.0125 Mexican dollars.

[21] Sec-apat—a real or one eighth of a peso.

[22] Pallok—rice pot of earthenware.

[23] This story is rather suggestive of the Arabian Nights. The writer in unable to determine its true source.

[24] Tabo: a cocoanut shell cup.

[25] Sinio: corrupted from Sp. genio; Eng. genius.

[26] Multo: genius; etymology unknown.

[27] The general name for a story, of whatever type.

[28] Among the Bagobo the name "diwata" is used rather as a collective than as a specific term, and refers to the gods in general, or to any one of them. Pamulak Manobo, creator of the earth, is the diwata here referred to.

[29] In Malayan-Arabic tradition, Adam was moulded from a lump of clay mixed with water (cf. W. W. Skeat, Malay Magic [1900], pp. 21-22); but the suggestion may as well have come from a Jesuit story.

[30] Tuglay, the "old man" of Bagobo myth, and Tuglibung, the "old woman," were the Mona, who lived on the earth before time began. Tradition says that they were acquainted with only the rudest of Bagobo arts and industries; that they were very poor, and dressed themselves in the soft sheath torn from the cocoanut-trees. Tuglay and Tuglibung are not specific, but general, names for all those old people of the tales.

[31] The Malaya of the peninsula have a similar tradition as to the snake element (cf. Skeat, l.c., p. 6).

[32] The name "Mona" is ordinarily applied to the old man as well as to the old woman of prehistoric days.

[33] A generic name for the old man of the ancient myths. The word seems to be related to tugul ("old"), which is used only of persons. "An old thing" is tapi.

[34] With ready ease the Bagobo incorporates elements that have come from Catholic sources, yet without breaking the thread of his narrative.

[35] A tradition of the first peopling of Mindanao was found by Mr. Cole at Cibolan. Cf. The Philippine Journal of Science, vol. vi, pp. 128-129 (1911).

[36] Hemp warp that has been laced in a banded pattern before dyeing, in order to produce decorative figures In a textile, is called binubbud. After the binding-threads are clipped, there is an effect of rippling in the hemp, of which curly hair is suggestive.

[37] Such auspicious white spots are referred to in the text of a Bagobo song (in manuscript), in which the Divine Man who lives at the source of the streams is said to have the pamoti on his body.

[38] A well-made box of hard wood in which fine garments are kept.

[39] A long, one-edged sword that hangs at the left side, in an elaborate scabbard, when a man is in full-dress.

[40] Men (ta, "the;" -g-, a formal or euphonic infix; selat, "door;" k' [ka], "of;" alo, "sun") at the door of the sun. Manobo is a general term for "man," "people."

[41] The Visayans believe that an eclipse of the moon is caused by an enormous animal that seizes the moon, and holds her in his mouth. Cf. this Journal, vol. xix (1906), p. 209.

[42] Large percussion instruments made by the Chinese, imported from Singapore into Mindanao, and widely used by the wild tribes.

[43] The first of mortals to reach heaven, and become a god (cf. the "Story of Lumabat and Wari"). In the tales that I have thus far collected, Lumabat does not figure as a culture-hero.

[44] The word indicating the relationship between brother and sister, each of whom is tube' to the other, whether elder or younger.

[45] The mortar in which rice is pounded is a large, deep wooden bowl that stands in the house. With its standard, it is three feet or more in height.

[46] The place below the earth where the dead go (gimokud, "spirit;" -an, plural ending); that is, [the place of] many spirits.

[47] The same word is used of the ceremonial washing at the festival of G'inum. Ordinary bathing is padigus.

[48] See footnote 3, p. 15, also 3, p. 16.

[49] This is also an element in Visayan myth (cf. Maxfield and Millington's collection in this Journal, vol. xx [1907], p. 102). For the Malay tradition, cf. Skeat, Malay Magic, p. 205.

[50] See footnote 1, p. 18.

[51] A synonyme for Gimokudan ("the city of the dead"). It is not ordinarily associated in the mind of the Bagobo with any idea of retribution. This episode shows traces of Jesuit influence.

