The Tree with the Agate BeadsTinguianMore than a hundred seasons ago, a Tinguian went one day to the mountains to hunt. Accompanied by his faithful dog, he made his way steadily up the mountain side, only halting where it was necessary to cut a path through the jungle. And the dog ran here and there searching in the thick underbrush.On and on he went without seeing any game, and then, when he was almost at the top of the highest peak, the dog gave a sharp yelp, and out of the brush leaped a fine deer. Zip! went the man’s spear, and it pierced the animal’s side. For an instant he waited, but the deer did not fall. On it ran with unslackened speed, and a moment later it plunged into a hole in the ground with the man and dog in close pursuit.A short distance from the entrance the cave opened out into large, spacious rooms, and before he realized it the man was hopelessly lost In the distance he could hear the baying of the dog, and with no other guide he hurried on through the darkness.Following the sound, he went for a long time from one unfamiliar room to another, stumbling in the darkness and striking against the stone walls, and then suddenly his outstretched hands grasped a small tree on which berries grew.Astonished at finding anything growing in this darkplace, he broke off a branch, and as he did so the shrub began to talk in a strange language. Terrified, the man ran in the direction he had last heard the dog, and a moment later he found himself in the open air on the banks of the Abra River, with the dead deer at his feet.When he examined the twig which he still held in his hand, he saw to his great surprise that the berries were agate beads of great value.81And packing the deer on his back, he hastened home where he told his wonderful story.The sight of the beautiful beads convinced the people that he told the truth, and a number of men at once returned with him to secure the tree.Their quest, however, was unsuccessful, for ere they reached the spot the evil spirit had taken the tree away and on the walls of the cave it had made strange carvings which even to this day can be seen.The Striped BlanketTinguianThree Tinguian once went to the mountains to hunt deer. They took their blankets with them, for they expected to be gone several days, and the nights in the mountains are cold.The blankets of two of the men were of the blue-and-white designs such as are commonly worn by the Tinguian, but that of the third was covered with red and yellow stripes like the back of a little wild pig.At night the men rolled up in their blankets and lay down under a tree to sleep; but while the one in the striped blanket was still awake two spirits came near and saw him.“Oh,” he heard one spirit say to the other, “here we have something to eat, for here is a little wild pig.”Then the man quickly took the blanket off one of his sleeping companions and put his own in its place. Very soon the spirits came and ate the man under the striped blanket.Since that time the Tinguian never sleep under that kind of a blanket if they are where the spirits can get them.The Alan and the HuntersTinguianTwo 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 he reached the place, he found that the fire was in the house of an Alan,82and he was very much afraid; but creeping up into the house, he found that the Alan and her baby were fast asleep.He stepped on tip-toe, but nevertheless the Alan was awakened and called out:“Epogow,83what do you want?”“I should like to get some fire,” said the man, “for we have killed a wild pig.”The Alan gave him the fire, and then taking her basket she went with him to the place where the pig was.After they had singed the animal, the Alan cut it up with her long nails and handed the liver to theman, telling him to take it to her house to feed the baby.The man started, and on the way he ate the liver. When he reached the Alan’s house he did not know what to do. For some time he looked around, and then seeing a large caldron of hot water on the fire, he threw the baby into it and went back.“Did the baby eat well?” asked the Alan.“Very well,” said the man.Then she put most of the meat into her basket and started home. As soon as she had gone, the man told his companion what he had done, and they were so frightened that they ran to hide.When the Alan reached home and found the baby dead in the hot water, she was very angry and started back immediately to find the men, who, in the meantime, had climbed a high tree that stood near the water.The Alan looked down into the water, and seeing the reflection of the men, she reached in her long hand with the fingers that pointed backward, but when she could not touch them, she looked up and saw them in the tall tree.“How did you get up there?” she cried angrily.“We climbed up feet first,” called down the men.The Alan, determined to get them, caught hold of a vine and started up the tree feet first, but before she quite reached them, they cut the vine and she fell to the ground and was killed.84Then the men came down and went to the Alan’s house, where they found a jar full of beads and another of gold, and these they brought with them when they returned home.Man and the AlanTinguianA 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, large as people, hanging from the limbs of the tree with their heads down like bats. They had wings to fly, and their toes were at the back of their feet, while their long fingers, which pointed backward, were fastened at the wrist.“Surely,” thought the man, “these terrible beings will eat me if they can catch me. I will run away as fast as I can while they are asleep.” He tried to run but he was too frightened, and after a few steps he fell face down on the ground.At this the Alan began to wail loudly, for they saw him fall and believed him dead And they came down out of the tree with gold and beads which they laid on him.After a while the man gathered courage and, jumping up, he cried as loudly as he could, “Go away!”The Alan did not move, but they looked at him and said: “Give us the one beadnagaba[a peculiar bead of double effect], and you may have the rest.” Whenthe man refused to do this, they were angry and turned away, crying, “Then we are going to burn your house, for you are a bad man.”Thereupon the man went home as fast as he could go, but very soon after that his house burned, for the Alan kept their word.Bamboo raftsBamboo raftsHauling bambooHauling bambooSogsogotTinguianOne 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 for the deer to come out.While he stood there eagerly watching, a big bird85swooped down, caught him in its claws, and carried him away. Far off over the mountains the bird soared, until finally it came to a big tree where it had its nest, and here it left the man and flew away.Sogsogot’s first thought was to make his escape, but he found that the tree was so tall that he could not get down, and after a time he ceased his attempts to get away and began to look over his companions in the nest—two young birds and three little pigs.By and by he became hungry, so he cut up the three little pigs, and after he had eaten all he wished he fed the two birds. When this meat was gone the mother bird brought more pigs and deer, and the man had all he could eat. Then he fed the little birds, which grewvery fast and soon were able to fly. One day when they were standing on the edge of the nest Sogsogot caught hold of the birds’ legs, and they fluttered down and carried him safely to the ground.Rice terraces in the mountainsRice terraces in the mountainsA rice fieldA rice fieldHe hastened home as fast as he could go and told the people of his wonderful trip. They made a ceremony for the spirits, and all the people rejoiced that the lost man had returned.Some time after this Sogsogot went to a hostile town to fight, and while he was gone his wife died. On the way back to his town he met the spirit of his wife driving a cow and two pigs, and not knowing that she was a spirit he asked her where she was going.“I am not a person any more,” she answered him; “I am dead.” And when he wanted to touch her hand, she gave him only her shortest finger. He begged to go with her so she said, “Go first to our home and get a white chicken; then follow the footmarks of the cow and pigs.”He did as she commanded him, and after a while he came to a place where she was bathing in the river. She said to him:“Now you may come with me to our spirit town.86I shall hide you in the rice-bin and shall bring food to you every day. But at night the people in the town will want to eat you, and when they come to the bin you must take some of the feathers of the white chicken and throw at them.”The man went with her, and when they arrived at the spirit town she hid him in the rice-bin. At night the people came to eat him, as she had said they would; but when he threw the chicken feathers at them they were frightened away.For two weeks Sogsogot lived in this place, but when the feathers were nearly gone he was afraid to stay any longer, for every night the spirits came to eat him. He begged his wife to allow him to go, and finally she showed him the way home, giving him rice to eat on his journey.As soon as the man arrived home and inquired for his wife, the people told him that she had died and they had buried her under the house. Then he knew that it was her spirit that had taken him to the strange town.The Mistaken GiftsTinguianWhen 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 the man arrived at the girl’s house the people were all sitting on the floor eating periwinkle, and as they sucked the meat out of the shell, they nodded their heads. The man, looking in at the door, saw them nod, and he thought they were nodding at him. So he did not tell them his errand, but returned quickly to the boy’s parents and told them that all the people at the girl’s house were favorable to the union.Siagon’s parents were very much pleased that their proposal had been so kindly received, and immediately prepared to go to the girl’s house to arrange for the wedding.Finally all was ready and they started for her house, carrying with them as presents for her parents two carabao, two horses, two cows, four iron kettles, sixteen jars of basi, two blankets, and two little pigs.The surprise of the girl’s people knew no boundswhen they saw all this coming to their house, for they had not even thought of Siagon marrying their daughter.87The Boy who Became a StoneTinguianOne 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 and threw the snare over the bird and caught it, and he put it in a jar in his house while he went with the other boys to swim.While he was away, his grandmother grew hungry, so she ate the bird, and when Elonen returned and found that his bird was gone, he was so sad that he wished he might go away and never come back. He went out into the forest and walked a long distance, until finally he came to a big stone and said: “Stone, open your mouth and eat me.” And the stone opened its mouth and swallowed the boy.When his grandmother missed the boy, she went out and looked everywhere, hoping to find him. Finally she passed near the stone and it cried out, “Here he is.” Then the old woman tried to open the stone but she could not, so she called the horses to come and help her. They came and kicked it, but it would not break. Then she called the carabao and they hooked it, butthey only broke their horns. She called the chickens, which pecked it, and the thunder, which shook it, but nothing could open it, and she had to go home without the boy.The Turtle and the LizardTinguianA turtle and a big lizard once went to the field of Gotgotapa to steal ginger,88When they reached the place the turtle said to the lizard:“We must be very still or the man will hear us and come out.”But as soon as the lizard tasted the ginger he was so pleased that he said:“The ginger of Gotgotapa is very good.”“Be still,” said the turtle; but the lizard paid no attention to the warning, and called louder than ever:“The ginger of Gotgotapa is very good.”Again and again he cried out, until finally the man heard him and came out of the house to catch the robbers.The turtle could not run fast, so he lay very still, and the man did not see him. But the lizard ran and the man chased him. When they were out of sight, the turtle went into the house and hid under a cocoanut shell upon which the man used to sit.89The man ran after the lizard for a long distance,but he could not catch him. After a while he came back to the house and sat down on the shell.By and by, the turtle called, “Kook.” The man jumped up and looked all around. Unable to tell where the noise came from, he sat down again,A second time the turtle called, and this time the man looked everywhere in the house except under the shell, but could not find the turtle. Again and again the turtle called, and finally the man, realizing that all his attempts were unsuccessful, grew so excited that he died.Then the turtle ran out of the house, and he had not gone far before he met the lizard again. They walked along together until they saw some honey in a tree, and the turtle said:“I will go first and get some of the honey.”The lizard would not wait, but ran ahead, and when he seized the honey, the bees came out and stung him. So he ran back to the turtle for help.After a while they came to a bird snare, and the turtle said:“That is the silver wire that my grandfather wore about his neck.”Then the lizard ran fast to get it first, but he was caught in the snare and was held until the man came and killed him. Then the wise turtle went on alone.The Man with the CocoanutsTinguianOne day a man who had been to gather his cocoanuts loaded his horse heavily with the fruit. On the way home hemeta 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 very soon; but if you go fast, it will take you all day.”The man could not believe this strange speech, so he hurried his horse. But the cocoanuts fell off and he had to stop to pick them up. Then he hurried his horse all the more to make up for lost time, but the cocoanuts fell off again. Many times he did this, and it was night when he reached home.90The Carabao and the ShellTinguianOne 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 went out on the bank and started to run.After the carabao had gone a long distance he stopped and called, “Shell!”And another shell lying by the river answered, “Here I am!”Then the carabao, thinking that it was the same shell with which he was racing, ran on.By and by he stopped again and called, “Shell!”Again another shell answered, “Here I am!”The carabao was surprised that the shell could keep up with him. But he ran on and on, and every time he stopped to call, another shell answered him. But he was determined that the shell should not beat him, so he ran until he dropped dead.91The Alligator’s FruitTinguianTwo 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 paid no attention and threw the rind showing teeth marks into the river, where the alligator saw it.Thus he knew at once who had taken his fruit, and he was very angry. He went to the house of the woman and called to the people:“Bring out the woman that I may eat her, for she has eaten my fruit”“Very well,” answered the people. “But sit down and wait a little while.”Then they put the iron soil-turner into the fire, and when it was red hot, they took it to the door and said to the alligator:“Here, eat this first.”He opened his mouth, and they pushed the red hot iron down his throat, and he died.DogedogTinguianDogedog 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 day and idle away his time than to work and have more things.One day, however, when the rainy season was near at hand, Dogedog began thinking how cold he would be when the storms came, and he felt so sorry for himself that he decided to make a floor in his house.Wrapping some rice in a banana leaf for his dinner, he took his long knife and went to the forest to cut some bamboo. He hung the bundle of rice in a tree until he should need it; but while he was working a cat came and ate it. When the hungry man came for his dinner, there was none left. Dogedog went back to his miserable little house which looked forlorn to him even, now that he had decided to have a floor.The next day he went again to the forest and hung his rice in the tree as he did before, but again the cat came and ate it. So the man had to go home without any dinner.The third day he took the rice, but this time he fixed a trap in the tree, and when the cat came it was caught.“Now I have you!” cried the man when he found the cat; “and I shall kill you for stealing my rice.”“Oh, do not kill me,” pleaded the cat, “and I will be of some use to you.”So Dogedog decided to spare the cat’s life, and he took it home and tied it near the door to guard the house.Some time later when he went to look at it, he was very much surprised to find that it had become a cock.“Now I can go to the cock-fight at Magsingal,” cried the man. And he was very happy, for he had much rather do that than work.Thinking no more of getting wood for his floor, he started out at once for Magsingal with the cock under his arm. As he was crossing a river he met an alligator which called out to him:“Where are you going, Dogedog?”“To the cock-fight at Magsingal,” replied the man as he fondly stroked the rooster.“Wait, and I will go with you,” said the alligator; and he drew himself out of the water.The two walking along together soon entered a forest where they met a deer and it asked:“Where are you going, Dogedog?”“To the cock-fight at Magsingal,” said the man.“Wait and I will go with you,” said the deer; and he also joined them.By and by they met a mound of earth that had been raised by the ants, and they would have passed without noticing it had it not inquired:“Where are you going, Dogedog?”