The Biag ni Lam-ang, an Ilocano Epic, stands as an emblematic pillar of Philippine folklore, encapsulating the rich narrative fabric woven through the ages. This enduring tale, chronicled as the oldest Philippine folk epic recorded from amongst the Christian Filipino communities, resonates through time from its earliest documentation by Fr. Gerardo Blanco to Isabelo de los Reyes. Published serially in the late 19th century, it has received numerous treatments and translations, spotlighting its pivotal cultural significance. Notably, its reiteration in awit form became exceptionally popular, embedding itself deeply within the cultural consciousness. Among the various versions, the translation by L.Y. Yabes in 1935 into English has gained widespread recognition, marking an important milestone in preserving and broadening the reach of this epic narrative. This translation not only serves as a bridge between generations but also offers a window into the vibrant, mystical world of Lam-ang, enriched with a plethora of cultural references and nuances. As this article unfolds, it will delve into the myriad facets of the Biag ni Lam-ang English Version form, exploring its historical roots, cultural significance, thematic depth, and its enduring legacy in both local and global contexts.
| Question | Answer |
|---|---|
| Form Name | Biag Ni Lam English Version Form |
| Form Length | 40 pages |
| Fillable? | No |
| Fillable fields | 0 |
| Avg. time to fill out | 10 min |
| Other names | biag ni lam ang full story with pictures tagalog, biag ni lam ang full story pdf, biag ni lam ang pdf, biag ni lam ang buong kwento |
Ilocano Epic
1
THE LIFE OF
This ebook is made available by
Pantas Project Philippines
w w w . p a n t a s . p h
2
Ilocano Epic
THE LIFE OF
(Ilocano Epic)
The Ilocano Biag ni
published it serially in El Ilocano from December 1889 to February 1890, with a Spanish translation in prose, and also reprinted it in his El Folklore Filipino, Vol. 2 (Manila: Imprenta de Santa Cruz, 1890), under the title “Vida de
Coming to light as it did just when the awits and corridos (metrical romances) were becoming very popular, the story of
(Source: Damiana L. Eugenio, (ed.). Philippine Folk Literature: an Anthology, Philippines :Folklore Studies Program and The U.P.
Folklorists, Inc. , 1982.)
3
THE LIFE OF
THE LIFE OF
Translated by Angelito L. Santos
Listen then while I narrate at length
The life of
Because his mother conceived him that month.
She did not abstain from any edible fruit;
Tamarind fruits tender and thin as bamboo strings,
Kamias, daldaligan
Oranges and pomelos;
Butcher fish, striped bass, fishes of all sorts;
Clams and bivalves big as plates,
Maratangtang and sea urchins; Sea algae, aragan and arosip;
Shucked oysters, crayfish caught with net;
Blue crabs baited with salelem,
Deer tracked down and killed, boar trapped, All of these she tasted on her eating binge.
Until Namongan, the woman Unnayan,
Wife of Don Juan Panganiban,
Was done conceiving.
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Ilocano Epic
And when they had made whole
A new soul,
Her womb grew bigger.
“Listen, my husband Don Juan, Go check on our bamboo groves In the mountain of Capariaan.
“Then make me my reclining bed
The bed I shall use
Right after giving birth.
“Being
The custom cannot be gainsaid.
So go cut me some mature bamboo shoots.”
He prepared to leave and once there
Went around the grove.
Then he hailed the strong winds.
As well as the torrential rains
And cavernous clouds.
Lightning and thunder came in waves,
Hitting the groves again and again Till it looked like the choicest shoots
Had been cut down by a trained bamboo cutter.
“It is unseemly, such a shame For me to carry you, bamboos.”
They thus went ahead, Don Juan behind them.
Having reached the home he came down from,
In the town of Nalbuan,
The bamboos rearranged themselves in the yard.
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THE LIFE OF
“My husband Don Juan,
Let my reclining bed be of hardwood:
This part of molave and gastan;
“That part of dangla and guava, Whose barks have been skinned,
Then buy me a pot, husband Don Juan,
And a stove to heat my bathwater.