[52] See footnote 1, p. 15.

[53] The popular name "betel-nut," has been retained in these stories to designate the fruit of the areca-palm. Strictly speaking, "betel" is the leaf of a climbing plant (buyo) that is chewed with the nut.

[54] The solid part of the betel-nut that remains after the juice has been extracted by long chewing.

[55] A sort of bridge or platform connecting the main body of the native house with the shelter that serves as kitchen, when this is separate from the living-room.

[56] A fabulous bird, probably associated with the screech-owl (Aluco candidus) of the Philippines. It is a bird of ill-omen. Compare A. Newton, Dictionary of Birds, pp. 679-680 (1893-96).

[57] General term for "man," "people."

[58] The ulit has a stereotyped opening with the phrase unda'me (unda ume), "no year."

[59] The fabulous source of all the mountain-streams

[60] The anthropomorphic and zooemorphic evil personalities, whose number is legion. The traditional concept of Buso among the Bagobo has essentially the same content as that of Asuang with Visayan peoples. Both Buso and Asuang suggest the Rakshasa of Indian myth.

[61] See footnote 2, p. 19.

[62] Bia, "lady;" t' (to), "the;" metum, "black."

[63] A stout work-knife, with broad, one-edged blade, and square tip; used to hew down trees, and cut kindling-wood.

[64] A term regularly used of the great Malaki, and combining the sense of "all-wise" and "invincible." Matulus is often used with a connotation of having magical power.

[65] See footnote 3, p. 15, also 3, p. 16.

[66] The number sacred in ceremonial and song.

[67] See footnote 2, p. 16.

[68] Visayan word for rice growing in the field; Bagobo, 'ume.

[69] The long sword of the Moro, with a wavy, two-edged blade.

[70] The Babogo say, that, before the invention of weaving hemp, all the people clothed themselves in the soft, inflammable layers of the sheath that envelops the trunk of cocoanut-palms.

[71] The semi-divine being who dwells at the mythical source of the mountain-streams (malaki, "good man;" t' [to], "the;" oluk, "source;" waig, "water"), Traditionally there are many of these malaki, devotionally there is but one.

[72] A very hard, fine-grained wood susceptible of high polish, in color grading, according to age, from yellow to golden tan, and used to make handles for the most valuable swords.

[73] These gods are of high rank. Salamia'wan occupies the second heaven, and Panguli'li, the ninth.

[74] Malaki who lives at the horizon (lindig, "border;" ramut, "root;" ka, preposition "of;" langit, "sky").

[75] Although the name malaki properly is limited to men of high moral character, yet actually the story-teller calls all the young men malaki round whom the action centres. Often it means simply an unmarried man.

[76] A typical Malay house presents the appearance of a pile-dwelling, the floor being raised several feet above the ground, and tied to the heavy upright timbers which run to the roof and form the framework of the house.

[77] Short trousers of hemp, usually embroidered and beaded.

[78] Short jacket of hemp (ka, "of;" mama, "man," "boy," the specific term for "man").

[79] Brass-smith.

[80] A title of respect, which is best rendered by "lady" or "senora."

[81] Brass toe-rings, corresponding to the paninsing ("finger-rings").

[82] See footnote 1, p. 29.

[83] Rock-terrace (-an, plural ending; ka, "of;" karamag. "wind") of the Wind.

[84] Terraces (walu, "eight;" lapit, "folded;" dukilum, "night," "darkness") of Eight-fold Darkness.

[85] Udan ("rain").

[86] A large carrying-bag worn by Bagobo men on the back, by means of straps over the shoulders. It is woven of hemp, often heavily beaded, and contains the betel-box, the lime-tube, and a tight case of woven rattan for flint, steel, medicine, and other necessaries.

[87] The leaf of a vine that is chewed with betel-nut.

[88] Dulama ("soft rock"). This rock formation appears to be a cuesta structure.