“To the cock-fight at Magsingal,” said the man once more; and the mound of earth joined them.The company then hurried on, and just as they were leaving the forest, they passed a big tree in which was a monkey.“Where are you going, Dogedog?” shrieked the monkey. And without waiting for an answer he scrambled down the tree and followed them.As the party walked along they talked together, and the alligator said to Dogedog:“If any man wants to dive into the water, I can stay under longer than he.”Then the deer, not to be outdone, said:“If any man wants to run, I can run faster.”The mound of earth, anxious to show its strength, said:“If any man wants to wrestle, I can beat him.”And the monkey said:“If any man wants to climb, I can go higher.”They reached Magsingal in good time and the people were ready for the fight to begin. When Dogedog put his rooster, which had been a cat, into the pit, it killed the other cock at once, for it used its claws like a cat.The people brought more roosters and wagered much money, but Dogedog’s cock killed all the others until there was not one left in Magsingal, and Dogedog won much money. Then they went outside the town and brought all the cocks they could find, but not one could win over that of Dogedog.When the cocks were all dead, the people wantedsome other sport, so they brought a man who could stay under water for a long time, and Dogedog made him compete with the alligator. But after a while the man had to come up first Then they brought a swift runner and he raced with the deer, but the man was left far behind. Next they looked around until they found a very large man who was willing to contend with the mound of earth, but after a hard struggle the man was thrown.Finally they brought a man who could climb higher than anyone else, but the monkey went far above him, and he had to give up.All these contests had brought much money to Dogedog, and now he had to buy two horses to carry his sacks of silver. As soon as he reached home, he bought the house of a very rich man and went to live in it. And he was very happy, for he did not have to work any more.921This incident is strikingly similar to the story in North American folk-lore of the maiden captured and carried upward by a vine. Several other points of likeness appear in the lore of Malaysia, Polynesia, and America.2SeePreface, p. vii.3This incident is unique so far as American or European folk-lore is concerned, yet it is common in Tinguian tales, while similar stories are found among the neighboring Ilocano and Igorot tribes of the Philippines, as well as in Borneo, Java, and India.4The belief that beauty is capable of radiating great light is not peculiar to Tinguian tales, for it is also found in the Malay legends and in those of India. It is not impossible that they had a common origin.5The betel-nut is the nut of the areca palm. It is prepared for chewing by being cut into quarters, each piece being wrapped in betel-leaf spread with lime. It produces a blood-red spittle which greatly discolors the teeth and lips, and it is used extensively throughout the Philippines. While it appears to have been in common use among the Tinguian at the time these stories originated, it has now been displaced by tobacco, except at ceremonies when it is prepared for chewing; it is also placed on the animals offered for sacrifice to the spirits. Throughout the tales great significance is given to the chewing of betel-nuts before names are told or introductions given, while from the quids and spittle it appears to have been possible to foretell events and establish relationships.6Compare with the story of Phæton in Bulfinch,The Age of Fable, p. 50.7The Tinguian have no calendar, but reckon time by the recurrence of the moon.8It is the present custom of the Tinguian to make numerous ceremonies for the spirits. These vary in length from a few hours to seventeen days. During this period animals are slaughtered, small houses are built, mediums deliver messages from the spirits, and there is much feasting and dancing.9When ripe, the betel-nut is covered with a golden husk, and it is possibly because of this that they were said to be covered with gold. The present-day Tinguian, in place of sending the betel-nut, sends a small piece of gold to any relative or friend whom he specially wishes to induce to attend a ceremony.10This seems to be peculiar to Tinguian folk-lore.11Except when she is in mourning a Tinguian woman’s arms are always covered with beads placed strand above strand.12The parents of a boy choose his bride when the children are very young. A great celebration is then held, and relatives and friends of both parties decide on the price to be paid for the girl. Partial payment is made at once, and the remainder goes over until the marriage proper takes place, when the boy and girl are about twelve or fourteen years of age. In this instance Ini-init makes the customary payment for his bride, though the marriage had already taken place.13The friends and retainers pound rice and prepare food for all the guests who attend the ceremony.14A spirit house is one of the small houses built during a ceremony.15reference is probably to ancient Chinese jars.16The custom, which still exists to a certain degree, was to offer food to a guest before any matter was discussed. In ancient times this was considered very necessary, as it still is among the Apayao who live north of the Tinguian. With them to refuse food is to refuse friendship.17A drink made of fermented sugar-cane.18The old jars possessed by the Tinguian today have notches broken in the rim, one for each generation through whose hands it has passed.19When the first negotiations are made the boy’s parents offer some gift, nowadays usually a small bead. If this is accepted it signifies the willingness of the girl’s parents to consider the match.20Seenote 1, p. 15.21The music for the dances is made by beating on drums and copper gongs. A man and a woman enter the circle, each carrying a large square of cloth on outstretched arms. Keeping time to the music with their hands and feet, they move about, coming near to each other and then drawing farther apart The woman follows the movements of the man and finally places her cloth on his outstretched arms, thus ending the dance; another couple then takes their place.22An interesting parallel to this is found in the Dayak legend of Limbang, where a tree springs from the head of a dead giant; its flowers are beads; its leaves, cloth; and the fruit, jars. See Roth,The Natives of Sarawak and British North Borneo, Vol. I, p. 372.23Throughout the Tinguian tales the characters are frequently described as changing themselves into oil, centipedes, birds, and other forms. This power is also found among the heroes of Dayak and Malay tales. See Roth, op. cit., Vol. I, p. 312; Perham,Journal Straits Branch R., Asiatic Society, No. 16, 1886; Wilkinson,Malay Beliefs, pp. 32, 59 (London, 1906).24The Tinguian place a tame rooster in an open spot in the forest and surround him with a line to which slip nooses are attached. The crowing of this bird attracts wild ones which come to fight him and are caught in the nooses.25The water buffalo now used as the beast of burden throughout the Philippines.26The ordinary dress of the Tinguian man is a clout and a striped belt, in which he carries his tobacco and small articles. Some of them also possess striped cotton coats, which they wear on special occasions.27Seenote 2, p. 12.28Seenote 1, p. 13.29This peculiar idea, which frequently appears in Tinguian tales, is also found in Javanese literature. SeeBezemer,Volksdichtung aus Indonesien, p. 47 (Haag, 1904).30Seenote 3, p. 15.31The powerful deeds of these heroes often resemble the miraculous achievements of biblical and ancient times.32Seenote 2, p. 20.33The Tinguian of today do not possess soap, but in its place they use the ashes from rice straw, or not infrequently they soak the bark from a certain tree in the water in which they are to wash their hair.34The lawed vine. In ancient Egypt and in India it was a common belief that friends or relatives could tell from the condition of a certain tree or vine whether the absent one was well or dead: if the vine thrived, they knew that all was well, but if it wilted they mourned for him as dead. It is interesting to find the identical belief in the northern Philippines.35The Tinguian stove consists of a bed of ashes in which three stones are sunk, and on these the pots are placed.36It appears that these people of ancient times possessed the same weapons as those of today. The Tinguian ordinarily wears a head-ax thrust into his belt, and when at work this is his hand tool. When on a hunt or during warfare he also carries a wooden shield and a steel-pointed spear from eight to ten feet in length. For attacks at a distance he depends on the spear, but in a close encounter he uses his head-ax and shield, the latter being oblong in shape and having two prongs at one end and three at the other. The two prongs are to be slipped about the neck of the victim while the head-ax does its work, or the three prongs may be slipped about the legs in the same way.37From this and other incidents it is evident that these people talked with the lightning and thunder. They still have great regard for the omens derived from these forces; but it is now believed that thunder is the dog of Kadaklan, the greatest of all the spirits, and that by the barking of this dog, the god makes known his desires.38Stories in which animals come to the assistance of human beings are found in many lands. One of those best known to Europeans is where the ants sort the grain for Cinderella.39Seenote 2, p. 21.40It was the ancient custom to place the heads of slain enemies at the gate or around the town, and this practice still prevails with some of the surrounding tribes. More recently it was the custom to expose the head at the gate of the town for three days, after which followed a great celebration when the skulls were broken and pieces were given to the guests.41In their beliefs of today the Tinguian recognize many giants, some with more than one head. In a part of the ritual of one ceremony we read, “A man opens the door to learn the cause of the barking and he sees a man, fat and tall, with nine heads.”42A large bamboo pole, with all but the end section cut out, serves for a water bucket.43A long bamboo pole, in one end of which a hard-wood point is inserted. This is thrust into the ground, and in the hole thus made the grain or cuttings are planted. This old method is still in use in some sections of the mountains, but on the lowlands a primitive plow is used to break the soil.44In European, Asiatic, African, and Malaysian lore we find stones of beings with star dresses: when they wear the dresses they are stars; when they take them off they are human. See Cox,An Introduction to Folklore, p. 121 (London, 1904.).45note 1, p. 9.46Seenote 1, p. 12.47Preface, p. vii.48It is the custom to have a small bamboo house built from fifteen to twenty feet from the ground near the rice fields, and in this someone watches every day during the growing season to see that nothing breaks in to destroy the grain. Often flappers are placed in different parts of the field and a connecting string leads from these to the little house, so that the watcher by pulling this string may frighten the birds away from the grain.49Seenote 1, p. 18.50Preface, p. vi.51The nights in the mountains are cold, and it is not at all uncommon in the early morning to see groups of people with blankets wrapped tightly about them, squatting around small fires in the yards.52Seenote 2, p. 12.53Seenote 1, p. 13.54Seenote 1, p. 17.55Compare with the biblical story of the loaves and fishes. For similar incidents among the Igorot of the Philippines, in Borneo, and in India, see Jenks,The Bontoc Igorot, p. 202; Seidenadel,The Language of the Bontoc Igorot, pp. 491, 41 ff. (Chicago, 1909); Roth,The Natives of Sarawak and British North Borneo, Vol. I, p. 319; Tawney,Katha Sarit Sagara, Vol. II, p. 3 (Calcutta, 1880); Bezemer,Volksdichtung aus Indonesien, p. 49 (Haag, 1904).56Seenote 1, p. 15.57Seenote 3, p. 15.58There appear to have been two classes of spirits, one for whom the people had the utmost respect and reverence, and another whom they looked upon as being of service to mortals.59Seenote 1, p. 30.60The word used in the original is langpadan, meaning mountain rice. This variety requires no irrigation and is planted to some extent at the present day, but the great bulk of the grain now used is grown in wonderfully terraced fields on the mountain sides, where water for irrigating is brought from distant streams through a system of flume and bamboo tubes. The fact that only the mountain rice is mentioned in the tales reflects a very ancient life before irrigated fields were known.61Seenote 1, p. 45.62The labeug is the omen bird and is believed to be the direct messenger of Kadaklan, the great spirit, to the people.63Seenote 1, p. 34.64Seenote 1, p. 8.65SeePreface, p. vii.66Before the bundles of ripened rice can be put into the granary a ceremony is made for the spirits. The blood of a pig is mixed with cooked rice and put in the granary as an offering for the spirit who multiplies the grain, otherwise the crop would run out in a short time.67Seenote 1, p. 9.68The spirit who stands next in importance to Kadaklan, the great spirit. It was he who taught the people all good things, and finally he married a woman from Manabo in order to bind himself more closely to them. See “How the Tinguian Learned to Plant.”69This story is considered by the Tinguian to be of rather recent origin. They believe that Sayen lived not so very long ago, yet the stories woven around him are very similar to the ancient ones.70See “The Alan and the Hunters.”71The Tinguian now use flint and steel for making a flame, but it is not at all uncommon for them to go to a neighbor’s house to borrow a burning ember to start their own fire.72The neighboring Ilocano, a Christianized tribe, know the Komow as a fabulous bird which is invisible, yet steals people and their possessions.73Seenote 1, p. 59.74Seenote 2, p. 20.75This tale is of special importance to the Tinguian since it explains how they learned two of the most important things of their present life—to plant and to cure the sick. It also shows how death came into the world.76Seenote 1, p. 59.77It is a common sight in a Tinguian village early in the morning during the dry season to see a number of men armed with spears and head-axes leaving for the mountains. They usually take with them, to assist in the chase, a string of half-starved dogs. Often a net is stretched across the runway of game, and then, while some of the hunters conceal themselves near by, others seek to drive the game into the net, where it is speared to death.78Ancient Chinese jars are found throughout the interior of the Philippines and are very closely associated with the folk-lore of the Tinguian. Some of the jars date back to the 10th century, while many are from the 12th and 14th centuries, and evidently entered the Islands through pre-Spanish trade. They are held in great value and are generally used in part payment for a bride and for the settlement of feuds. For more details see Cole,Chinese Pottery in the Philippines, Pub. Field Museum of Nat. Hist, Vol. XII, No. 1.79This cave is situated in the mountains midway between Patok and Santa Rosa. In this vicinity are numerous limestone caves, each of which has its traditions.80Cabildo of Domayco, the envied owner of this jar, has refused great sums offered for its purchase, and though men from other tribes come bringing ten carabao at one time, they cannot tempt him to sell.81These beautiful agate beads are still worn by the Tinguian women, who prize them very highly. They are rarely sold and each is worth more than a carabao.82The Alan are supposed to be deformed spirits who live in the forests. They are as large as people, but have wings and can fly. Their toes are at the back of their feet, and their fingers point backward from their wrists.83The name by which spirits call human beings.84This treatment of the Alan is typical of that accorded to the less powerful of the spirits by the Tinguian today. At the ceremonies they often make fun of them and cheat them in the sacrifices.85Known to the Tinguian as Banog. This bird occupies much the same place with the Tinguian as does the garuda in East Indian folk-lore.86This tale gives to the Tinguian his idea of the future world. Sogsogot is supposed to have lived only a short time ago, and his experiences are well known to all the people.87Seenote 1, p. 15. Practically this same tale is told by the neighboring Ilocano, from whom it may have been borrowed; but here the Tinguian custom of paying a marriage price is introduced.88This type of story is also found farther to the south, where the cleverness of the small animal causes him to triumph over the strong.89The Tinguian house contains neither tables nor chairs. The people usually squat on the floor, sitting on their heels; if anything is used as a seat it is a bit of cocoanut shell or a small block of wood.90Here we have a proverbial tale, one in which the Tinguian expresses the idea, “Haste makes waste.”91Another version of this tale is found in British North Borneo in the story of the plandok and the crab, while to European children it is known as the race between the turtle and the hare.92The story shows the influence of the Christianized natives, among whom cock-fighting is a very popular sport. It is found only among those Tinguian who come into contact with this class.