And a
For our child’s umbilical cord.”
And having procured all these, he trekked
To the blackest mountain, upstream,
To fight the Igorots there.
And when her time came
To deliver the blood made whole,
There was not one who was not called:
The
The diver Marcos; Pasho the rich man. Since none of them could induce delivery.
They remembered the woman
Shrivelled with age,
For she was known for her strong fingers.
The baby started to talk as soon as the old woman delivered him.
“Namungan, my mother,
Let my name be
“And let old man Guibuan be my godfather. Mother, I must also ask you if I have a father; Whether or not I arose like water vapor.”
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Ilocano Epic
“My son,
You were still in my womb when he left, Left for the forest, the place of Igorot.”
My mother Namungan, please let your son go, For I would seek Father whom I came from.”
“Ah, son,
Please don’t go.
For you legs are like bamboo string. “And your hands are like needles.
And you were born, my son,
Even before your ninth month inside me.”
All the more the brave man
He left for the forest, the place of Igorots.
For he wanted to see the father he sprang from.
For he had with him the stone of sagang, The stone of tangraban, of laolaoigan, A wild carabao’s amulet.
When he passed by a grove of caña vernal,
The shoots bent down
For he also had the amulet of centipede.
Ang having reached the river’s ford,
He spied the tallest tree around, a rancheria,
A landmark of tattooed Igorot country.
He cast his eyes around
And saw this root shaped like a stove
And went to wash his
7
THE LIFE OF
And placed his foot inside it,
The pot of
That cannot suffice for more than one traveller.
Having eaten his fill,
The man
Amiable host to the food, the filling grace.
He rested his shield against his body;
Stuck his spear into the ground by his feet; Unsheathed his campilan from its sheath;
Then fell into a light sleep.
Then came the ghost of his father, saying, “My friend
“Right now they feast around your father’s skull.”
And at once collected his weapons and started to go,
Walking on and on,
Upon reaching the blackest mountain
At Maculili and Dagman,
He went directly to the assembled revelers.
For he had seen his father’s skull facing the east,
Caged in the woven end of a bamboo pole.
“Tattooed Igorots, just tell me
What foul thing my father I came from did.
It is only right that it be paid.”
“Our friend,
It is only right, too,
That you go back to the house
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Ilocano Epic
“You stepped down from.
Or else, you’ll be the next (to die) After the man who was your father.”
“You tattooed Igorots…
I cannot be satisfied (with your number),
You Igorot captain,
“You Bumacas
communicate (thru a letter) with every single one,
(The members of your tribe):
“At Dardarat and Padang,
There in houses at Nueva, Dagodong and Topaan,
There in
“There in Tupinao and Baodan,
Sumbanggue and Luya, Bacong and Sosoba,
There in Tebteb and Caocaoayan.”
They came, having received these notes (from Bumacas)
In a rush, the tattooed Igorots,
From the neighboring towns nearby,
Like chicken attracted to grains thrown to the ground.
Oh, their number indeed was remarkable For one cannot keep count of their number.
He then caressed his stone of
And jumped but once to an open field,
The man
And the man
With his armpits and thighs As well as with both his arms.
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THE LIFE OF
Soon they had crowded around him…
As a moving river (of bobbing heads), so to speak…
The man
And having completely surrounded him, They cut loose on him with all their arms, On the man
Like a torrential rain at dusk,
The spears fell (thickly) on him,
The man
He embraced these crisscrossing spears
As one would accept
And when the tattooed Igorots had run out Of sharpened bamboo poles, spears, lances, But could not hit him even just once,
The man
“Now comes my turn,
I unsheath you, campilan,
He struck the ground with this.
Ang the earth which stuck to the blade of the campilan,
This he ate—
A stick of rice cake So long and large—
So their incantations would not affect him.
“Tattooed Igorots, watch me closely now.”
He beckoned to the south wind
And with it lunged at once at them.
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Ilocano Epic
As though felling down banana trunks,
His bolo bit into flesh two ways, swung left or right,
The man
They were mowed down in an instant,
Only one tattooed Igorot was left unharmed, Whom he mocked at, then pinned down.
