Philippine Folk Tales | Page 3

Poor Fisherman and His Wife
The Presidente Who Had Horns The Story of a Monkey The White
Squash

Tagalog The Creation Story The Story of Benito The Adventures of
Juan Juan Gathers Guavas
Visayan The Sun and the Moon The First Monkey The Virtue of the
Cocoanut Mansumandig Why Dogs Wag Their Tails The Hawk and the
Hen The Spider and the Fly The Battle of the Crabs
Pronunciation of Philippine Names

TINGUIAN

Introduction
The dim light of stars filtered through the leafy canopy above us, and
the shadowy form of our guide once more appeared at my horse's head.
It was only for an instant, however, and then we were plunged again
into the inky darkness of a tropical jungle.
We had planned to reach the distant Tinguian village in the late
afternoon, but had failed to reckon with the deliberateness of native
carriers. It was only by urging our horses that we were able to ford the
broad Abra ere the last rays of the sun dropped behind the mountains.
And then, in this land of no twilights, night had settled quickly over us.
We had made our way up the mountain-side, through the thick jungle,
only to find that the trail, long imperceptible to us, had escaped even
the keen eyes of our guide. For several hours we wandered about, lost
in the darkness.
On and on we went, through narrow paths, steep in places, and made
rough and dangerous by sharp rocks as well as by those long creepers
of the jungle whose thorny fingers are ever ready to seize horse or rider.
Occasionally we came out of the forest, only to cross rocky mountain
streams; or perhaps it was the same stream that we crossed many times.
Our horses, becoming weary and uncertain of foot, grew more and
more reluctant to plunge into the dark, swiftly flowing water. And our
patience was nearly exhausted when we at last caught sight of dim
lights in the valley below. Half an hour later we rode into Manabo.
I shall never forget that first picture. It was a weird spectacle. Coming
out of the darkness, we were almost convinced that we had entered a

new world. Against the blackness of the night, grass-roofed houses
stood outlined in the dim light of a bonfire; and squatting around that
fire, unclad save for gay blankets wrapped about their shoulders, were
brown-skinned men smoking long pipes, while women bedecked with
bright beads were spinning cotton. As they worked in the flickering
light, they stretched their distaffs at arm's length into the air like
witches waving their wands; and with that the elfland picture was
complete.
In the stillness of the night a single voice could be heard reciting some
tale in a singsong tone, which was interrupted only when peals of
laughter burst forth from the listeners, or when a scrawny dog rose to
bark at an imaginary noise until the shouts of the men quieted him and
he returned to his bed in the warm ashes. Later we learned that these
were the regular social gatherings of the Tinguian, and every night
during the dry season one or more of these bonfires were to be seen in
the village.
After we had attained to the footing of welcome guests in these circles,
we found that a good story-teller was always present, and, while the
men smoked, the women spun, and the dogs slept, he entertained us
with tales of heroes who knew the magic of the betel-nut, or with
stories of spirits and their power over the lives of men.
The following are some of the tales heard first around the camp fire of
the distant mountain village.

Aponibolinayen and the Sun
Tinguian 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 started to pick
the leaves. Pull as hard as she would, however, the leaves did not come
loose, and all at once the vine wound itself around her body and began
carrying her upward. [1]
Far up through the air she went until she reached the sky, and there the
vine set her down under a tree. Aponibolinayen was so surprised to find
herself in the sky that for some time she just sat and looked around, and

then, hearing a rooster crow, she arose to see if she could find it. Not
far from where she had sat was a beautiful spring surrounded by tall
betel-nut trees whose tops were pure gold. Rare beads were the sands of
the spring, and