The Tree with the Agate BeadsTinguianMore than a hundred seasons ago, a Tinguian went one day to the mountains to hunt. Accompanied by his faithful dog, he made his way steadily up the mountain side, only halting where it was necessary to cut a path through the jungle. And the dog ran here and there searching in the thick underbrush.On and on he went without seeing any game, and then, when he was almost at the top of the highest peak, the dog gave a sharp yelp, and out of the brush leaped a fine deer. Zip! went the man’s spear, and it pierced the animal’s side. For an instant he waited, but the deer did not fall. On it ran with unslackened speed, and a moment later it plunged into a hole in the ground with the man and dog in close pursuit.A short distance from the entrance the cave opened out into large, spacious rooms, and before he realized it the man was hopelessly lost In the distance he could hear the baying of the dog, and with no other guide he hurried on through the darkness.Following the sound, he went for a long time from one unfamiliar room to another, stumbling in the darkness and striking against the stone walls, and then suddenly his outstretched hands grasped a small tree on which berries grew.Astonished at finding anything growing in this darkplace, he broke off a branch, and as he did so the shrub began to talk in a strange language. Terrified, the man ran in the direction he had last heard the dog, and a moment later he found himself in the open air on the banks of the Abra River, with the dead deer at his feet.When he examined the twig which he still held in his hand, he saw to his great surprise that the berries were agate beads of great value.81And packing the deer on his back, he hastened home where he told his wonderful story.The sight of the beautiful beads convinced the people that he told the truth, and a number of men at once returned with him to secure the tree.Their quest, however, was unsuccessful, for ere they reached the spot the evil spirit had taken the tree away and on the walls of the cave it had made strange carvings which even to this day can be seen.The Striped BlanketTinguianThree Tinguian once went to the mountains to hunt deer. They took their blankets with them, for they expected to be gone several days, and the nights in the mountains are cold.The blankets of two of the men were of the blue-and-white designs such as are commonly worn by the Tinguian, but that of the third was covered with red and yellow stripes like the back of a little wild pig.At night the men rolled up in their blankets and lay down under a tree to sleep; but while the one in the striped blanket was still awake two spirits came near and saw him.“Oh,” he heard one spirit say to the other, “here we have something to eat, for here is a little wild pig.”Then the man quickly took the blanket off one of his sleeping companions and put his own in its place. Very soon the spirits came and ate the man under the striped blanket.Since that time the Tinguian never sleep under that kind of a blanket if they are where the spirits can get them.The Alan and the HuntersTinguianTwo 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 he reached the place, he found that the fire was in the house of an Alan,82and he was very much afraid; but creeping up into the house, he found that the Alan and her baby were fast asleep.He stepped on tip-toe, but nevertheless the Alan was awakened and called out:“Epogow,83what do you want?”“I should like to get some fire,” said the man, “for we have killed a wild pig.”The Alan gave him the fire, and then taking her basket she went with him to the place where the pig was.After they had singed the animal, the Alan cut it up with her long nails and handed the liver to theman, telling him to take it to her house to feed the baby.The man started, and on the way he ate the liver. When he reached the Alan’s house he did not know what to do. For some time he looked around, and then seeing a large caldron of hot water on the fire, he threw the baby into it and went back.“Did the baby eat well?” asked the Alan.“Very well,” said the man.Then she put most of the meat into her basket and started home. As soon as she had gone, the man told his companion what he had done, and they were so frightened that they ran to hide.When the Alan reached home and found the baby dead in the hot water, she was very angry and started back immediately to find the men, who, in the meantime, had climbed a high tree that stood near the water.The Alan looked down into the water, and seeing the reflection of the men, she reached in her long hand with the fingers that pointed backward, but when she could not touch them, she looked up and saw them in the tall tree.“How did you get up there?” she cried angrily.“We climbed up feet first,” called down the men.The Alan, determined to get them, caught hold of a vine and started up the tree feet first, but before she quite reached them, they cut the vine and she fell to the ground and was killed.84Then the men came down and went to the Alan’s house, where they found a jar full of beads and another of gold, and these they brought with them when they returned home.Man and the AlanTinguianA 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, large as people, hanging from the limbs of the tree with their heads down like bats. They had wings to fly, and their toes were at the back of their feet, while their long fingers, which pointed backward, were fastened at the wrist.“Surely,” thought the man, “these terrible beings will eat me if they can catch me. I will run away as fast as I can while they are asleep.” He tried to run but he was too frightened, and after a few steps he fell face down on the ground.At this the Alan began to wail loudly, for they saw him fall and believed him dead And they came down out of the tree with gold and beads which they laid on him.After a while the man gathered courage and, jumping up, he cried as loudly as he could, “Go away!”The Alan did not move, but they looked at him and said: “Give us the one beadnagaba[a peculiar bead of double effect], and you may have the rest.” Whenthe man refused to do this, they were angry and turned away, crying, “Then we are going to burn your house, for you are a bad man.”Thereupon the man went home as fast as he could go, but very soon after that his house burned, for the Alan kept their word.Bamboo raftsBamboo raftsHauling bambooHauling bambooSogsogotTinguianOne 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 for the deer to come out.While he stood there eagerly watching, a big bird85swooped down, caught him in its claws, and carried him away. Far off over the mountains the bird soared, until finally it came to a big tree where it had its nest, and here it left the man and flew away.Sogsogot’s first thought was to make his escape, but he found that the tree was so tall that he could not get down, and after a time he ceased his attempts to get away and began to look over his companions in the nest—two young birds and three little pigs.By and by he became hungry, so he cut up the three little pigs, and after he had eaten all he wished he fed the two birds. When this meat was gone the mother bird brought more pigs and deer, and the man had all he could eat. Then he fed the little birds, which grewvery fast and soon were able to fly. One day when they were standing on the edge of the nest Sogsogot caught hold of the birds’ legs, and they fluttered down and carried him safely to the ground.Rice terraces in the mountainsRice terraces in the mountainsA rice fieldA rice fieldHe hastened home as fast as he could go and told the people of his wonderful trip. They made a ceremony for the spirits, and all the people rejoiced that the lost man had returned.Some time after this Sogsogot went to a hostile town to fight, and while he was gone his wife died. On the way back to his town he met the spirit of his wife driving a cow and two pigs, and not knowing that she was a spirit he asked her where she was going.“I am not a person any more,” she answered him; “I am dead.” And when he wanted to touch her hand, she gave him only her shortest finger. He begged to go with her so she said, “Go first to our home and get a white chicken; then follow the footmarks of the cow and pigs.”He did as she commanded him, and after a while he came to a place where she was bathing in the river. She said to him:“Now you may come with me to our spirit town.86I shall hide you in the rice-bin and shall bring food to you every day. But at night the people in the town will want to eat you, and when they come to the bin you must take some of the feathers of the white chicken and throw at them.”The man went with her, and when they arrived at the spirit town she hid him in the rice-bin. At night the people came to eat him, as she had said they would; but when he threw the chicken feathers at them they were frightened away.For two weeks Sogsogot lived in this place, but when the feathers were nearly gone he was afraid to stay any longer, for every night the spirits came to eat him. He begged his wife to allow him to go, and finally she showed him the way home, giving him rice to eat on his journey.As soon as the man arrived home and inquired for his wife, the people told him that she had died and they had buried her under the house. Then he knew that it was her spirit that had taken him to the strange town.The Mistaken GiftsTinguianWhen 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 the man arrived at the girl’s house the people were all sitting on the floor eating periwinkle, and as they sucked the meat out of the shell, they nodded their heads. The man, looking in at the door, saw them nod, and he thought they were nodding at him. So he did not tell them his errand, but returned quickly to the boy’s parents and told them that all the people at the girl’s house were favorable to the union.Siagon’s parents were very much pleased that their proposal had been so kindly received, and immediately prepared to go to the girl’s house to arrange for the wedding.Finally all was ready and they started for her house, carrying with them as presents for her parents two carabao, two horses, two cows, four iron kettles, sixteen jars of basi, two blankets, and two little pigs.The surprise of the girl’s people knew no boundswhen they saw all this coming to their house, for they had not even thought of Siagon marrying their daughter.87The Boy who Became a StoneTinguianOne 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 and threw the snare over the bird and caught it, and he put it in a jar in his house while he went with the other boys to swim.While he was away, his grandmother grew hungry, so she ate the bird, and when Elonen returned and found that his bird was gone, he was so sad that he wished he might go away and never come back. He went out into the forest and walked a long distance, until finally he came to a big stone and said: “Stone, open your mouth and eat me.” And the stone opened its mouth and swallowed the boy.When his grandmother missed the boy, she went out and looked everywhere, hoping to find him. Finally she passed near the stone and it cried out, “Here he is.” Then the old woman tried to open the stone but she could not, so she called the horses to come and help her. They came and kicked it, but it would not break. Then she called the carabao and they hooked it, butthey only broke their horns. She called the chickens, which pecked it, and the thunder, which shook it, but nothing could open it, and she had to go home without the boy.The Turtle and the LizardTinguianA turtle and a big lizard once went to the field of Gotgotapa to steal ginger,88When they reached the place the turtle said to the lizard:“We must be very still or the man will hear us and come out.”But as soon as the lizard tasted the ginger he was so pleased that he said:“The ginger of Gotgotapa is very good.”“Be still,” said the turtle; but the lizard paid no attention to the warning, and called louder than ever:“The ginger of Gotgotapa is very good.”Again and again he cried out, until finally the man heard him and came out of the house to catch the robbers.The turtle could not run fast, so he lay very still, and the man did not see him. But the lizard ran and the man chased him. When they were out of sight, the turtle went into the house and hid under a cocoanut shell upon which the man used to sit.89The man ran after the lizard for a long distance,but he could not catch him. After a while he came back to the house and sat down on the shell.By and by, the turtle called, “Kook.” The man jumped up and looked all around. Unable to tell where the noise came from, he sat down again,A second time the turtle called, and this time the man looked everywhere in the house except under the shell, but could not find the turtle. Again and again the turtle called, and finally the man, realizing that all his attempts were unsuccessful, grew so excited that he died.Then the turtle ran out of the house, and he had not gone far before he met the lizard again. They walked along together until they saw some honey in a tree, and the turtle said:“I will go first and get some of the honey.”The lizard would not wait, but ran ahead, and when he seized the honey, the bees came out and stung him. So he ran back to the turtle for help.After a while they came to a bird snare, and the turtle said:“That is the silver wire that my grandfather wore about his neck.”Then the lizard ran fast to get it first, but he was caught in the snare and was held until the man came and killed him. Then the wise turtle went on alone.The Man with the CocoanutsTinguianOne day a man who had been to gather his cocoanuts loaded his horse heavily with the fruit. On the way home hemeta 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 very soon; but if you go fast, it will take you all day.”The man could not believe this strange speech, so he hurried his horse. But the cocoanuts fell off and he had to stop to pick them up. Then he hurried his horse all the more to make up for lost time, but the cocoanuts fell off again. Many times he did this, and it was night when he reached home.90The Carabao and the ShellTinguianOne 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 went out on the bank and started to run.After the carabao had gone a long distance he stopped and called, “Shell!”And another shell lying by the river answered, “Here I am!”Then the carabao, thinking that it was the same shell with which he was racing, ran on.By and by he stopped again and called, “Shell!”Again another shell answered, “Here I am!”The carabao was surprised that the shell could keep up with him. But he ran on and on, and every time he stopped to call, another shell answered him. But he was determined that the shell should not beat him, so he ran until he dropped dead.91The Alligator’s FruitTinguianTwo 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 paid no attention and threw the rind showing teeth marks into the river, where the alligator saw it.Thus he knew at once who had taken his fruit, and he was very angry. He went to the house of the woman and called to the people:“Bring out the woman that I may eat her, for she has eaten my fruit”“Very well,” answered the people. “But sit down and wait a little while.”Then they put the iron soil-turner into the fire, and when it was red hot, they took it to the door and said to the alligator:“Here, eat this first.”He opened his mouth, and they pushed the red hot iron down his throat, and he died.DogedogTinguianDogedog 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 day and idle away his time than to work and have more things.One day, however, when the rainy season was near at hand, Dogedog began thinking how cold he would be when the storms came, and he felt so sorry for himself that he decided to make a floor in his house.Wrapping some rice in a banana leaf for his dinner, he took his long knife and went to the forest to cut some bamboo. He hung the bundle of rice in a tree until he should need it; but while he was working a cat came and ate it. When the hungry man came for his dinner, there was none left. Dogedog went back to his miserable little house which looked forlorn to him even, now that he had decided to have a floor.The next day he went again to the forest and hung his rice in the tree as he did before, but again the cat came and ate it. So the man had to go home without any dinner.The third day he took the rice, but this time he fixed a trap in the tree, and when the cat came it was caught.“Now I have you!” cried the man when he found the cat; “and I shall kill you for stealing my rice.”“Oh, do not kill me,” pleaded the cat, “and I will be of some use to you.”So Dogedog decided to spare the cat’s life, and he took it home and tied it near the door to guard the house.Some time later when he went to look at it, he was very much surprised to find that it had become a cock.“Now I can go to the cock-fight at Magsingal,” cried the man. And he was very happy, for he had much rather do that than work.Thinking no more of getting wood for his floor, he started out at once for Magsingal with the cock under his arm. As he was crossing a river he met an alligator which called out to him:“Where are you going, Dogedog?”“To the cock-fight at Magsingal,” replied the man as he fondly stroked the rooster.“Wait, and I will go with you,” said the alligator; and he drew himself out of the water.The two walking along together soon entered a forest where they met a deer and it asked:“Where are you going, Dogedog?”“To the cock-fight at Magsingal,” said the man.“Wait and I will go with you,” said the deer; and he also joined them.By and by they met a mound of earth that had been raised by the ants, and they would have passed without noticing it had it not inquired:“Where are you going, Dogedog?”