“Now comes your end.”
He slashed at his mouth, his eyes; Cut off his ears, arms and legs.
He then let him loose, the tattooed Igorot,
Who received no mercy at his hands.
“That your relatives and your tribe may all see you.
“And your carabao’s amulet (help me) For I now bind the lances and spears, My booty and trophy from the Igorot.
“And now I leave you, battleground.” The blood flowed from the dead Igorots Like the Vigan river.
He prepared to leave, the man
To his mother Namungan.
And having reached the town of Nalbuan:
“Mother Namungan, if I may ask,
What foulness he perpetrated,
The father I sprang from?”
“My son,
If it is your father you speak of,
We never quarrelled, not even once.”
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THE LIFE OF
“Mother Namungan, strike the langgan
That my younger sisters May all come to my aid,
“The maidens numbering twice nine,
Nine times nine.
That they may shampoo my curly locks.
“At the Amburayan river.
For it had become quite dusty;
During the
“Mother Namungan, Do let us pay a visit
To the old barn with molave posts,
“Floored with derraan and polished bellaang.
And please ask them to sweep off the barn’s door, The dead cockroaches, spiders, and their mess.
“For nine years have passed
Since we last visited
Our palay called samusam,
“Buan and languingan, Lumanus and lampadan,
Maratectec and macan, gaygaynet and balasang.”
And having looked over the barn:
“Young maidens, pull out the panicles
From each name (of rice variety).”
“And thresh these.
And what grains one accumulates thus
Is already hers to keep.”
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Ilocano Epic
And this was done.
“Young sisters, bind the straws. Get also the coconut shell tong
“And pick some embers with it.
And younger sisters, please, Return the charcoal later,
“For it is of paticalang wood.
At the Amburayan river we shall bathe.”
At the riverbank,
He cast his eyes around and soon saw The bubbles made by the crocodile.
“My young sisters, burn the rice straw.”
Since the straw could not burn,
And the straw burst into flames.
The people of San Juan were alarmed
By the sparks that reached them;
The people of Bacnotan ran
Thinking there was a conflagration,
And when they could not control the fire,
He beckoned to the torrential rain
And the cloud shaped like a precipice. Lightning and thunder came in waves And only then was the fire extinguished.
“Younger sisters, please do not worry while waiting
For I’ll just swim awhile
And play with the largest crocodile.”
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THE LIFE OF
Unaware that the crocodile
Had gone downstream,
While he went upstream.
And then he went downstream,
They soon spotted each other
And began to fight.
And in one thrust subdued it.
Then, he carried it on his back,
And beached it,
“Younger sisters, take its teeth for a necklace For they can be amulets when one travels; Younger sisters we must now return
To the house we came down from.”
“Mother Namungan please pay
The wages of these, my younger sisters
A peso for each step, coming from
And back to the house.”
And this having been done:
“Mother Namungan, please open the second room.
And therefrom get my most valuable clothes.
“I must change my clothes…
Into my striped trousers, embroidered shirt
And ornate handkerchief.”
This done:
“Please open also the third room And take from there the gold.
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Ilocano Epic
Bulaoan of nine coils which breaks
When exposed to the sun
Whose heat is intense enough to sting one’s heel.
“I am going to tie my white rooster,
And my hairy dog.
“For I am going to play at Calanutian
Where Doña Ines Cannuyan lives
As news has it…
“A
Who can spin nine spools overnight.”
“My son, brave man
Please don’t go yet
For you do not look like one
Whom Doña Ines Cannuyan
“Can fall in love with. For her suitors are many Including a number of Spaniards.
“Yet she has not favored any of them
With even just a glance.
And look at you…
“Can you be the one to win her love?”
“Mother Namungan, I must go. I must enter the competition.
“At the town of Calanutian,
Who knows, Doña Ines Cannoyan
May look on me with favor.”
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THE LIFE OF
“My son
This town is full of nubile maidens,
And you can take your pick from them.”
This is what the man
I cannot choose anyone;
“Not one of the maidens you speak off.
So please don’t detain me
For I must, will go.”
“My son
Please tarry longer.
