UNIT II: Oral Lore from Pre-Colonial Times (-----1564)

You have just learned on Lesson 1 the definition of literature, its importance as well as the
genres of literature.
In this lesson, you will be dealing with the Oral Lore from Pre-Colonial times, which
includes riddles, proverbs, poems, songs, myths, folktales, legends and epic. To give you an idea
of the mentioned genres, example of literary pieces are provided.
Literatures under Spanish and U.S. Colonization were also given emphasis.

Learning Objectives:
At the end of the lesson, you are expected to:
1. discuss the nature and characteristics of the oral lore present during the pre-colonial
period; and
2. analyze selected literary piece; and
3. identify values and beliefs reflected in the selected literary pieces.

Oral Lore from Pre-Colonial Times (-----1564)

Long before the Spaniard and other foreigners landed on Philippine shores, our
forefathers already had their own literature stamped in the history of our race.
Our ancient literature shows our customs and traditions in everyday life as trace in
our folk stories, old plays and short stories.
Our ancestors also had their own alphabet which was different from that brought
by the Spaniards. The first alphabet used by our ancestors was similar to that of the Malayo-
Polynesian alphabet.
Whatever record our ancestors left were either burned by the Spanish friars in the
belief that they were works of the devil or were written on materials that easily perished, like the
barks of trees, dried leaves and bamboo cylinders which could not have remained undestroyed
even if efforts were made to preserve them.
Other records that remained showed folksongs that proved existence of a native
culture truly our own. Some of these were passed on by word of mouth till they reached the hands
of some publishers or printers who took interest in printing the manuscripts of the ancient Filipinos.
The Spaniards who came to the Philippines tried to prove that our ancestors were really
fond of poetry, songs, stories, riddles, and proverbs which will still enjoy today and which serve
to show to generations the true culture of our people.
The Pre-Spanish literature is characterized by riddles, proverbs, short poems, songs,
myths, folk tales, legends and epic.

Riddles (Bugtong or Palaisipan)

 A riddle is a question, a puzzle, a phrase, or a statement devised to get unexpected or clever
answers. It is a folklore genre as well as rhetorical device, often having veiled or double
meanings. When someone uses it as a puzzle or a question, it could be a thought-provoking
challenge for the audience to figure it out themselves, or it could be a funny comment intended
to make the audience laugh.
 These are made up of one or more measured lines with rhyme and may consist of four to 12
syllables.
Types of Riddle
There are two main types of riddle:
1. Enigma – Enigmas are problems expressed in an allegorical or metaphorical language,
requiring careful thinking and ingenuity to solve them.
2. Conundrum – Conundrums are questions that rely on punning for creating effects in a
question.

Examples:

AETA
1. Wearing a crown but not a queen, 3. When you slice it,
Wearing scales but not a fish. It heals without a scar.
(Pineapple) (Water)

2. A cave with a jungle knife inside,

Full of bones but not a grave.
(Mouth)

TAGBANWA
1. I am a sanggiring plant, 3. A big house,
Cut it and it lives on. Surrounded by many windows.
(Hair) (Fishing Net)

2. Trunk made of wood,

Branch of rattan,
Its leaf of coconut.
(Native ladle)

Proverbs
 A proverb is a brief, simple, and popular saying, or a phrase that gives advice and effectively
embodies a commonplace truth based on practical experience or common sense. A proverb
may have an allegorical message behind its odd appearance. The reason of popularity is due
to its usage in spoken language, as well as in folk literature.

Examples:
1. Early to bed and early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise.
2. Laugh and the world laughs with you, weep and you weep alone.
3. Absence makes the heart grow fonder.
4. All that glitters is not gold.
5. An army of sheep led by a lion would defeat an army of lions led by a sheep.
6. Practice makes perfect.
7. Through words, you may make others believe you are rich; but he fact remains that
you are poor.
8. The man who goes about with more fish-baskets is the one who brings home a lot of
 fish.
9. Full of good cheer while borrowing a measure of rice, Full of wrath when you ask him
to pay it back.
10.Tiny drops of water continuously draining, enough to dry up the sea.