“To the cock-fight at Magsingal,” said the man once more; and the mound of earth joined them.The company then hurried on, and just as they were leaving the forest, they passed a big tree in which was a monkey.“Where are you going, Dogedog?” shrieked the monkey. And without waiting for an answer he scrambled down the tree and followed them.As the party walked along they talked together, and the alligator said to Dogedog:“If any man wants to dive into the water, I can stay under longer than he.”Then the deer, not to be outdone, said:“If any man wants to run, I can run faster.”The mound of earth, anxious to show its strength, said:“If any man wants to wrestle, I can beat him.”And the monkey said:“If any man wants to climb, I can go higher.”They reached Magsingal in good time and the people were ready for the fight to begin. When Dogedog put his rooster, which had been a cat, into the pit, it killed the other cock at once, for it used its claws like a cat.The people brought more roosters and wagered much money, but Dogedog’s cock killed all the others until there was not one left in Magsingal, and Dogedog won much money. Then they went outside the town and brought all the cocks they could find, but not one could win over that of Dogedog.When the cocks were all dead, the people wantedsome other sport, so they brought a man who could stay under water for a long time, and Dogedog made him compete with the alligator. But after a while the man had to come up first Then they brought a swift runner and he raced with the deer, but the man was left far behind. Next they looked around until they found a very large man who was willing to contend with the mound of earth, but after a hard struggle the man was thrown.Finally they brought a man who could climb higher than anyone else, but the monkey went far above him, and he had to give up.All these contests had brought much money to Dogedog, and now he had to buy two horses to carry his sacks of silver. As soon as he reached home, he bought the house of a very rich man and went to live in it. And he was very happy, for he did not have to work any more.921This incident is strikingly similar to the story in North American folk-lore of the maiden captured and carried upward by a vine. Several other points of likeness appear in the lore of Malaysia, Polynesia, and America.2SeePreface, p. vii.3This incident is unique so far as American or European folk-lore is concerned, yet it is common in Tinguian tales, while similar stories are found among the neighboring Ilocano and Igorot tribes of the Philippines, as well as in Borneo, Java, and India.4The belief that beauty is capable of radiating great light is not peculiar to Tinguian tales, for it is also found in the Malay legends and in those of India. It is not impossible that they had a common origin.5The betel-nut is the nut of the areca palm. It is prepared for chewing by being cut into quarters, each piece being wrapped in betel-leaf spread with lime. It produces a blood-red spittle which greatly discolors the teeth and lips, and it is used extensively throughout the Philippines. While it appears to have been in common use among the Tinguian at the time these stories originated, it has now been displaced by tobacco, except at ceremonies when it is prepared for chewing; it is also placed on the animals offered for sacrifice to the spirits. Throughout the tales great significance is given to the chewing of betel-nuts before names are told or introductions given, while from the quids and spittle it appears to have been possible to foretell events and establish relationships.6Compare with the story of Phæton in Bulfinch,The Age of Fable, p. 50.7The Tinguian have no calendar, but reckon time by the recurrence of the moon.8It is the present custom of the Tinguian to make numerous ceremonies for the spirits. These vary in length from a few hours to seventeen days. During this period animals are slaughtered, small houses are built, mediums deliver messages from the spirits, and there is much feasting and dancing.9When ripe, the betel-nut is covered with a golden husk, and it is possibly because of this that they were said to be covered with gold. The present-day Tinguian, in place of sending the betel-nut, sends a small piece of gold to any relative or friend whom he specially wishes to induce to attend a ceremony.10This seems to be peculiar to Tinguian folk-lore.11Except when she is in mourning a Tinguian woman’s arms are always covered with beads placed strand above strand.12The parents of a boy choose his bride when the children are very young. A great celebration is then held, and relatives and friends of both parties decide on the price to be paid for the girl. Partial payment is made at once, and the remainder goes over until the marriage proper takes place, when the boy and girl are about twelve or fourteen years of age. In this instance Ini-init makes the customary payment for his bride, though the marriage had already taken place.13The friends and retainers pound rice and prepare food for all the guests who attend the ceremony.14A spirit house is one of the small houses built during a ceremony.15reference is probably to ancient Chinese jars.16The custom, which still exists to a certain degree, was to offer food to a guest before any matter was discussed. In ancient times this was considered very necessary, as it still is among the Apayao who live north of the Tinguian. With them to refuse food is to refuse friendship.17A drink made of fermented sugar-cane.18The old jars possessed by the Tinguian today have notches broken in the rim, one for each generation through whose hands it has passed.19When the first negotiations are made the boy’s parents offer some gift, nowadays usually a small bead. If this is accepted it signifies the willingness of the girl’s parents to consider the match.20Seenote 1, p. 15.21The music for the dances is made by beating on drums and copper gongs. A man and a woman enter the circle, each carrying a large square of cloth on outstretched arms. Keeping time to the music with their hands and feet, they move about, coming near to each other and then drawing farther apart The woman follows the movements of the man and finally places her cloth on his outstretched arms, thus ending the dance; another couple then takes their place.22An interesting parallel to this is found in the Dayak legend of Limbang, where a tree springs from the head of a dead giant; its flowers are beads; its leaves, cloth; and the fruit, jars. See Roth,The Natives of Sarawak and British North Borneo, Vol. I, p. 372.23Throughout the Tinguian tales the characters are frequently described as changing themselves into oil, centipedes, birds, and other forms. This power is also found among the heroes of Dayak and Malay tales. See Roth, op. cit., Vol. I, p. 312; Perham,Journal Straits Branch R., Asiatic Society, No. 16, 1886; Wilkinson,Malay Beliefs, pp. 32, 59 (London, 1906).24The Tinguian place a tame rooster in an open spot in the forest and surround him with a line to which slip nooses are attached. The crowing of this bird attracts wild ones which come to fight him and are caught in the nooses.25The water buffalo now used as the beast of burden throughout the Philippines.26The ordinary dress of the Tinguian man is a clout and a striped belt, in which he carries his tobacco and small articles. Some of them also possess striped cotton coats, which they wear on special occasions.27Seenote 2, p. 12.28Seenote 1, p. 13.29This peculiar idea, which frequently appears in Tinguian tales, is also found in Javanese literature. SeeBezemer,Volksdichtung aus Indonesien, p. 47 (Haag, 1904).30Seenote 3, p. 15.31The powerful deeds of these heroes often resemble the miraculous achievements of biblical and ancient times.32Seenote 2, p. 20.33The Tinguian of today do not possess soap, but in its place they use the ashes from rice straw, or not infrequently they soak the bark from a certain tree in the water in which they are to wash their hair.34The lawed vine. In ancient Egypt and in India it was a common belief that friends or relatives could tell from the condition of a certain tree or vine whether the absent one was well or dead: if the vine thrived, they knew that all was well, but if it wilted they mourned for him as dead. It is interesting to find the identical belief in the northern Philippines.35The Tinguian stove consists of a bed of ashes in which three stones are sunk, and on these the pots are placed.36It appears that these people of ancient times possessed the same weapons as those of today. The Tinguian ordinarily wears a head-ax thrust into his belt, and when at work this is his hand tool. When on a hunt or during warfare he also carries a wooden shield and a steel-pointed spear from eight to ten feet in length. For attacks at a distance he depends on the spear, but in a close encounter he uses his head-ax and shield, the latter being oblong in shape and having two prongs at one end and three at the other. The two prongs are to be slipped about the neck of the victim while the head-ax does its work, or the three prongs may be slipped about the legs in the same way.37From this and other incidents it is evident that these people talked with the lightning and thunder. They still have great regard for the omens derived from these forces; but it is now believed that thunder is the dog of Kadaklan, the greatest of all the spirits, and that by the barking of this dog, the god makes known his desires.38Stories in which animals come to the assistance of human beings are found in many lands. One of those best known to Europeans is where the ants sort the grain for Cinderella.39Seenote 2, p. 21.40It was the ancient custom to place the heads of slain enemies at the gate or around the town, and this practice still prevails with some of the surrounding tribes. More recently it was the custom to expose the head at the gate of the town for three days, after which followed a great celebration when the skulls were broken and pieces were given to the guests.41In their beliefs of today the Tinguian recognize many giants, some with more than one head. In a part of the ritual of one ceremony we read, “A man opens the door to learn the cause of the barking and he sees a man, fat and tall, with nine heads.”42A large bamboo pole, with all but the end section cut out, serves for a water bucket.43A long bamboo pole, in one end of which a hard-wood point is inserted. This is thrust into the ground, and in the hole thus made the grain or cuttings are planted. This old method is still in use in some sections of the mountains, but on the lowlands a primitive plow is used to break the soil.44In European, Asiatic, African, and Malaysian lore we find stones of beings with star dresses: when they wear the dresses they are stars; when they take them off they are human. See Cox,An Introduction to Folklore, p. 121 (London, 1904.).45note 1, p. 9.46Seenote 1, p. 12.47Preface, p. vii.48It is the custom to have a small bamboo house built from fifteen to twenty feet from the ground near the rice fields, and in this someone watches every day during the growing season to see that nothing breaks in to destroy the grain. Often flappers are placed in different parts of the field and a connecting string leads from these to the little house, so that the watcher by pulling this string may frighten the birds away from the grain.49Seenote 1, p. 18.50Preface, p. vi.51The nights in the mountains are cold, and it is not at all uncommon in the early morning to see groups of people with blankets wrapped tightly about them, squatting around small fires in the yards.52Seenote 2, p. 12.53Seenote 1, p. 13.54Seenote 1, p. 17.55Compare with the biblical story of the loaves and fishes. For similar incidents among the Igorot of the Philippines, in Borneo, and in India, see Jenks,The Bontoc Igorot, p. 202; Seidenadel,The Language of the Bontoc Igorot, pp. 491, 41 ff. (Chicago, 1909); Roth,The Natives of Sarawak and British North Borneo, Vol. I, p. 319; Tawney,Katha Sarit Sagara, Vol. II, p. 3 (Calcutta, 1880); Bezemer,Volksdichtung aus Indonesien, p. 49 (Haag, 1904).56Seenote 1, p. 15.57Seenote 3, p. 15.58There appear to have been two classes of spirits, one for whom the people had the utmost respect and reverence, and another whom they looked upon as being of service to mortals.59Seenote 1, p. 30.60The word used in the original is langpadan, meaning mountain rice. This variety requires no irrigation and is planted to some extent at the present day, but the great bulk of the grain now used is grown in wonderfully terraced fields on the mountain sides, where water for irrigating is brought from distant streams through a system of flume and bamboo tubes. The fact that only the mountain rice is mentioned in the tales reflects a very ancient life before irrigated fields were known.61Seenote 1, p. 45.62The labeug is the omen bird and is believed to be the direct messenger of Kadaklan, the great spirit, to the people.63Seenote 1, p. 34.64Seenote 1, p. 8.65SeePreface, p. vii.66Before the bundles of ripened rice can be put into the granary a ceremony is made for the spirits. The blood of a pig is mixed with cooked rice and put in the granary as an offering for the spirit who multiplies the grain, otherwise the crop would run out in a short time.67Seenote 1, p. 9.68The spirit who stands next in importance to Kadaklan, the great spirit. It was he who taught the people all good things, and finally he married a woman from Manabo in order to bind himself more closely to them. See “How the Tinguian Learned to Plant.”69This story is considered by the Tinguian to be of rather recent origin. They believe that Sayen lived not so very long ago, yet the stories woven around him are very similar to the ancient ones.70See “The Alan and the Hunters.”71The Tinguian now use flint and steel for making a flame, but it is not at all uncommon for them to go to a neighbor’s house to borrow a burning ember to start their own fire.72The neighboring Ilocano, a Christianized tribe, know the Komow as a fabulous bird which is invisible, yet steals people and their possessions.73Seenote 1, p. 59.74Seenote 2, p. 20.75This tale is of special importance to the Tinguian since it explains how they learned two of the most important things of their present life—to plant and to cure the sick. It also shows how death came into the world.76Seenote 1, p. 59.77It is a common sight in a Tinguian village early in the morning during the dry season to see a number of men armed with spears and head-axes leaving for the mountains. They usually take with them, to assist in the chase, a string of half-starved dogs. Often a net is stretched across the runway of game, and then, while some of the hunters conceal themselves near by, others seek to drive the game into the net, where it is speared to death.78Ancient Chinese jars are found throughout the interior of the Philippines and are very closely associated with the folk-lore of the Tinguian. Some of the jars date back to the 10th century, while many are from the 12th and 14th centuries, and evidently entered the Islands through pre-Spanish trade. They are held in great value and are generally used in part payment for a bride and for the settlement of feuds. For more details see Cole,Chinese Pottery in the Philippines, Pub. Field Museum of Nat. Hist, Vol. XII, No. 1.79This cave is situated in the mountains midway between Patok and Santa Rosa. In this vicinity are numerous limestone caves, each of which has its traditions.80Cabildo of Domayco, the envied owner of this jar, has refused great sums offered for its purchase, and though men from other tribes come bringing ten carabao at one time, they cannot tempt him to sell.81These beautiful agate beads are still worn by the Tinguian women, who prize them very highly. They are rarely sold and each is worth more than a carabao.82The Alan are supposed to be deformed spirits who live in the forests. They are as large as people, but have wings and can fly. Their toes are at the back of their feet, and their fingers point backward from their wrists.83The name by which spirits call human beings.84This treatment of the Alan is typical of that accorded to the less powerful of the spirits by the Tinguian today. At the ceremonies they often make fun of them and cheat them in the sacrifices.85Known to the Tinguian as Banog. This bird occupies much the same place with the Tinguian as does the garuda in East Indian folk-lore.86This tale gives to the Tinguian his idea of the future world. Sogsogot is supposed to have lived only a short time ago, and his experiences are well known to all the people.87Seenote 1, p. 15. Practically this same tale is told by the neighboring Ilocano, from whom it may have been borrowed; but here the Tinguian custom of paying a marriage price is introduced.88This type of story is also found farther to the south, where the cleverness of the small animal causes him to triumph over the strong.89The Tinguian house contains neither tables nor chairs. The people usually squat on the floor, sitting on their heels; if anything is used as a seat it is a bit of cocoanut shell or a small block of wood.90Here we have a proverbial tale, one in which the Tinguian expresses the idea, “Haste makes waste.”91Another version of this tale is found in British North Borneo in the story of the plandok and the crab, while to European children it is known as the race between the turtle and the hare.92The story shows the influence of the Christianized natives, among whom cock-fighting is a very popular sport. It is found only among those Tinguian who come into contact with this class.