For they may drench you.
“With
Spare yourself the embarrassment.”
The white rooster then said,
As well as the
“Our mistress Namungan, we dreamt last night
That Doña Ines Cannoyan.
Cannot help becoming your
“Mother, please take out the oil
Just heated yesterday
“So I may anoint my
And we may both look our best
When we go to the town of Calanutian.
“Mother, please hand me
The nine coils of gold bulaoan.” And having received the gold coils,
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Ilocano Epic
He tied his white rooster
Ang his hairy dog as well.
And the task completed,
He prepared to leave.
He carried his cock, the
“May God remain with you.
“My son
Having heard out the advice,
To Calanutian, the town of Doña Ines Cannoyan.
He walked untiringly
And midway to his destination,
Encountered the man Sumarang
Whose eyes were big as plates
And whose nose was wide as two wheels.
This is what he at once said:
“My friend, brave man
Where are you headed for?
Which forest do you intend to trap in?
“Which mountain do you intend to hunt in?
My friend
Replied
“My friend Sumarang, may I also ask
Where you came from—
The town, the locality you visited?”
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THE LIFE OF
Said Sumarang:
“Since you ask me, I came from the north,
The town of Calanutian.
“I went there to compete
For the hand of Doña Ines Cannoyan.”
“Where you came from There I also intend to go.
With the same purpose, my friend Sumarang.”
And he added:
“My friend Sumarang,
We must go now our separate ways.
“For I must go now to Calanutian to compete—
Who knows, I may be chosen by Doña Ines Cannoyan.”
“You need not go on your way.
“You cannot be, with your looks,
One Doña Ines Cannoyan can possibly choose. So many rich men and Spaniards are there already.
“And Doña Ines Cannoyan has yet To look out her window for anyone.
I say it again: It is futile
“For you to continue your journey.”
Sumarang (suddenly added):
“Prepare for your end
“And try defending yourself
From my spear—
It will be too bad if you can’t catch
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Ilocano Epic
“My hooked spear.” Said
“Do what you will, I await your move.”
Sumarang threw his spear
To his friend,
With his little and ring fingers
As though it were betel nut
Proferred by a maiden.
Then,
He twirled it nine times
Around his neck and body.
“My friend Sumarang
I will return to you your spear
For I don’t want to be in your debt.
“What you handed to me is too hot
Though its handle is cold The handle of your spear.
“My firend Sumarang
Now wait for its coming
If you don’t beware
“Your corpse will be littered hereabout
by this weapon which now comes
By your leave.”
The brave man
He waved at the seawinds.
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THE LIFE OF
Then, simultaneously,
He let go of his spear
Across nine hills.
“That’s how bad manners end up. Friend Sumarang, now I must depart From this, our battleground.”
He carried his white rooster
And prepared to leave.
He had walked a long way
When he came across the house
Of the maiden Saridandan.
She said:
“Older brother, do stop by.
Please hurry up
And let me embrace you.
“For so long has she pined for you
The woman Saridandan. Her eyes have grown tired
“Keeping watch from this front window
For your appearance.
The betel leaves have since dried
“At the tray which held them
In anticipation of your coming.” This is what Saridandan said.
“Ah, woman Saridandan,
Try not to detain me any longer.
It would be futile.
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Ilocano Epic
“I must go to the town of Calanutian And try to meet Doña Ines Cannoyan.” Saridandan said:
“How could you do that, older brother? Why can’t you accede to my request?” He prepared to go, the man
And soon he approached the town
Of Calanutian.
So many were the competitors
That one can easily lose sight
Of one’s companion.
One can easily walk on the heads
Of the suitors
Without missing a step.
It would be easy to plant palay
In the holes made by the spears on the ground.
One can even transplant rice there
Since the sputum of the suitors were so thick.
“Where Doña Ines Cannoyan is wont
To take a walk?”
He opted to go between the legs
Of the massed suitors.
And the man
Reached the middle of the yard.
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THE LIFE OF
He set down his chicken, the white rooster.