Short poems
1. No matter how deep the stream, 3. When one submits himself
its deep can be fathomed; to wounding;
the really difficult task the intensest pain is bearable;
is to find a good heart when one is unwilling;
even the merest scratch can fester.

2. The paho tree may be tall, 4. I’m a fish the size of the sapsap,
its branches showing only as wide as the slim taliptip leaves;
abundant growth; I trash about, creating a great stir
the doso vine is better off, because I’m in the company
for it can’t be felled by gusty winds. of the big apahap.

Ambahan (Hanunoo-Mangyan)
1. Look! the moon so full and bright, 2. I would like to take a bath,
shining in front of the house! scoop the water with a plate,
How can you explain to me, wash the hair with lemon juice;
that the rays are soft and cool? but I could not take a bath,
If a man like us he were, because the river is damned
I would hold him by the hand! with a lot of sturdy trunks!
Seize the hair to keep him back!
Grasp the clothes and makes him stay!
But how could I manage that!
It is the moon in the sky!
The full moon shining so bright
going down beyond the hills,
disappearing from the plain,
out of sight beyond the rocks.

Songs
An Balud
(Waray)
Translated by Lilia Tolentino, SPC

Daw nasusunog sidsid han langit Heaven and sea seem to be on fire.
pati han dagat nagdadalait Perhap’s there’s a kaingin somewhere
Bangin ha unhan may nagcaingin, There’s a strong wind blowing the waves.
may madlos huyog hinin hangin. These waves are toys of the sea
Coming from the ocean
Inin mganga balud, mulayan han dagat Where night encounters the dark
Nga dit ha calawdan, nagbabalatbagat. Bright waters give hope to seamen.
An gabi nga dulom, an tubig maranggat
Nga nacacaliaw manga dumaragat

Comprehension Check
1. What do you think is the song writer’s state of mind while writing the song?
2. Say something about the lyrics of the song.
3. Did you like the song? Why or why not?
4. What Waray-Visayan trait can be perceived from the song?

Pamuwa sa Bata
(Bukidnon)
Translated by Lilia Tolentino, SPC

Though he is not my own, I will take

care of this baby,
So that when he grows up I can
request him to do things for me

Myths
TUNGKUNG LANGIT AND ALUNSINA
(Panay-Visayan)
One of the stories about the creation of the world, which the old people of Panay,
especially those living near the mountains, do not tire relating, tells that in the beginning there
was no sky or earth – only a bottomless deep and a world of mist. Everything was shapeless and
formless. – the earth, the sky, the sea and the air were almost mixed up. In a word, there was
confusion.
Then from the depth of this formless void, there appeared two Gods, Tungkung Langit
(Pillar of the Sky) and Alunsina (The Unmarried One). Just when these two deities came from, it
was not known. However, it was related that Tungkung Langit had fallen in love with Alunsina;
and after so many years of courtship, they got married and had their abode in the highest realm
of ethereal space., where the water was constantly warm and the breeze was forever cool. It was
in this place where order and regularity first took place.
Tungkung Langit was an industrious, loving and kind God whose chief concern was how
to impose order over the whole confused set-up of things. He assumed responsibility for the
regular cosmic movement. On the other hand, Alunsina was a lazy, jealous and selfish Goddess
whose only work was to sit by the window of their heavenly home and amuse herself with her
pointless thoughts. Sometimes, she would go down the house, sit down by a pool near their
doorsteps, and comb her long jet-black hair all day long.
One day, Tungkung Langit told his wife that he would be away from home for some time
to put an end to the chaotic disturbances in the flow of the time and in the position of things.
However, despite this purpose, Alunsina sent the breeze to spy on Tungkung langit. This made
the latter very angry upon knowing about it.
 Immediately after his return from his trip, he called this act to her attention, saying it was
ungodly of her to be jealous, there being no other creature living in the world except the two of
them. This reproach was resented by Alunsina and a quarrel between them followed.
Tungkung Langit lost his temper. In his rage, he divested his wife of powers and drove her
away. He did not know where Alunsina went; she merely disappeared.
Several days after alunsina had left, Tungkung Langit felt very lonely. He realized what he
had done. Somehow, it was too late even to be sorry about the whole matter. The whole place,
once vibrant with Alunsina’s sweet voice, suddenly became cold and desolate. In the morning
when he woke up, he would find himself alone; and in the afternoon when he came home, he
would fell the same loneliness creeping deep in his heart there was no one to meet him at the
doorstep or soothe the aching muscles of his arms.
For months, Tungkung Langit live in utter desolation. He could not find Alunsina, try hard
as he would. And so, in desperation, he decided to do something in order to forget his sorrows.
For months and months he thought. His mind seemed pointless; his heart weary and sick.
But he must do something about his lonely world.
One day while he was sailing across the regions of the clouds, a thought came to him. He
would make the sea and the earth, and lo! the earth and the sea suddenly appeared. However,
the somber sight of the lonely sea and the barren land irritated him. So he came down to earth
and planted the ground with trees and flowers. The he took his wife’s treasured jewels and
scattered them in the sky, hoping that when Alunsina would see them she might be induced to
return home. The goddess’ necklace became the stars, her comb the moon and her crown the
sun. However, despite all these, Alunsina did not come back.
Up to this time, the old folk say Tungkung Langit lives alone in his palace in the skies.
Sometimes he would cry out his pent-up emotion and his tears would fall down upon the earth.
The people in Panay today say that rain is Tungkung Langit’s tears. Incidentally, when it
thunders hard, the old folks also say that it is Tungkung Langit’s sobbing, calling for his beloved
Alunsina to come back, entreating her so hard that his voice reverberates across the fields and
countryside.