The Tree with the Agate BeadsTinguianMore than a hundred seasons ago, a Tinguian went one day to the mountains to hunt. Accompanied by his faithful dog, he made his way steadily up the mountain side, only halting where it was necessary to cut a path through the jungle. And the dog ran here and there searching in the thick underbrush.On and on he went without seeing any game, and then, when he was almost at the top of the highest peak, the dog gave a sharp yelp, and out of the brush leaped a fine deer. Zip! went the man’s spear, and it pierced the animal’s side. For an instant he waited, but the deer did not fall. On it ran with unslackened speed, and a moment later it plunged into a hole in the ground with the man and dog in close pursuit.A short distance from the entrance the cave opened out into large, spacious rooms, and before he realized it the man was hopelessly lost In the distance he could hear the baying of the dog, and with no other guide he hurried on through the darkness.Following the sound, he went for a long time from one unfamiliar room to another, stumbling in the darkness and striking against the stone walls, and then suddenly his outstretched hands grasped a small tree on which berries grew.Astonished at finding anything growing in this darkplace, he broke off a branch, and as he did so the shrub began to talk in a strange language. Terrified, the man ran in the direction he had last heard the dog, and a moment later he found himself in the open air on the banks of the Abra River, with the dead deer at his feet.When he examined the twig which he still held in his hand, he saw to his great surprise that the berries were agate beads of great value.81And packing the deer on his back, he hastened home where he told his wonderful story.The sight of the beautiful beads convinced the people that he told the truth, and a number of men at once returned with him to secure the tree.Their quest, however, was unsuccessful, for ere they reached the spot the evil spirit had taken the tree away and on the walls of the cave it had made strange carvings which even to this day can be seen.
Tinguian
More than a hundred seasons ago, a Tinguian went one day to the mountains to hunt. Accompanied by his faithful dog, he made his way steadily up the mountain side, only halting where it was necessary to cut a path through the jungle. And the dog ran here and there searching in the thick underbrush.
On and on he went without seeing any game, and then, when he was almost at the top of the highest peak, the dog gave a sharp yelp, and out of the brush leaped a fine deer. Zip! went the man’s spear, and it pierced the animal’s side. For an instant he waited, but the deer did not fall. On it ran with unslackened speed, and a moment later it plunged into a hole in the ground with the man and dog in close pursuit.
A short distance from the entrance the cave opened out into large, spacious rooms, and before he realized it the man was hopelessly lost In the distance he could hear the baying of the dog, and with no other guide he hurried on through the darkness.
Following the sound, he went for a long time from one unfamiliar room to another, stumbling in the darkness and striking against the stone walls, and then suddenly his outstretched hands grasped a small tree on which berries grew.
Astonished at finding anything growing in this darkplace, he broke off a branch, and as he did so the shrub began to talk in a strange language. Terrified, the man ran in the direction he had last heard the dog, and a moment later he found himself in the open air on the banks of the Abra River, with the dead deer at his feet.
When he examined the twig which he still held in his hand, he saw to his great surprise that the berries were agate beads of great value.81And packing the deer on his back, he hastened home where he told his wonderful story.
The sight of the beautiful beads convinced the people that he told the truth, and a number of men at once returned with him to secure the tree.
Their quest, however, was unsuccessful, for ere they reached the spot the evil spirit had taken the tree away and on the walls of the cave it had made strange carvings which even to this day can be seen.
The Striped BlanketTinguianThree Tinguian once went to the mountains to hunt deer. They took their blankets with them, for they expected to be gone several days, and the nights in the mountains are cold.The blankets of two of the men were of the blue-and-white designs such as are commonly worn by the Tinguian, but that of the third was covered with red and yellow stripes like the back of a little wild pig.At night the men rolled up in their blankets and lay down under a tree to sleep; but while the one in the striped blanket was still awake two spirits came near and saw him.“Oh,” he heard one spirit say to the other, “here we have something to eat, for here is a little wild pig.”Then the man quickly took the blanket off one of his sleeping companions and put his own in its place. Very soon the spirits came and ate the man under the striped blanket.Since that time the Tinguian never sleep under that kind of a blanket if they are where the spirits can get them.
Tinguian
Three Tinguian once went to the mountains to hunt deer. They took their blankets with them, for they expected to be gone several days, and the nights in the mountains are cold.
The blankets of two of the men were of the blue-and-white designs such as are commonly worn by the Tinguian, but that of the third was covered with red and yellow stripes like the back of a little wild pig.
At night the men rolled up in their blankets and lay down under a tree to sleep; but while the one in the striped blanket was still awake two spirits came near and saw him.
“Oh,” he heard one spirit say to the other, “here we have something to eat, for here is a little wild pig.”
Then the man quickly took the blanket off one of his sleeping companions and put his own in its place. Very soon the spirits came and ate the man under the striped blanket.
Since that time the Tinguian never sleep under that kind of a blanket if they are where the spirits can get them.
The Alan and the HuntersTinguianTwo 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 he reached the place, he found that the fire was in the house of an Alan,82and he was very much afraid; but creeping up into the house, he found that the Alan and her baby were fast asleep.He stepped on tip-toe, but nevertheless the Alan was awakened and called out:“Epogow,83what do you want?”“I should like to get some fire,” said the man, “for we have killed a wild pig.”The Alan gave him the fire, and then taking her basket she went with him to the place where the pig was.After they had singed the animal, the Alan cut it up with her long nails and handed the liver to theman, telling him to take it to her house to feed the baby.The man started, and on the way he ate the liver. When he reached the Alan’s house he did not know what to do. For some time he looked around, and then seeing a large caldron of hot water on the fire, he threw the baby into it and went back.“Did the baby eat well?” asked the Alan.“Very well,” said the man.Then she put most of the meat into her basket and started home. As soon as she had gone, the man told his companion what he had done, and they were so frightened that they ran to hide.When the Alan reached home and found the baby dead in the hot water, she was very angry and started back immediately to find the men, who, in the meantime, had climbed a high tree that stood near the water.The Alan looked down into the water, and seeing the reflection of the men, she reached in her long hand with the fingers that pointed backward, but when she could not touch them, she looked up and saw them in the tall tree.“How did you get up there?” she cried angrily.“We climbed up feet first,” called down the men.The Alan, determined to get them, caught hold of a vine and started up the tree feet first, but before she quite reached them, they cut the vine and she fell to the ground and was killed.84Then the men came down and went to the Alan’s house, where they found a jar full of beads and another of gold, and these they brought with them when they returned home.
Tinguian
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 he reached the place, he found that the fire was in the house of an Alan,82and he was very much afraid; but creeping up into the house, he found that the Alan and her baby were fast asleep.
He stepped on tip-toe, but nevertheless the Alan was awakened and called out:
“Epogow,83what do you want?”
“I should like to get some fire,” said the man, “for we have killed a wild pig.”
The Alan gave him the fire, and then taking her basket she went with him to the place where the pig was.
After they had singed the animal, the Alan cut it up with her long nails and handed the liver to theman, telling him to take it to her house to feed the baby.
The man started, and on the way he ate the liver. When he reached the Alan’s house he did not know what to do. For some time he looked around, and then seeing a large caldron of hot water on the fire, he threw the baby into it and went back.
“Did the baby eat well?” asked the Alan.
“Very well,” said the man.
Then she put most of the meat into her basket and started home. As soon as she had gone, the man told his companion what he had done, and they were so frightened that they ran to hide.
When the Alan reached home and found the baby dead in the hot water, she was very angry and started back immediately to find the men, who, in the meantime, had climbed a high tree that stood near the water.
The Alan looked down into the water, and seeing the reflection of the men, she reached in her long hand with the fingers that pointed backward, but when she could not touch them, she looked up and saw them in the tall tree.
“How did you get up there?” she cried angrily.
“We climbed up feet first,” called down the men.
The Alan, determined to get them, caught hold of a vine and started up the tree feet first, but before she quite reached them, they cut the vine and she fell to the ground and was killed.84
Then the men came down and went to the Alan’s house, where they found a jar full of beads and another of gold, and these they brought with them when they returned home.
Man and the AlanTinguianA 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, large as people, hanging from the limbs of the tree with their heads down like bats. They had wings to fly, and their toes were at the back of their feet, while their long fingers, which pointed backward, were fastened at the wrist.“Surely,” thought the man, “these terrible beings will eat me if they can catch me. I will run away as fast as I can while they are asleep.” He tried to run but he was too frightened, and after a few steps he fell face down on the ground.At this the Alan began to wail loudly, for they saw him fall and believed him dead And they came down out of the tree with gold and beads which they laid on him.After a while the man gathered courage and, jumping up, he cried as loudly as he could, “Go away!”The Alan did not move, but they looked at him and said: “Give us the one beadnagaba[a peculiar bead of double effect], and you may have the rest.” Whenthe man refused to do this, they were angry and turned away, crying, “Then we are going to burn your house, for you are a bad man.”Thereupon the man went home as fast as he could go, but very soon after that his house burned, for the Alan kept their word.Bamboo raftsBamboo raftsHauling bambooHauling bamboo
Tinguian
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, large as people, hanging from the limbs of the tree with their heads down like bats. They had wings to fly, and their toes were at the back of their feet, while their long fingers, which pointed backward, were fastened at the wrist.
“Surely,” thought the man, “these terrible beings will eat me if they can catch me. I will run away as fast as I can while they are asleep.” He tried to run but he was too frightened, and after a few steps he fell face down on the ground.
At this the Alan began to wail loudly, for they saw him fall and believed him dead And they came down out of the tree with gold and beads which they laid on him.
After a while the man gathered courage and, jumping up, he cried as loudly as he could, “Go away!”
The Alan did not move, but they looked at him and said: “Give us the one beadnagaba[a peculiar bead of double effect], and you may have the rest.” Whenthe man refused to do this, they were angry and turned away, crying, “Then we are going to burn your house, for you are a bad man.”
Thereupon the man went home as fast as he could go, but very soon after that his house burned, for the Alan kept their word.
Bamboo raftsBamboo rafts
Bamboo rafts
Hauling bambooHauling bamboo
Hauling bamboo
SogsogotTinguianOne 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 for the deer to come out.While he stood there eagerly watching, a big bird85swooped down, caught him in its claws, and carried him away. Far off over the mountains the bird soared, until finally it came to a big tree where it had its nest, and here it left the man and flew away.Sogsogot’s first thought was to make his escape, but he found that the tree was so tall that he could not get down, and after a time he ceased his attempts to get away and began to look over his companions in the nest—two young birds and three little pigs.By and by he became hungry, so he cut up the three little pigs, and after he had eaten all he wished he fed the two birds. When this meat was gone the mother bird brought more pigs and deer, and the man had all he could eat. Then he fed the little birds, which grewvery fast and soon were able to fly. One day when they were standing on the edge of the nest Sogsogot caught hold of the birds’ legs, and they fluttered down and carried him safely to the ground.Rice terraces in the mountainsRice terraces in the mountainsA rice fieldA rice fieldHe hastened home as fast as he could go and told the people of his wonderful trip. They made a ceremony for the spirits, and all the people rejoiced that the lost man had returned.Some time after this Sogsogot went to a hostile town to fight, and while he was gone his wife died. On the way back to his town he met the spirit of his wife driving a cow and two pigs, and not knowing that she was a spirit he asked her where she was going.“I am not a person any more,” she answered him; “I am dead.” And when he wanted to touch her hand, she gave him only her shortest finger. He begged to go with her so she said, “Go first to our home and get a white chicken; then follow the footmarks of the cow and pigs.”He did as she commanded him, and after a while he came to a place where she was bathing in the river. She said to him:“Now you may come with me to our spirit town.86I shall hide you in the rice-bin and shall bring food to you every day. But at night the people in the town will want to eat you, and when they come to the bin you must take some of the feathers of the white chicken and throw at them.”The man went with her, and when they arrived at the spirit town she hid him in the rice-bin. At night the people came to eat him, as she had said they would; but when he threw the chicken feathers at them they were frightened away.For two weeks Sogsogot lived in this place, but when the feathers were nearly gone he was afraid to stay any longer, for every night the spirits came to eat him. He begged his wife to allow him to go, and finally she showed him the way home, giving him rice to eat on his journey.As soon as the man arrived home and inquired for his wife, the people told him that she had died and they had buried her under the house. Then he knew that it was her spirit that had taken him to the strange town.
Tinguian
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 for the deer to come out.
While he stood there eagerly watching, a big bird85swooped down, caught him in its claws, and carried him away. Far off over the mountains the bird soared, until finally it came to a big tree where it had its nest, and here it left the man and flew away.
Sogsogot’s first thought was to make his escape, but he found that the tree was so tall that he could not get down, and after a time he ceased his attempts to get away and began to look over his companions in the nest—two young birds and three little pigs.
By and by he became hungry, so he cut up the three little pigs, and after he had eaten all he wished he fed the two birds. When this meat was gone the mother bird brought more pigs and deer, and the man had all he could eat. Then he fed the little birds, which grewvery fast and soon were able to fly. One day when they were standing on the edge of the nest Sogsogot caught hold of the birds’ legs, and they fluttered down and carried him safely to the ground.
Rice terraces in the mountainsRice terraces in the mountains
Rice terraces in the mountains
A rice fieldA rice field
A rice field
He hastened home as fast as he could go and told the people of his wonderful trip. They made a ceremony for the spirits, and all the people rejoiced that the lost man had returned.
Some time after this Sogsogot went to a hostile town to fight, and while he was gone his wife died. On the way back to his town he met the spirit of his wife driving a cow and two pigs, and not knowing that she was a spirit he asked her where she was going.
“I am not a person any more,” she answered him; “I am dead.” And when he wanted to touch her hand, she gave him only her shortest finger. He begged to go with her so she said, “Go first to our home and get a white chicken; then follow the footmarks of the cow and pigs.”
He did as she commanded him, and after a while he came to a place where she was bathing in the river. She said to him:
“Now you may come with me to our spirit town.86I shall hide you in the rice-bin and shall bring food to you every day. But at night the people in the town will want to eat you, and when they come to the bin you must take some of the feathers of the white chicken and throw at them.”
The man went with her, and when they arrived at the spirit town she hid him in the rice-bin. At night the people came to eat him, as she had said they would; but when he threw the chicken feathers at them they were frightened away.
For two weeks Sogsogot lived in this place, but when the feathers were nearly gone he was afraid to stay any longer, for every night the spirits came to eat him. He begged his wife to allow him to go, and finally she showed him the way home, giving him rice to eat on his journey.