It flapped its wings once
And the outhouse fell into shambles,
Prodding Doña Ines Cannoyan to look
Out her window
His hairy dog then howled
And the outhouse was restored;
Worn parts became new;
What was already torn was restored.
Her parents then said:
“Our daughter Cannoyan, wear your best dress
For your older brother
Dressed up, Doña Ines Cannoyan stepped down And walked to the outhouse towards
The Spaniards and the rich Ilocanos
Were shamefaced when they saw her thus
Cannoyan said:
“Sir
“And let us embrace.
For the woman Cannoyan Has long pined for you.
“And sir, let us go to the house
With the bamboo roof,
Which, being of the thin and delicate variety,
“Can break beneath the hot sun And therefore needs the shade” Of the biggest tree in the yard.
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Ilocano Epic
Having gone up the hut:
“Father, to whom I owe my life, Please bring out the golden chair
“Plated with bulaoan gold
Made by people from the north.” And everyone having taken a seat:
“Mother Namungan, to whom I owe my life,
Please cook some rice On the pot for one.
“A pot of
Which can allow for others on their way
To share of its inexhaustible bounty.
“For it is only right
That we prepare food
For brave man Don
“Father to whom I owe my life Please catch the caponed rooster Fattened for my older brother
The food cooked, they sat down
To eat at the dining table
From the same plate with their fingers. Where Cannoyan pinched her food There also did
And where
There also did Cannoyan.
The luncheon over, Cannoyan said:
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THE LIFE OF
“Mother Namungan,
Please pick some betel leaves Which smile when approached
“So we may offer a chew To older brother
Mother, please roll, too
“Some tabarcan tobacco Planted east of Cagayan.”
This over, her parents spoke thus:
“Our son
Why you came;
What you wish, what you desire.”
The white rooster replied thus:
“We have come to compete for the devotion
Of your daughter, Ines Cannoyan.”
“Respected elders,
Subject to your judgment,
We come to unite our families.”
This is what it said, the
“Our son
“If you can fulfill
All that we assign to you
You can marry our Cannoyan;
“If your means allow you
To match the wealth
We shall enumerate for you.”
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Ilocano Epic
The
“If that’s what you say, respected elders,
“All your desires and requirements.”
“My son
“Let the footpath be of gold At the middle of the yard; The butchering blocks, too.
“And my son
Look at the entirety Of the front yard;
“There are two carved roosters; Four carved hens; two shrimps. Swimming upstream as it were.
“Let these be all of gold. Now, my son
And imagine two pomelos Also of pure bulaoan gold— These are Cannoyan’s playthings.
“And also these spinning paraphernalia,
The tectec and the
And the gong, the longgangan, too,
“And all the clotheslines—
Let these all be
Of bulaoan gold.”
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THE LIFE OF
Cannoyan’s mother then added:
“Our son
What you have told me to match
“Cannot exhaust my inheritance;
Not even just the stocks in my fishponds
If sold wholesale.
“And I have in mind
Only the fishpond
Other than those I expropriated
“From the Igorots I conquered.
It is not even a ninth part
Of my inheritance
“From my great grandfathers Both paternal and maternal.
But should the man
“I still have two boats of bulaoan gold
That periodically ferry chinaware
Direct from China.
“For the king of
Of China,
Is my relative and friend,
“Right now, one of my boats, a sampan,
I believe is on its way back With its chinaware cargo.”
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Ilocano Epic
This is what they then said:
“Our son
That you go back now
“To the house you stepped down from
At the town of Nalbuan
So you may inform your mother.”
And you (gracious) Unnayan,
“When I return you shall hear
The cannon I shall fire
At Sabangan.”
And walked briskly to his town, Nabuan,
The man
The woman Cannoyan then said: “Father to whom I owe my life And mother Unnayan,
“Do let us decorate the streets please
Till Sabangan
Just as we do during Corpus Christi.”
Then they said to Cannoyan, Both her father and mother:
“Daughter Cannoyan, all your wishes shall be done.”
Soon,
“My mother Namungan, How are you at my arrival?
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THE LIFE OF
“I am back from Calanutian.”
“My son
And this cannot be repaid.