Word Power
Directions: Write the meaning of the following words based on how they were used in the story.
Then, use them in your own sentence.
1. mist
2. ethereal
3. desolation
4. pent-up
5. reverberates

Comprehension Check
1. Describe the characters in the story.
2. What was the reason why Tungkung Langit get mad at Alunsina?
3. If you were Alunsina, would you do the same? Why?
4. Was the action of Tungkung Langit fair enough to justify his anger toward Alunsina?
5. What is the lesson of the story?
6. Do you believe that this is really how the world came to be? Justify your answer.

THE SECOND CREATION

 (Tiruray)

Tiruray also believe that a religious leader should have sufficient wit, power and goodness,
he could lead all of his followers “beyond the sky” to live in the land of Tulus (or Sualla).. In the
days of Lagey Lingkuwos (there greatest legendary hero), people had a difficult time with their
farming. They wanted to please Tulus by farming well, but they were never sure when the winds
would be right for burning; they had trouble predicting the arrival of the rainy season, and thus
were unsure when they should plant; and they lacked away of calling for the good or bad
agricultural omens. Farming was, therefore, a matter of guess work regarding timing, and the
swidden circle for those unfortunate people was seldom properly keyed to the yearly seasons as
it so clearly needed to be.
Lagey Lingkuwos was aware of this serious problem and was determined to do something
about it.
Near his place was a settlement where six people lived. They were, like all people,
farmers. And, like all human beings at that time, they were followers of Lagey Lingkuwos. Three
were young unmarried men – all first cousins – whose names were Kufukufu, Baka and Seretar.
Each lived in his own house, near the houses of their uncles: the widower; Keluguy, who was the
leader of the settlement; and Singkad, the group’s only married man who lived with his wife,
Kenogon. These people kept as pet a species of forest dove, which the Tiruray called Lemugen.
When the time came for Lagey Lingkuwos to lead his followers to the place of Tulus,
beyond the sky, he asked the special favors of the six people. Knowing that Tulus would not
leave the world without human beings to make swiddens in the forests, and wanting the next
creation to have an easier time that the last, he asked those six followers to leave their pet bird
behind in the forest, where its call could become the needed giver of omens. He further asked
them to live in the sky for as long as there should be a world and people to farm it. They agreed
to both requests of their esteemed leader, and so it is today that the lemugen’s call gives the
farmers the much needed agricultural omen, and the six constellations move across the night sky,
assisting this new creation of people to properly anchor their swidden cycle in the annual round
of seasons. Tiruray said that the six seem, like themselves, to be always proceeding to work in
their swiddens,- three young cousins ahead followed by their uncle and headman. Singkad comes
next, prudently keeping himself between his attractive wife and the splendid Keluguy, whom
Tiruray never refer to by name – to do so would be too disrespectful – but call by his nickname,
Fegeferafad.