As soon as the man arrived home and inquired for his wife, the people told him that she had died and they had buried her under the house. Then he knew that it was her spirit that had taken him to the strange town.
The Mistaken GiftsTinguianWhen 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 the man arrived at the girl’s house the people were all sitting on the floor eating periwinkle, and as they sucked the meat out of the shell, they nodded their heads. The man, looking in at the door, saw them nod, and he thought they were nodding at him. So he did not tell them his errand, but returned quickly to the boy’s parents and told them that all the people at the girl’s house were favorable to the union.Siagon’s parents were very much pleased that their proposal had been so kindly received, and immediately prepared to go to the girl’s house to arrange for the wedding.Finally all was ready and they started for her house, carrying with them as presents for her parents two carabao, two horses, two cows, four iron kettles, sixteen jars of basi, two blankets, and two little pigs.The surprise of the girl’s people knew no boundswhen they saw all this coming to their house, for they had not even thought of Siagon marrying their daughter.87
Tinguian
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 the man arrived at the girl’s house the people were all sitting on the floor eating periwinkle, and as they sucked the meat out of the shell, they nodded their heads. The man, looking in at the door, saw them nod, and he thought they were nodding at him. So he did not tell them his errand, but returned quickly to the boy’s parents and told them that all the people at the girl’s house were favorable to the union.
Siagon’s parents were very much pleased that their proposal had been so kindly received, and immediately prepared to go to the girl’s house to arrange for the wedding.
Finally all was ready and they started for her house, carrying with them as presents for her parents two carabao, two horses, two cows, four iron kettles, sixteen jars of basi, two blankets, and two little pigs.
The surprise of the girl’s people knew no boundswhen they saw all this coming to their house, for they had not even thought of Siagon marrying their daughter.87
The Boy who Became a StoneTinguianOne 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 and threw the snare over the bird and caught it, and he put it in a jar in his house while he went with the other boys to swim.While he was away, his grandmother grew hungry, so she ate the bird, and when Elonen returned and found that his bird was gone, he was so sad that he wished he might go away and never come back. He went out into the forest and walked a long distance, until finally he came to a big stone and said: “Stone, open your mouth and eat me.” And the stone opened its mouth and swallowed the boy.When his grandmother missed the boy, she went out and looked everywhere, hoping to find him. Finally she passed near the stone and it cried out, “Here he is.” Then the old woman tried to open the stone but she could not, so she called the horses to come and help her. They came and kicked it, but it would not break. Then she called the carabao and they hooked it, butthey only broke their horns. She called the chickens, which pecked it, and the thunder, which shook it, but nothing could open it, and she had to go home without the boy.
Tinguian
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 and threw the snare over the bird and caught it, and he put it in a jar in his house while he went with the other boys to swim.
While he was away, his grandmother grew hungry, so she ate the bird, and when Elonen returned and found that his bird was gone, he was so sad that he wished he might go away and never come back. He went out into the forest and walked a long distance, until finally he came to a big stone and said: “Stone, open your mouth and eat me.” And the stone opened its mouth and swallowed the boy.
When his grandmother missed the boy, she went out and looked everywhere, hoping to find him. Finally she passed near the stone and it cried out, “Here he is.” Then the old woman tried to open the stone but she could not, so she called the horses to come and help her. They came and kicked it, but it would not break. Then she called the carabao and they hooked it, butthey only broke their horns. She called the chickens, which pecked it, and the thunder, which shook it, but nothing could open it, and she had to go home without the boy.
The Turtle and the LizardTinguianA turtle and a big lizard once went to the field of Gotgotapa to steal ginger,88When they reached the place the turtle said to the lizard:“We must be very still or the man will hear us and come out.”But as soon as the lizard tasted the ginger he was so pleased that he said:“The ginger of Gotgotapa is very good.”“Be still,” said the turtle; but the lizard paid no attention to the warning, and called louder than ever:“The ginger of Gotgotapa is very good.”Again and again he cried out, until finally the man heard him and came out of the house to catch the robbers.The turtle could not run fast, so he lay very still, and the man did not see him. But the lizard ran and the man chased him. When they were out of sight, the turtle went into the house and hid under a cocoanut shell upon which the man used to sit.89The man ran after the lizard for a long distance,but he could not catch him. After a while he came back to the house and sat down on the shell.By and by, the turtle called, “Kook.” The man jumped up and looked all around. Unable to tell where the noise came from, he sat down again,A second time the turtle called, and this time the man looked everywhere in the house except under the shell, but could not find the turtle. Again and again the turtle called, and finally the man, realizing that all his attempts were unsuccessful, grew so excited that he died.Then the turtle ran out of the house, and he had not gone far before he met the lizard again. They walked along together until they saw some honey in a tree, and the turtle said:“I will go first and get some of the honey.”The lizard would not wait, but ran ahead, and when he seized the honey, the bees came out and stung him. So he ran back to the turtle for help.After a while they came to a bird snare, and the turtle said:“That is the silver wire that my grandfather wore about his neck.”Then the lizard ran fast to get it first, but he was caught in the snare and was held until the man came and killed him. Then the wise turtle went on alone.
Tinguian
A turtle and a big lizard once went to the field of Gotgotapa to steal ginger,88When they reached the place the turtle said to the lizard:
“We must be very still or the man will hear us and come out.”
But as soon as the lizard tasted the ginger he was so pleased that he said:
“The ginger of Gotgotapa is very good.”
“Be still,” said the turtle; but the lizard paid no attention to the warning, and called louder than ever:
“The ginger of Gotgotapa is very good.”
Again and again he cried out, until finally the man heard him and came out of the house to catch the robbers.
The turtle could not run fast, so he lay very still, and the man did not see him. But the lizard ran and the man chased him. When they were out of sight, the turtle went into the house and hid under a cocoanut shell upon which the man used to sit.89
The man ran after the lizard for a long distance,but he could not catch him. After a while he came back to the house and sat down on the shell.
By and by, the turtle called, “Kook.” The man jumped up and looked all around. Unable to tell where the noise came from, he sat down again,
A second time the turtle called, and this time the man looked everywhere in the house except under the shell, but could not find the turtle. Again and again the turtle called, and finally the man, realizing that all his attempts were unsuccessful, grew so excited that he died.
Then the turtle ran out of the house, and he had not gone far before he met the lizard again. They walked along together until they saw some honey in a tree, and the turtle said:
“I will go first and get some of the honey.”
The lizard would not wait, but ran ahead, and when he seized the honey, the bees came out and stung him. So he ran back to the turtle for help.
After a while they came to a bird snare, and the turtle said:
“That is the silver wire that my grandfather wore about his neck.”
Then the lizard ran fast to get it first, but he was caught in the snare and was held until the man came and killed him. Then the wise turtle went on alone.
The Man with the CocoanutsTinguianOne day a man who had been to gather his cocoanuts loaded his horse heavily with the fruit. On the way home hemeta 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 very soon; but if you go fast, it will take you all day.”The man could not believe this strange speech, so he hurried his horse. But the cocoanuts fell off and he had to stop to pick them up. Then he hurried his horse all the more to make up for lost time, but the cocoanuts fell off again. Many times he did this, and it was night when he reached home.90
Tinguian
One day a man who had been to gather his cocoanuts loaded his horse heavily with the fruit. On the way home hemeta 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 very soon; but if you go fast, it will take you all day.”
The man could not believe this strange speech, so he hurried his horse. But the cocoanuts fell off and he had to stop to pick them up. Then he hurried his horse all the more to make up for lost time, but the cocoanuts fell off again. Many times he did this, and it was night when he reached home.90
The Carabao and the ShellTinguianOne 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 went out on the bank and started to run.After the carabao had gone a long distance he stopped and called, “Shell!”And another shell lying by the river answered, “Here I am!”Then the carabao, thinking that it was the same shell with which he was racing, ran on.By and by he stopped again and called, “Shell!”Again another shell answered, “Here I am!”The carabao was surprised that the shell could keep up with him. But he ran on and on, and every time he stopped to call, another shell answered him. But he was determined that the shell should not beat him, so he ran until he dropped dead.91
Tinguian
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 went out on the bank and started to run.
After the carabao had gone a long distance he stopped and called, “Shell!”
And another shell lying by the river answered, “Here I am!”
Then the carabao, thinking that it was the same shell with which he was racing, ran on.
By and by he stopped again and called, “Shell!”
Again another shell answered, “Here I am!”
The carabao was surprised that the shell could keep up with him. But he ran on and on, and every time he stopped to call, another shell answered him. But he was determined that the shell should not beat him, so he ran until he dropped dead.91
The Alligator’s FruitTinguianTwo 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 paid no attention and threw the rind showing teeth marks into the river, where the alligator saw it.Thus he knew at once who had taken his fruit, and he was very angry. He went to the house of the woman and called to the people:“Bring out the woman that I may eat her, for she has eaten my fruit”“Very well,” answered the people. “But sit down and wait a little while.”Then they put the iron soil-turner into the fire, and when it was red hot, they took it to the door and said to the alligator:“Here, eat this first.”He opened his mouth, and they pushed the red hot iron down his throat, and he died.
Tinguian
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 paid no attention and threw the rind showing teeth marks into the river, where the alligator saw it.
Thus he knew at once who had taken his fruit, and he was very angry. He went to the house of the woman and called to the people:
“Bring out the woman that I may eat her, for she has eaten my fruit”
“Very well,” answered the people. “But sit down and wait a little while.”
Then they put the iron soil-turner into the fire, and when it was red hot, they took it to the door and said to the alligator:
“Here, eat this first.”
He opened his mouth, and they pushed the red hot iron down his throat, and he died.
DogedogTinguianDogedog 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 day and idle away his time than to work and have more things.One day, however, when the rainy season was near at hand, Dogedog began thinking how cold he would be when the storms came, and he felt so sorry for himself that he decided to make a floor in his house.Wrapping some rice in a banana leaf for his dinner, he took his long knife and went to the forest to cut some bamboo. He hung the bundle of rice in a tree until he should need it; but while he was working a cat came and ate it. When the hungry man came for his dinner, there was none left. Dogedog went back to his miserable little house which looked forlorn to him even, now that he had decided to have a floor.The next day he went again to the forest and hung his rice in the tree as he did before, but again the cat came and ate it. So the man had to go home without any dinner.The third day he took the rice, but this time he fixed a trap in the tree, and when the cat came it was caught.“Now I have you!” cried the man when he found the cat; “and I shall kill you for stealing my rice.”“Oh, do not kill me,” pleaded the cat, “and I will be of some use to you.”So Dogedog decided to spare the cat’s life, and he took it home and tied it near the door to guard the house.Some time later when he went to look at it, he was very much surprised to find that it had become a cock.“Now I can go to the cock-fight at Magsingal,” cried the man. And he was very happy, for he had much rather do that than work.Thinking no more of getting wood for his floor, he started out at once for Magsingal with the cock under his arm. As he was crossing a river he met an alligator which called out to him:“Where are you going, Dogedog?”“To the cock-fight at Magsingal,” replied the man as he fondly stroked the rooster.“Wait, and I will go with you,” said the alligator; and he drew himself out of the water.The two walking along together soon entered a forest where they met a deer and it asked:“Where are you going, Dogedog?”“To the cock-fight at Magsingal,” said the man.“Wait and I will go with you,” said the deer; and he also joined them.By and by they met a mound of earth that had been raised by the ants, and they would have passed without noticing it had it not inquired:“Where are you going, Dogedog?”“To the cock-fight at Magsingal,” said the man once more; and the mound of earth joined them.The company then hurried on, and just as they were leaving the forest, they passed a big tree in which was a monkey.“Where are you going, Dogedog?” shrieked the monkey. And without waiting for an answer he scrambled down the tree and followed them.As the party walked along they talked together, and the alligator said to Dogedog:“If any man wants to dive into the water, I can stay under longer than he.”Then the deer, not to be outdone, said:“If any man wants to run, I can run faster.”The mound of earth, anxious to show its strength, said:“If any man wants to wrestle, I can beat him.”And the monkey said:“If any man wants to climb, I can go higher.”They reached Magsingal in good time and the people were ready for the fight to begin. When Dogedog put his rooster, which had been a cat, into the pit, it killed the other cock at once, for it used its claws like a cat.The people brought more roosters and wagered much money, but Dogedog’s cock killed all the others until there was not one left in Magsingal, and Dogedog won much money. Then they went outside the town and brought all the cocks they could find, but not one could win over that of Dogedog.When the cocks were all dead, the people wantedsome other sport, so they brought a man who could stay under water for a long time, and Dogedog made him compete with the alligator. But after a while the man had to come up first Then they brought a swift runner and he raced with the deer, but the man was left far behind. Next they looked around until they found a very large man who was willing to contend with the mound of earth, but after a hard struggle the man was thrown.Finally they brought a man who could climb higher than anyone else, but the monkey went far above him, and he had to give up.All these contests had brought much money to Dogedog, and now he had to buy two horses to carry his sacks of silver. As soon as he reached home, he bought the house of a very rich man and went to live in it. And he was very happy, for he did not have to work any more.92
Tinguian
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 day and idle away his time than to work and have more things.
One day, however, when the rainy season was near at hand, Dogedog began thinking how cold he would be when the storms came, and he felt so sorry for himself that he decided to make a floor in his house.
Wrapping some rice in a banana leaf for his dinner, he took his long knife and went to the forest to cut some bamboo. He hung the bundle of rice in a tree until he should need it; but while he was working a cat came and ate it. When the hungry man came for his dinner, there was none left. Dogedog went back to his miserable little house which looked forlorn to him even, now that he had decided to have a floor.
The next day he went again to the forest and hung his rice in the tree as he did before, but again the cat came and ate it. So the man had to go home without any dinner.
The third day he took the rice, but this time he fixed a trap in the tree, and when the cat came it was caught.
“Now I have you!” cried the man when he found the cat; “and I shall kill you for stealing my rice.”
“Oh, do not kill me,” pleaded the cat, “and I will be of some use to you.”
So Dogedog decided to spare the cat’s life, and he took it home and tied it near the door to guard the house.
Some time later when he went to look at it, he was very much surprised to find that it had become a cock.