“Your mother is hale and strong. Now must I ask about your trip— What came of it.”
The
“Cannoyan is now
your
Then said
“Please strike the longgangan, the gong
To summon all our townmates.
“That they may ride our two boats And fill it, too, with bowls and plates; Big and small pans,
“And drinking glasses
Which can double as mirrors.”
When his townmates had assembled,
“Townmates, please come to my wedding feast;
We will ride in my two boats.”
And when the needed things had been loaded: “My townmates, please go on board one by one.” When each one had boarded the boat,
Each of his townmates,
Then spoke
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Ilocano Epic
“Please take with you all
Those that Cannoyan shall wear:
The slippers embroidered with bulaon
“As well as her mounted ring.
Take also the two combs And her two bracelets.”
His mother took all these
And wrapped them for Cannoyan,
Her
“Mother, let us go now on board
One of the ships.”
Once on board the boat,
The sails were at once unfurled.
Since there was no wind, the ships refused to budge.
And at once,
Both ships were launched.
Near Sabangan,
To let Doña Ines Cannoyan
Know of their arrival.
Cannoyan at once said:
“Father to whom I owe my life
And my mother Unnayan,
“My older brother, the man
I heard his signal fired from Sabangan.
Let us now hasten to meet the brave man
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THE LIFE OF
They hastened
To the cheeks of Sabangan bay.
And by the time they arrived there,
The brave man
“Hurry up, now, give me your hands.
“For the woman Cannoyan
Missed you so much.
Let all your relatives and townmates
“Disembark at once
And wear the clothes I prepared for them—
What one wears, she may keep,”
Announced Cannoyan
To
The two
And Namungan deferred
To the other thus:
“My sister, Madam Unnayan,
“It is only proper that we return
To the house you came down from;
At your town Calanutian.”
They left for the house
They came down from.
And their arrival marked the end
Of
Of Cannoyan.
Came Monday morning
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Ilocano Epic
And Ines donned her best clothes:
Her embroidered slippers;
Her mounted ring;
Her five combs and two bracelets.
So also did
Embroidered trousers,
Dyed shirt and serrated handkerchief. And as they stepped down the stair The band played.
The joyous ringing of the bells— A mingling of low and high notes— Signalled their journey to the church.
The parish priest met them at the churchyard.
And soon the ceremony of coin and veils
Were done.
The mass over,
They stood up and went out,
The man
“Sister, my friend,
Let us commence the procession.” A gun barked with every step of Ines.
The gun of
A shade of smoke.
And when the wedding party reached home,
A multitude trooped as on a field
To the feast of
The Calanutian folks
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THE LIFE OF
Soon all were dancing.
Together with the townmates of
Soon, everyone was dancing
Fandango and sagamantica.
Soon, the refreshments
Were exhausted.
The cooks, by then, were ready And laid out the buffet tables:
“All of you, townmates
“Come and partake
Of the grace all laid out for you.”
And the townmates of
Ate on the same tables. “Listen to what I say— One may keep his plate.
“Even wrap up food to take home.”
The meal over,
The townspeople doubled back to the dancefloor.
“My friend
May I see you walk again; How you carry yourself.
“Should you be less than perfect,
I have the mind
To give you back to your mother.
“Let us repair
To the
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Ilocano Epic
The woman Cannoyan,
When they had gone upstairs,
Again teased him.
“Respected
May I see how you walk; How you carry yourself.
“If your manner of walking fails to impress me,
I shall certainly return you To the care of your mother.”
He took five steps
And Cannoyan then said:
“Respected
“How ungainly you look
Your trousers threaten to fall
And your bowlegs
“Make you sluggish.”
“Madam Ines Cannoyan, it is the deportment
Of rich men of Nalbuan you see—
“One I am accustomed to affect
With its air of wealth.
And now Madam Ines Cannoyan,
“Let me see how you walk;
The way you look When you walk.”
She took five steps, too.
Then this is what he said,
The man
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THE LIFE OF
“Madam, Doña Ines Cannoyan, I also don’t like your deportment:
Your feet go every which way
“And your bottom thrust out too far in front.”