[89] An embroidery done by old women in former days, but now almost a lost art. Tambayang was used for the uppers of sleeves for fiesta, and it formed the scarf worn by mothers to carry the baby. There is a taboo on young women doing this special sort of needlework.

[90] The "small boy" of the ancient tales (ulit), who in some magical manner becomes great.

[91] See footnote 4, p, 26.

[92] See footnote 2, p. 20.

[93] Bia, "lady;" inelu, "orphan,"—the orphan lady Itanawa.

[94] When a Bagobo makes an expedition over the mountains to attend a fiesta, he wears his old clothes, and carries his elaborately ornamented garments in the bag on his back. On nearing the end of the journey, he goes behind a tree, or into the jungle, and puts on his fine clothes.

[95] A box with three compartments,—for betel-nut, buyo-leaf, and calcined shell,—cast in brass or bell-metal from a wax mould. This type has rectangular surfaces, and is to be distinguished from the kapulan, a type marked by its circular, or elliptical, or polygonal top and base.

[96] It is the custom of the natives to wait for the host to say, "Come up," before mounting the ladder or notched log leading to the door.

[97] The reference here is a little ambiguous. It is suggested that a transposition of clauses may throw light on the meaning. Transposed and expanded, the invitation would read thus: "Come up into the house for shelter, since there are many showers in my town. Come up, provided you can keep from bringing on a fight."

[98] The good man [of the] Folded Mountains (taglapida, "folded;" pabungan, "mountains").

[99] Lindig, "border;" ramut, "root;" ka, preposition "of;" langit, "sky."

[100] A low-growing tree yielding a black dye, which for a very long time has been used by women to color hemp.

[101] A bead necklace, the most highly valued of all Bagobo ornaments. One section is a gold or silver cord, several inches long. made of small over-lapping scales of the precious metal. The necklace is thought to be of Moro manufacture, and is valued by the Bagobo at from one to four agongs.

[102] See footnote 4, p. 32.

[103] A trial-marriage before the Bagobo ceremony is not uncommon.

[104] The tree that bears betel-nuts, and is commonly called "betel-nut tree."

[105] Possibly a form of kambin ("goat"); diluk ("little"); i.e., "little goat," a name that would be selected readily by a Bagobo for a fleet horse.

[106] See footnote 2, p. 15.

[107] One of the Agamidae.

[109] The same word is used for the reflection in the water and for the shadow cast on the ground, since both phenomena are regarded as manifestations of the same spirit (gimokud).

[110] The Mona were aged people, without sexual passions; hence this episode presents a situation out of the ordinary.

[111] A small bird that steals grain from the growing corn and rice. A clapper of split bamboo is sometimes made to scare away the maya.

[112] One of the thick-branching trees haunted by demons.

[113] A native sweet-potato. The Bagobo name is kasila.

[114] See footnote 2, p. 39.

[115] Buso is saying a charm to make the stem of the bagkang-plant grow tall enough to form a handle for the betel-nut tree, so that the children may be dragged down (tubu, "grow;" baba, "rattan strap forming the basket-handle;" mamaa'n, "betel-nut"). The children, for their part, say other magic words to make the tree grow at an equally rapid rate, so that its branches may swing above the bagkang as a handle for it. The Buso's formula appears to have been the more effective of the two charms in producing a magically rapid growth.

[116] See footnote 1, p. 18.

[117] See footnote 2, p. 30.

[118] See footnote 1, p. 30.

[119] See footnote, p. 25.

[120] The S'iring are said to appear in the likeness of some near relative of the wanderer in the forest (s-, prefix widely used by mountain Bagobo before an initial vowel of a proper name; iring, "like" or "similar to").

[121] The family altar seen in many Bagobo houses. It consists of two slim rods of bamboo (attached to the wall, and standing upright), split at the upper ends so as to support each a bowl of white crockery, in which offerings of betel-nut, brass bracelets, and other objects, are placed. Similar shrines are sometimes put up under trees or by a mountain-stream.