“Now I can go to the cock-fight at Magsingal,” cried the man. And he was very happy, for he had much rather do that than work.
Thinking no more of getting wood for his floor, he started out at once for Magsingal with the cock under his arm. As he was crossing a river he met an alligator which called out to him:
“Where are you going, Dogedog?”
“To the cock-fight at Magsingal,” replied the man as he fondly stroked the rooster.
“Wait, and I will go with you,” said the alligator; and he drew himself out of the water.
The two walking along together soon entered a forest where they met a deer and it asked:
“Where are you going, Dogedog?”
“To the cock-fight at Magsingal,” said the man.
“Wait and I will go with you,” said the deer; and he also joined them.
By and by they met a mound of earth that had been raised by the ants, and they would have passed without noticing it had it not inquired:
“Where are you going, Dogedog?”
“To the cock-fight at Magsingal,” said the man once more; and the mound of earth joined them.
The company then hurried on, and just as they were leaving the forest, they passed a big tree in which was a monkey.
“Where are you going, Dogedog?” shrieked the monkey. And without waiting for an answer he scrambled down the tree and followed them.
As the party walked along they talked together, and the alligator said to Dogedog:
“If any man wants to dive into the water, I can stay under longer than he.”
Then the deer, not to be outdone, said:
“If any man wants to run, I can run faster.”
The mound of earth, anxious to show its strength, said:
“If any man wants to wrestle, I can beat him.”
And the monkey said:
“If any man wants to climb, I can go higher.”
They reached Magsingal in good time and the people were ready for the fight to begin. When Dogedog put his rooster, which had been a cat, into the pit, it killed the other cock at once, for it used its claws like a cat.
The people brought more roosters and wagered much money, but Dogedog’s cock killed all the others until there was not one left in Magsingal, and Dogedog won much money. Then they went outside the town and brought all the cocks they could find, but not one could win over that of Dogedog.
When the cocks were all dead, the people wantedsome other sport, so they brought a man who could stay under water for a long time, and Dogedog made him compete with the alligator. But after a while the man had to come up first Then they brought a swift runner and he raced with the deer, but the man was left far behind. Next they looked around until they found a very large man who was willing to contend with the mound of earth, but after a hard struggle the man was thrown.
Finally they brought a man who could climb higher than anyone else, but the monkey went far above him, and he had to give up.
All these contests had brought much money to Dogedog, and now he had to buy two horses to carry his sacks of silver. As soon as he reached home, he bought the house of a very rich man and went to live in it. And he was very happy, for he did not have to work any more.92
1This incident is strikingly similar to the story in North American folk-lore of the maiden captured and carried upward by a vine. Several other points of likeness appear in the lore of Malaysia, Polynesia, and America.2SeePreface, p. vii.3This incident is unique so far as American or European folk-lore is concerned, yet it is common in Tinguian tales, while similar stories are found among the neighboring Ilocano and Igorot tribes of the Philippines, as well as in Borneo, Java, and India.4The belief that beauty is capable of radiating great light is not peculiar to Tinguian tales, for it is also found in the Malay legends and in those of India. It is not impossible that they had a common origin.5The betel-nut is the nut of the areca palm. It is prepared for chewing by being cut into quarters, each piece being wrapped in betel-leaf spread with lime. It produces a blood-red spittle which greatly discolors the teeth and lips, and it is used extensively throughout the Philippines. While it appears to have been in common use among the Tinguian at the time these stories originated, it has now been displaced by tobacco, except at ceremonies when it is prepared for chewing; it is also placed on the animals offered for sacrifice to the spirits. Throughout the tales great significance is given to the chewing of betel-nuts before names are told or introductions given, while from the quids and spittle it appears to have been possible to foretell events and establish relationships.6Compare with the story of Phæton in Bulfinch,The Age of Fable, p. 50.7The Tinguian have no calendar, but reckon time by the recurrence of the moon.8It is the present custom of the Tinguian to make numerous ceremonies for the spirits. These vary in length from a few hours to seventeen days. During this period animals are slaughtered, small houses are built, mediums deliver messages from the spirits, and there is much feasting and dancing.9When ripe, the betel-nut is covered with a golden husk, and it is possibly because of this that they were said to be covered with gold. The present-day Tinguian, in place of sending the betel-nut, sends a small piece of gold to any relative or friend whom he specially wishes to induce to attend a ceremony.10This seems to be peculiar to Tinguian folk-lore.11Except when she is in mourning a Tinguian woman’s arms are always covered with beads placed strand above strand.12The parents of a boy choose his bride when the children are very young. A great celebration is then held, and relatives and friends of both parties decide on the price to be paid for the girl. Partial payment is made at once, and the remainder goes over until the marriage proper takes place, when the boy and girl are about twelve or fourteen years of age. In this instance Ini-init makes the customary payment for his bride, though the marriage had already taken place.13The friends and retainers pound rice and prepare food for all the guests who attend the ceremony.14A spirit house is one of the small houses built during a ceremony.15reference is probably to ancient Chinese jars.16The custom, which still exists to a certain degree, was to offer food to a guest before any matter was discussed. In ancient times this was considered very necessary, as it still is among the Apayao who live north of the Tinguian. With them to refuse food is to refuse friendship.17A drink made of fermented sugar-cane.18The old jars possessed by the Tinguian today have notches broken in the rim, one for each generation through whose hands it has passed.19When the first negotiations are made the boy’s parents offer some gift, nowadays usually a small bead. If this is accepted it signifies the willingness of the girl’s parents to consider the match.20Seenote 1, p. 15.21The music for the dances is made by beating on drums and copper gongs. A man and a woman enter the circle, each carrying a large square of cloth on outstretched arms. Keeping time to the music with their hands and feet, they move about, coming near to each other and then drawing farther apart The woman follows the movements of the man and finally places her cloth on his outstretched arms, thus ending the dance; another couple then takes their place.22An interesting parallel to this is found in the Dayak legend of Limbang, where a tree springs from the head of a dead giant; its flowers are beads; its leaves, cloth; and the fruit, jars. See Roth,The Natives of Sarawak and British North Borneo, Vol. I, p. 372.23Throughout the Tinguian tales the characters are frequently described as changing themselves into oil, centipedes, birds, and other forms. This power is also found among the heroes of Dayak and Malay tales. See Roth, op. cit., Vol. I, p. 312; Perham,Journal Straits Branch R., Asiatic Society, No. 16, 1886; Wilkinson,Malay Beliefs, pp. 32, 59 (London, 1906).24The Tinguian place a tame rooster in an open spot in the forest and surround him with a line to which slip nooses are attached. The crowing of this bird attracts wild ones which come to fight him and are caught in the nooses.25The water buffalo now used as the beast of burden throughout the Philippines.26The ordinary dress of the Tinguian man is a clout and a striped belt, in which he carries his tobacco and small articles. Some of them also possess striped cotton coats, which they wear on special occasions.27Seenote 2, p. 12.28Seenote 1, p. 13.29This peculiar idea, which frequently appears in Tinguian tales, is also found in Javanese literature. SeeBezemer,Volksdichtung aus Indonesien, p. 47 (Haag, 1904).30Seenote 3, p. 15.31The powerful deeds of these heroes often resemble the miraculous achievements of biblical and ancient times.32Seenote 2, p. 20.33The Tinguian of today do not possess soap, but in its place they use the ashes from rice straw, or not infrequently they soak the bark from a certain tree in the water in which they are to wash their hair.34The lawed vine. In ancient Egypt and in India it was a common belief that friends or relatives could tell from the condition of a certain tree or vine whether the absent one was well or dead: if the vine thrived, they knew that all was well, but if it wilted they mourned for him as dead. It is interesting to find the identical belief in the northern Philippines.35The Tinguian stove consists of a bed of ashes in which three stones are sunk, and on these the pots are placed.36It appears that these people of ancient times possessed the same weapons as those of today. The Tinguian ordinarily wears a head-ax thrust into his belt, and when at work this is his hand tool. When on a hunt or during warfare he also carries a wooden shield and a steel-pointed spear from eight to ten feet in length. For attacks at a distance he depends on the spear, but in a close encounter he uses his head-ax and shield, the latter being oblong in shape and having two prongs at one end and three at the other. The two prongs are to be slipped about the neck of the victim while the head-ax does its work, or the three prongs may be slipped about the legs in the same way.37From this and other incidents it is evident that these people talked with the lightning and thunder. They still have great regard for the omens derived from these forces; but it is now believed that thunder is the dog of Kadaklan, the greatest of all the spirits, and that by the barking of this dog, the god makes known his desires.38Stories in which animals come to the assistance of human beings are found in many lands. One of those best known to Europeans is where the ants sort the grain for Cinderella.39Seenote 2, p. 21.40It was the ancient custom to place the heads of slain enemies at the gate or around the town, and this practice still prevails with some of the surrounding tribes. More recently it was the custom to expose the head at the gate of the town for three days, after which followed a great celebration when the skulls were broken and pieces were given to the guests.41In their beliefs of today the Tinguian recognize many giants, some with more than one head. In a part of the ritual of one ceremony we read, “A man opens the door to learn the cause of the barking and he sees a man, fat and tall, with nine heads.”42A large bamboo pole, with all but the end section cut out, serves for a water bucket.43A long bamboo pole, in one end of which a hard-wood point is inserted. This is thrust into the ground, and in the hole thus made the grain or cuttings are planted. This old method is still in use in some sections of the mountains, but on the lowlands a primitive plow is used to break the soil.44In European, Asiatic, African, and Malaysian lore we find stones of beings with star dresses: when they wear the dresses they are stars; when they take them off they are human. See Cox,An Introduction to Folklore, p. 121 (London, 1904.).45note 1, p. 9.46Seenote 1, p. 12.47Preface, p. vii.48It is the custom to have a small bamboo house built from fifteen to twenty feet from the ground near the rice fields, and in this someone watches every day during the growing season to see that nothing breaks in to destroy the grain. Often flappers are placed in different parts of the field and a connecting string leads from these to the little house, so that the watcher by pulling this string may frighten the birds away from the grain.49Seenote 1, p. 18.50Preface, p. vi.51The nights in the mountains are cold, and it is not at all uncommon in the early morning to see groups of people with blankets wrapped tightly about them, squatting around small fires in the yards.52Seenote 2, p. 12.53Seenote 1, p. 13.54Seenote 1, p. 17.55Compare with the biblical story of the loaves and fishes. For similar incidents among the Igorot of the Philippines, in Borneo, and in India, see Jenks,The Bontoc Igorot, p. 202; Seidenadel,The Language of the Bontoc Igorot, pp. 491, 41 ff. (Chicago, 1909); Roth,The Natives of Sarawak and British North Borneo, Vol. I, p. 319; Tawney,Katha Sarit Sagara, Vol. II, p. 3 (Calcutta, 1880); Bezemer,Volksdichtung aus Indonesien, p. 49 (Haag, 1904).56Seenote 1, p. 15.57Seenote 3, p. 15.58There appear to have been two classes of spirits, one for whom the people had the utmost respect and reverence, and another whom they looked upon as being of service to mortals.59Seenote 1, p. 30.60The word used in the original is langpadan, meaning mountain rice. This variety requires no irrigation and is planted to some extent at the present day, but the great bulk of the grain now used is grown in wonderfully terraced fields on the mountain sides, where water for irrigating is brought from distant streams through a system of flume and bamboo tubes. The fact that only the mountain rice is mentioned in the tales reflects a very ancient life before irrigated fields were known.61Seenote 1, p. 45.62The labeug is the omen bird and is believed to be the direct messenger of Kadaklan, the great spirit, to the people.63Seenote 1, p. 34.64Seenote 1, p. 8.65SeePreface, p. vii.66Before the bundles of ripened rice can be put into the granary a ceremony is made for the spirits. The blood of a pig is mixed with cooked rice and put in the granary as an offering for the spirit who multiplies the grain, otherwise the crop would run out in a short time.67Seenote 1, p. 9.68The spirit who stands next in importance to Kadaklan, the great spirit. It was he who taught the people all good things, and finally he married a woman from Manabo in order to bind himself more closely to them. See “How the Tinguian Learned to Plant.”69This story is considered by the Tinguian to be of rather recent origin. They believe that Sayen lived not so very long ago, yet the stories woven around him are very similar to the ancient ones.70See “The Alan and the Hunters.”71The Tinguian now use flint and steel for making a flame, but it is not at all uncommon for them to go to a neighbor’s house to borrow a burning ember to start their own fire.72The neighboring Ilocano, a Christianized tribe, know the Komow as a fabulous bird which is invisible, yet steals people and their possessions.73Seenote 1, p. 59.74Seenote 2, p. 20.75This tale is of special importance to the Tinguian since it explains how they learned two of the most important things of their present life—to plant and to cure the sick. It also shows how death came into the world.76Seenote 1, p. 59.77It is a common sight in a Tinguian village early in the morning during the dry season to see a number of men armed with spears and head-axes leaving for the mountains. They usually take with them, to assist in the chase, a string of half-starved dogs. Often a net is stretched across the runway of game, and then, while some of the hunters conceal themselves near by, others seek to drive the game into the net, where it is speared to death.78Ancient Chinese jars are found throughout the interior of the Philippines and are very closely associated with the folk-lore of the Tinguian. Some of the jars date back to the 10th century, while many are from the 12th and 14th centuries, and evidently entered the Islands through pre-Spanish trade. They are held in great value and are generally used in part payment for a bride and for the settlement of feuds. For more details see Cole,Chinese Pottery in the Philippines, Pub. Field Museum of Nat. Hist, Vol. XII, No. 1.79This cave is situated in the mountains midway between Patok and Santa Rosa. In this vicinity are numerous limestone caves, each of which has its traditions.80Cabildo of Domayco, the envied owner of this jar, has refused great sums offered for its purchase, and though men from other tribes come bringing ten carabao at one time, they cannot tempt him to sell.81These beautiful agate beads are still worn by the Tinguian women, who prize them very highly. They are rarely sold and each is worth more than a carabao.82The Alan are supposed to be deformed spirits who live in the forests. They are as large as people, but have wings and can fly. Their toes are at the back of their feet, and their fingers point backward from their wrists.83The name by which spirits call human beings.84This treatment of the Alan is typical of that accorded to the less powerful of the spirits by the Tinguian today. At the ceremonies they often make fun of them and cheat them in the sacrifices.85Known to the Tinguian as Banog. This bird occupies much the same place with the Tinguian as does the garuda in East Indian folk-lore.86This tale gives to the Tinguian his idea of the future world. Sogsogot is supposed to have lived only a short time ago, and his experiences are well known to all the people.87Seenote 1, p. 15. Practically this same tale is told by the neighboring Ilocano, from whom it may have been borrowed; but here the Tinguian custom of paying a marriage price is introduced.88This type of story is also found farther to the south, where the cleverness of the small animal causes him to triumph over the strong.89The Tinguian house contains neither tables nor chairs. The people usually squat on the floor, sitting on their heels; if anything is used as a seat it is a bit of cocoanut shell or a small block of wood.90Here we have a proverbial tale, one in which the Tinguian expresses the idea, “Haste makes waste.”91Another version of this tale is found in British North Borneo in the story of the plandok and the crab, while to European children it is known as the race between the turtle and the hare.92The story shows the influence of the Christianized natives, among whom cock-fighting is a very popular sport. It is found only among those Tinguian who come into contact with this class.