Then came the two
Saying to each other.
“I would like to know
If her habits are sensible.
Your child, my
Unnayan said:
“Expect her when the moon is new
If she goes out at full moon.
“When she fetches water from the river. She mistakes every drifting leaf for crayfish And turns every stone by the river.”
Unnayan asked in turn:
“May I also ask about your son,
The man
“Speaking of
If he leaves when the moon is new, He returns when the moon is full.
“If he goes to the forest,
He places cloth beneath every bamboo grove
And there sleeps.”
And then, Unnayan said:
“My sister, my friend,
It’s time to go to your home.”
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Ilocano Epic
The townmates of
All went to Sabangan
To board the two ships.
All aboard and the sails set, The boats refused to move
Till
Back in Nalbuan,
Everyone disembarked
And went to the house of Namungan.
The townspeople of bride and groom
Danced again.
Then, they honored Ines Cannoyan
And the man
A dance
All to themselves.
Then they all danced anew
The fandango, waltzs and curacha.
As well as the sagamantica of Pangasinan.
They soon dispersed
And Doña Ines Cannoyan stayed behind
For her mother left without her.
And when Cannoyan’s townfolk had gone,
The incumbent captain
Paid the new couple a visit.
“My friend
To dive for shellfish called rarang.”
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THE LIFE OF
When the captain had left,
This is what the brave man
Said with a sigh:
“My wife Cannoyan, I have been chosen
To dive for shellfish called rarang.
“I have dreamt
That I shall doubtless be eaten
By the shark
“I shall give you a sign: The stairs shall dance; The kitchen shall collapse;
“The stove shall break to pieces.”
When morning came,
Reaching an ideal spot,
He undressed and swam
To where the rarang abounds.
He looked through the crystal waters
Then dived for the shellfish
But failed in his first try.
Surfacing, he tried once more to locate them
And having seen some
Dived once more—
Right into the mouth
Of the fish,
A big
36
Ilocano Epic
And the signs came to pass:
The stairs danced;
The kitchen collapsed;
The stove broke to pieces.
The woman Cannoyan
Then wept.
“My husband Don
Where can you be now. There is none I can hire
“To look for you.”
The woman Cannoyan then sought help
And found Marcos, the diver.
She then tied the white rooster,
The
She also leashed the hairy dog
With the curly locks
Then cradled the white rooster.
She left and soon reached the spot
Where his clothes were.
There at the spot where
Cannoyan cried,
Overwhelmed by sorrow.
The cock comforted her thus:
“Mistress, don’t you worry.
Master
If they can locate his bones.”
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THE LIFE OF
The diver, old man Marcos,
Dived then.
But he failed to find the bones.
The second time he dived,
He found the bones
Where the shark had expelled them.
The cock said:
“Sir, take all the bones and beach them:
None should be missing.”
And when no more bones could be found,
The cock examined the bones closely.
He found nothing missing.
The bones of
Having been completed,
This is what he said:
“I shall turn my back
While you cover the bones
With your skirt.”
The
The rooster shook its wings;
And the bones started to move.
The dog with the curly locks
Howled twice
Then clawed the ground.
As though to bury the bones of
Then the man
Got up at once.
38
Ilocano Epic
“How soundly I slept, my wife Cannoyan,
It’s been seven nights
Since we last slept together.”
“Your sleep, you say,
When the shark only expelled your bones.
And all the signs you told me about
“Were cause for my weeping.
For I couldn’t bear it,
Couldn’t bear losing you.
“Dear husband, Don
Give me your hand:
The woman Cannoyan missed you so much,
“The wife whom you left.”
They fainted together,
Like trees fallen
With excessive longing.
Even Don
For he missed Cannoyan so much.
The man
At seeing once more his cock
And his hairy dog, kissing them both.
Their longing sated,
They prepared to leave.
“That we may reach the house
“We came down from.” Once there,
39
THE LIFE OF
“The old man, the diver.
My wife Cannoyan,
Give him a pile of coins taller than he is.”
This is how it ended, the life of
Now, let me greet all of you present,
In this (recounting) of the life of
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