[122] Red peppers and a piece or two of lemon laid under the house are effective in keeping Buso away from that vicinity; and the use of the same charm here against the S'iring suggests that the S'iring may not be separated by a very sharp line from the Buso who crowd the forests.

[123] Tadu ("wax"), ka (preposition "of"), petiukan ("bees").

[124] This bird, often called a "hornbill" by foreigners in the Philippines, is probably the halcyon kingfisher (Ceyx euerythra) of the islands. The ground hornbill is confined to Africa; and the tree hornbill of the Philippines does not make its nest at the foot of trees, as in this story.

[125] A mountain-plant whose stem has a thin, glossy, black sheath, that is stripped off and used in twisting the decorative leglet called tikus.

[126] In a strict sense, the term malaki is never applied to a man, unless he is young, unmarried, and perfectly chaste. But this technical use is not always preserved.

[127] Small bells cast from a hand-made wax mould, and extensively used for decorating baskets, bags, belts, etc.

[128] See footnote 1, p. 38.

[129] See footnote 2, p. 28.

[130] The good soul that goes to the city of the dead, and continues to live much as on earth. The gimokud tebang, or bad soul, becomes a Buso after death.

[131] The "lion" is borrowed from some foreign source, since in the Philippines there are no large carnivorous mammals.

[132] The so-called "chameleon" of the Malay Peninsula and the Malay Islands is Calotes, one of the Agamidae (cf. H. Gadow, Amphibia and Reptiles, pp. 517-518).

[133] A semi-aquatic lizard of the Philippines that lays edible eggs, and otherwise answers to the description of the Varanus, or Monitor.

[134] This story, in an abbreviated form, was found by Clara Kern Bayliss at Laguna (cf. this Journal, vol. xxi, p. 46 (1908)).

[135] Roro, "slide;" s prefix (euphonic or formal, used by mountain Bagobo before vowels and many consonant sounds, as the labial p here); punno, "tortoise."

[136] Langag, "look;" -ka (suffix, second person nominative), "you;" pudung, "shut;" -nu (pronominal suffix), "your;" yan (demonstrative pronoun), "that," "those;" mata, "eyes."

[137] Luit (transitive verb and noun), "peel," "shell;" -ko (suffix, first person pronominal). "I;" 'ni (abbreviated from ini), "this," "here." in sense of "at hand;" sebad. "one;" abok, "piece;" saging, "banana."

[138] See footnote 5, p. 32.

[139] A white powder (calcined shell) that is sprinkled on the betel-nut. It is made by burning certain shells to ashes, and mixing with water.

[140] The stem of a mountain-plant that is chewed in lack of betel-nut. It blackens the teeth, like betel.

[141] Basio', term used of any old palma brava tree that has been broken down or felled, and lies on the ground (supa, "drag," "lower;" tapo, "penis").

[142] A short, pointed iron tool; used to punch ornamental designs in brass ornaments, especially bracelets and leglets.

[143] In a slightly different version, the tortoise tells the monkeys to bore into his ear with the tiuk, a brass wire that forms a part of the hinge of a betel-box.

[144] The distal opening of the urethra.

[145] A small edible fruit with an acid pulp and red-and-white skin.

[146] A light-weight bamboo with slender, thorny branches, very inflammable, and used where a rapid-burning and intense fire is needed (bale ["house"], kayo ["wood"]). This wood is extensively used in building the lighter parts of the framework of a house.

[147] This story came to the Bagobo from a young man of the Ata tribe, whose habitat is the mountainous country in the interior, to the northwest of the Gulf of Davao.

[148] "Alelu'k" and "Alebu'tud" are Ata names, for which the Bagobo forms are respectively Bungen and Batol.

[149] The long handle or rod of a spear, tipped with a sharp-pointed iron cone; equally useful for killing animals, and, driven into the ground, for supporting the spear when at rest. The same name (tidalan) is applied to the shaft of a spear lacking the blade, and carried by old people like a mountain-staff.

[150] A vessel formed of a single internode of bamboo, in which water is brought from the river, and kept in the house.

THE END