1This incident is strikingly similar to the story in North American folk-lore of the maiden captured and carried upward by a vine. Several other points of likeness appear in the lore of Malaysia, Polynesia, and America.
2SeePreface, p. vii.
3This incident is unique so far as American or European folk-lore is concerned, yet it is common in Tinguian tales, while similar stories are found among the neighboring Ilocano and Igorot tribes of the Philippines, as well as in Borneo, Java, and India.
4The belief that beauty is capable of radiating great light is not peculiar to Tinguian tales, for it is also found in the Malay legends and in those of India. It is not impossible that they had a common origin.
5The betel-nut is the nut of the areca palm. It is prepared for chewing by being cut into quarters, each piece being wrapped in betel-leaf spread with lime. It produces a blood-red spittle which greatly discolors the teeth and lips, and it is used extensively throughout the Philippines. While it appears to have been in common use among the Tinguian at the time these stories originated, it has now been displaced by tobacco, except at ceremonies when it is prepared for chewing; it is also placed on the animals offered for sacrifice to the spirits. Throughout the tales great significance is given to the chewing of betel-nuts before names are told or introductions given, while from the quids and spittle it appears to have been possible to foretell events and establish relationships.
6Compare with the story of Phæton in Bulfinch,The Age of Fable, p. 50.
7The Tinguian have no calendar, but reckon time by the recurrence of the moon.
8It is the present custom of the Tinguian to make numerous ceremonies for the spirits. These vary in length from a few hours to seventeen days. During this period animals are slaughtered, small houses are built, mediums deliver messages from the spirits, and there is much feasting and dancing.
9When ripe, the betel-nut is covered with a golden husk, and it is possibly because of this that they were said to be covered with gold. The present-day Tinguian, in place of sending the betel-nut, sends a small piece of gold to any relative or friend whom he specially wishes to induce to attend a ceremony.
10This seems to be peculiar to Tinguian folk-lore.
11Except when she is in mourning a Tinguian woman’s arms are always covered with beads placed strand above strand.
12The parents of a boy choose his bride when the children are very young. A great celebration is then held, and relatives and friends of both parties decide on the price to be paid for the girl. Partial payment is made at once, and the remainder goes over until the marriage proper takes place, when the boy and girl are about twelve or fourteen years of age. In this instance Ini-init makes the customary payment for his bride, though the marriage had already taken place.
13The friends and retainers pound rice and prepare food for all the guests who attend the ceremony.
14A spirit house is one of the small houses built during a ceremony.
15reference is probably to ancient Chinese jars.
16The custom, which still exists to a certain degree, was to offer food to a guest before any matter was discussed. In ancient times this was considered very necessary, as it still is among the Apayao who live north of the Tinguian. With them to refuse food is to refuse friendship.
17A drink made of fermented sugar-cane.
18The old jars possessed by the Tinguian today have notches broken in the rim, one for each generation through whose hands it has passed.
19When the first negotiations are made the boy’s parents offer some gift, nowadays usually a small bead. If this is accepted it signifies the willingness of the girl’s parents to consider the match.
20Seenote 1, p. 15.
21The music for the dances is made by beating on drums and copper gongs. A man and a woman enter the circle, each carrying a large square of cloth on outstretched arms. Keeping time to the music with their hands and feet, they move about, coming near to each other and then drawing farther apart The woman follows the movements of the man and finally places her cloth on his outstretched arms, thus ending the dance; another couple then takes their place.
22An interesting parallel to this is found in the Dayak legend of Limbang, where a tree springs from the head of a dead giant; its flowers are beads; its leaves, cloth; and the fruit, jars. See Roth,The Natives of Sarawak and British North Borneo, Vol. I, p. 372.
23Throughout the Tinguian tales the characters are frequently described as changing themselves into oil, centipedes, birds, and other forms. This power is also found among the heroes of Dayak and Malay tales. See Roth, op. cit., Vol. I, p. 312; Perham,Journal Straits Branch R., Asiatic Society, No. 16, 1886; Wilkinson,Malay Beliefs, pp. 32, 59 (London, 1906).
24The Tinguian place a tame rooster in an open spot in the forest and surround him with a line to which slip nooses are attached. The crowing of this bird attracts wild ones which come to fight him and are caught in the nooses.
25The water buffalo now used as the beast of burden throughout the Philippines.
26The ordinary dress of the Tinguian man is a clout and a striped belt, in which he carries his tobacco and small articles. Some of them also possess striped cotton coats, which they wear on special occasions.
27Seenote 2, p. 12.
28Seenote 1, p. 13.
29This peculiar idea, which frequently appears in Tinguian tales, is also found in Javanese literature. SeeBezemer,Volksdichtung aus Indonesien, p. 47 (Haag, 1904).
30Seenote 3, p. 15.
31The powerful deeds of these heroes often resemble the miraculous achievements of biblical and ancient times.
32Seenote 2, p. 20.
33The Tinguian of today do not possess soap, but in its place they use the ashes from rice straw, or not infrequently they soak the bark from a certain tree in the water in which they are to wash their hair.
34The lawed vine. In ancient Egypt and in India it was a common belief that friends or relatives could tell from the condition of a certain tree or vine whether the absent one was well or dead: if the vine thrived, they knew that all was well, but if it wilted they mourned for him as dead. It is interesting to find the identical belief in the northern Philippines.
35The Tinguian stove consists of a bed of ashes in which three stones are sunk, and on these the pots are placed.
36It appears that these people of ancient times possessed the same weapons as those of today. The Tinguian ordinarily wears a head-ax thrust into his belt, and when at work this is his hand tool. When on a hunt or during warfare he also carries a wooden shield and a steel-pointed spear from eight to ten feet in length. For attacks at a distance he depends on the spear, but in a close encounter he uses his head-ax and shield, the latter being oblong in shape and having two prongs at one end and three at the other. The two prongs are to be slipped about the neck of the victim while the head-ax does its work, or the three prongs may be slipped about the legs in the same way.
37From this and other incidents it is evident that these people talked with the lightning and thunder. They still have great regard for the omens derived from these forces; but it is now believed that thunder is the dog of Kadaklan, the greatest of all the spirits, and that by the barking of this dog, the god makes known his desires.
38Stories in which animals come to the assistance of human beings are found in many lands. One of those best known to Europeans is where the ants sort the grain for Cinderella.
39Seenote 2, p. 21.
40It was the ancient custom to place the heads of slain enemies at the gate or around the town, and this practice still prevails with some of the surrounding tribes. More recently it was the custom to expose the head at the gate of the town for three days, after which followed a great celebration when the skulls were broken and pieces were given to the guests.
41In their beliefs of today the Tinguian recognize many giants, some with more than one head. In a part of the ritual of one ceremony we read, “A man opens the door to learn the cause of the barking and he sees a man, fat and tall, with nine heads.”
42A large bamboo pole, with all but the end section cut out, serves for a water bucket.
43A long bamboo pole, in one end of which a hard-wood point is inserted. This is thrust into the ground, and in the hole thus made the grain or cuttings are planted. This old method is still in use in some sections of the mountains, but on the lowlands a primitive plow is used to break the soil.
44In European, Asiatic, African, and Malaysian lore we find stones of beings with star dresses: when they wear the dresses they are stars; when they take them off they are human. See Cox,An Introduction to Folklore, p. 121 (London, 1904.).
45note 1, p. 9.
46Seenote 1, p. 12.
47Preface, p. vii.
48It is the custom to have a small bamboo house built from fifteen to twenty feet from the ground near the rice fields, and in this someone watches every day during the growing season to see that nothing breaks in to destroy the grain. Often flappers are placed in different parts of the field and a connecting string leads from these to the little house, so that the watcher by pulling this string may frighten the birds away from the grain.
49Seenote 1, p. 18.
50Preface, p. vi.
51The nights in the mountains are cold, and it is not at all uncommon in the early morning to see groups of people with blankets wrapped tightly about them, squatting around small fires in the yards.
52Seenote 2, p. 12.
53Seenote 1, p. 13.
54Seenote 1, p. 17.
55Compare with the biblical story of the loaves and fishes. For similar incidents among the Igorot of the Philippines, in Borneo, and in India, see Jenks,The Bontoc Igorot, p. 202; Seidenadel,The Language of the Bontoc Igorot, pp. 491, 41 ff. (Chicago, 1909); Roth,The Natives of Sarawak and British North Borneo, Vol. I, p. 319; Tawney,Katha Sarit Sagara, Vol. II, p. 3 (Calcutta, 1880); Bezemer,Volksdichtung aus Indonesien, p. 49 (Haag, 1904).
56Seenote 1, p. 15.
57Seenote 3, p. 15.
58There appear to have been two classes of spirits, one for whom the people had the utmost respect and reverence, and another whom they looked upon as being of service to mortals.
59Seenote 1, p. 30.
60The word used in the original is langpadan, meaning mountain rice. This variety requires no irrigation and is planted to some extent at the present day, but the great bulk of the grain now used is grown in wonderfully terraced fields on the mountain sides, where water for irrigating is brought from distant streams through a system of flume and bamboo tubes. The fact that only the mountain rice is mentioned in the tales reflects a very ancient life before irrigated fields were known.
61Seenote 1, p. 45.
62The labeug is the omen bird and is believed to be the direct messenger of Kadaklan, the great spirit, to the people.
63Seenote 1, p. 34.
64Seenote 1, p. 8.
65SeePreface, p. vii.
66Before the bundles of ripened rice can be put into the granary a ceremony is made for the spirits. The blood of a pig is mixed with cooked rice and put in the granary as an offering for the spirit who multiplies the grain, otherwise the crop would run out in a short time.
67Seenote 1, p. 9.
68The spirit who stands next in importance to Kadaklan, the great spirit. It was he who taught the people all good things, and finally he married a woman from Manabo in order to bind himself more closely to them. See “How the Tinguian Learned to Plant.”
69This story is considered by the Tinguian to be of rather recent origin. They believe that Sayen lived not so very long ago, yet the stories woven around him are very similar to the ancient ones.
70See “The Alan and the Hunters.”
71The Tinguian now use flint and steel for making a flame, but it is not at all uncommon for them to go to a neighbor’s house to borrow a burning ember to start their own fire.
72The neighboring Ilocano, a Christianized tribe, know the Komow as a fabulous bird which is invisible, yet steals people and their possessions.
73Seenote 1, p. 59.
74Seenote 2, p. 20.
75This tale is of special importance to the Tinguian since it explains how they learned two of the most important things of their present life—to plant and to cure the sick. It also shows how death came into the world.
76Seenote 1, p. 59.
77It is a common sight in a Tinguian village early in the morning during the dry season to see a number of men armed with spears and head-axes leaving for the mountains. They usually take with them, to assist in the chase, a string of half-starved dogs. Often a net is stretched across the runway of game, and then, while some of the hunters conceal themselves near by, others seek to drive the game into the net, where it is speared to death.
78Ancient Chinese jars are found throughout the interior of the Philippines and are very closely associated with the folk-lore of the Tinguian. Some of the jars date back to the 10th century, while many are from the 12th and 14th centuries, and evidently entered the Islands through pre-Spanish trade. They are held in great value and are generally used in part payment for a bride and for the settlement of feuds. For more details see Cole,Chinese Pottery in the Philippines, Pub. Field Museum of Nat. Hist, Vol. XII, No. 1.
79This cave is situated in the mountains midway between Patok and Santa Rosa. In this vicinity are numerous limestone caves, each of which has its traditions.
80Cabildo of Domayco, the envied owner of this jar, has refused great sums offered for its purchase, and though men from other tribes come bringing ten carabao at one time, they cannot tempt him to sell.
81These beautiful agate beads are still worn by the Tinguian women, who prize them very highly. They are rarely sold and each is worth more than a carabao.
82The Alan are supposed to be deformed spirits who live in the forests. They are as large as people, but have wings and can fly. Their toes are at the back of their feet, and their fingers point backward from their wrists.
83The name by which spirits call human beings.
84This treatment of the Alan is typical of that accorded to the less powerful of the spirits by the Tinguian today. At the ceremonies they often make fun of them and cheat them in the sacrifices.
85Known to the Tinguian as Banog. This bird occupies much the same place with the Tinguian as does the garuda in East Indian folk-lore.
86This tale gives to the Tinguian his idea of the future world. Sogsogot is supposed to have lived only a short time ago, and his experiences are well known to all the people.
87Seenote 1, p. 15. Practically this same tale is told by the neighboring Ilocano, from whom it may have been borrowed; but here the Tinguian custom of paying a marriage price is introduced.
88This type of story is also found farther to the south, where the cleverness of the small animal causes him to triumph over the strong.
89The Tinguian house contains neither tables nor chairs. The people usually squat on the floor, sitting on their heels; if anything is used as a seat it is a bit of cocoanut shell or a small block of wood.
90Here we have a proverbial tale, one in which the Tinguian expresses the idea, “Haste makes waste.”
91Another version of this tale is found in British North Borneo in the story of the plandok and the crab, while to European children it is known as the race between the turtle and the hare.
92The story shows the influence of the Christianized natives, among whom cock-fighting is a very popular sport. It is found only among those Tinguian who come into contact with this class.