CREATION
MYTHS
A CREATION STORY FROM LUZON
1 In
the beginning nothing else existed but the sea and the sky. For years, these two were very close
friends. Then one day a bird suddenly
appeared. Where it came from no one
knew. Having no place on which to
alight, the bird decided to make the two friends quarrel. It flew close to the sea and told her that
the sky said the same thing, that her friend, the sea, thought she was quiet
ugly.
2 Accordingly,
the sea declared war against the sky.
She threw water upward. The sky
retaliated by showering big boulders upon the sea. These became the islands of the
archipelago. Surprised, the sea ran to
and fro in order to cover the stain on her face. Soon enough she grew very tired and begged
the sky to stop throwing down islands, but she refused to remove the stains
from the sea’s face to remind those who would see it that evil deeds,
particularly treachery, do not pay at all.
This explains why, even now, the sea keeps dashing water against the
sides of the islands.
A VISAYAN CREATION MYTH
1 In
the beginning there were two gods, Captan and Maguayan. They created the earth and all living
things. Once Captan planted a bamboo in
a garden. The plant grew into a tall
tree that swayed gracefully in the breeze.
Then, one day it broke into two sections, and out stepped a man and a
woman. To the man the gods gave the name
Sicalac, and that is why men have been called Lalaki; the woman they called Sicavay, and thenceforth women have
been called babaye.
2 After
some time, the man asked the woman to marry him for there were no people in the
world. Sicavay was reluctant in
accepting his proposal, however saying that they were brother and sister born
of the same reed, with only one node between them. Eventually they agreed to seek the advice of
tunas of the sea and doves of the air.
They also consulted the earthquake, who told them that it was necessary
for them be filled with people. And so they became husband and wife.
3 Soon
after, they had a son whim they called Sibu.
A daughter who was born to them next was named Samar. Sibu and Samar married and had a
daughter. Luplupan. She married Pandaguan, the second son of the
first couple, Sicalac and Sicavay. They
had a son whom they named Anoranor.
4 Pandaguan
was the first to invent the fishing net.
The first he used it, he caught a shark and brought it ashore, thinking
that it would not die. But the shark did
not survive for long out of water. Great
was Pandaguan’s grief. He cried out
loudly to the gods, blaming them for letting his plaything die when no one had
ever died before. It is said the god
Captan, weary after his day’s work, sent the flies to find out why Pandagaun
was making such a loud lamentation. But the flies refused to obey him, saying
that they were busy storing honey. For
this disobedience, they were condemned to scavenge among filthy and rotten
things from then on.
5 Captan
then sent the weavil, who brought back the news of the shark’s death. Pandaguan’s behavior greatly displeased
Captan. He and Maguayan made a
thunderbolt with which they struck Pandaguan dead. The young man stayed in the infernal regions
for thirty days, at the end of which time the gods took pity on him, brought
him back to life, and returned to the world.
6 While
Pandaguan was away, his wife Luplupan became the concubine of Maracoyrun. People say that the practice of concubinage
then started with Luplupan.
7 When
Pandaguan returned home, he did not find his wife there. She had been invited by Maracoyrun to feast
upon a pig which he had stolen. People
say that this was the first theft committed in the world.
8 Pandaguan
then sent Anoranor to fetch his mother,
but she only laughed at her son and refused to go home, saying that the
dead never to return to the world. At
this answer, Pandaguan became angry and went back to the infernal regions,
vowing never to return to the world. The
old folks say that had Luplupan obeyed Pandaguan’s summons, and had he not gone
back to the infernal regions, all the dead would come back to life.
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