Comprehension Check
1. What does Tiruray literally mean?
2. What is the Second Creation all about?
3. How important is religion to the Tirurays as revealed by the myth?
4. Point out details of the story which explain or attempt to explain the connection between
literature and sociological activities.

Folktale

THE MONKEY AND THE TURTLE

(Bilaan)

One morning, a monkey and a turtle who were close friends talked about their situation.
After a while, the monkey said, “Let’s go to the forest and make a trap for wild pigs.” The turtle
agreed. When they came upon a dakit tree, they saw the tracks of wild pigs. “Let’s make a trap
here,” said the turtle, pointing to the base of the tree.
 “No, let’s make one trap up the tree because pigs go there and gather fruit.” Said the
monkey.
“No, let’s stay down here because the tracks are here.”
“All right, you make your trap here while I make one up the tree.”
So the monkey and the turtle went their separate ways. After setting their traps, the
monkey said, “Let’s return after two days. Wild pigs should be here by then.”
But the day after the traps were laid, the monkey went back to the dakit tree by himself.
The turtle’s trap had a pig, his had a bird. The turtle was right. To save face, the monkey brought
the pig from the turtle’s trap to his own and replaced it with the bird caught inhis.
On his way home, he met the turtle.
“Where have you been?” asked the turtle.
“I went to the river to take a bath,” was the reply.
As agreed, on the day after the traps were laid, the monkey and the turtle went to the dakit
tree.
“Let’s hurry so we can get there early. Last night, I had a good dream. Our traps must
surely have something in them,” the monkey said.
The turtle was surprised to find a pig up in the tree and a bird in his trap which was set on
the ground. He knew the monkey tricked him and told the monkey so. The monkey insisted that
he had nothing to do with the result of their catch. Without saying another word, the monkey and
the turtle went home with the pig and the bird respectively.
When they came near the monkey’s house, they decided to fight it out.
“Wait.” The monkey said. I’ll build myself a fort.” He proceeded to make a fort out of banana
leaves. He believed them impregnable.
“Shoot first,” the turtle said. “After all you challenged me to this fight. If it were true that my
trap caught a bird, pray that I will be killed at once.”
The monkey took careful aim while his family watched from behind the banana fort. The
turtle was hit. The monkey rejoiced.
The turtle cried, “You hit my back but I am protected by my shell. Can’t you see I am
alive?”
The monkey was dismayed but he was a good sport. “then shoot, ”he called from the fort.
The turtle took careful aim and when his arrow found its mark, he heard a monkey cry.
One of the monkey’s children was killed.
“No, I was not hit. It was one of my children,” lied the monkey.
The monkey’s turn to shoot came but the turtle was not afraid. His shell was very thick.
The arrows bounced.
Each time the turtle released an arrow, I t hit a monkey. One by one, the monkey’s wife
and children died.
“Why don’t we become friends again?” shouted the monkey from his fort. “I’ll tell you the
truth. Your trap caught the pig. It is yours.”
The monkey and the turtle reconciled once more. If the monkey did not shout after the last
of his children was killed, the turtle would have killed him too. They sealed their friendship by
partaking of nama from the monkey’s chew box.
Sometime later, the monkey felt lonely because his wife and children were dead. “Please
keep me company,” the monkey pleaded. “We can go to the river and fish.”
They left for the river to fish. At the river bank they saw a banana stalk. “Let’s cut this in
two,” the monkey suggested. “I’ll take the upper half because the leaves and the fruit are too
heavy for you.”
The monkey and the turtle went to their respective kaingin and planted their respective
parts. The next visit to their kaingin brought happiness to the turtle and sadness to the monkey.
The turtle saw his plant heavy with fruit. The monkey’s plant had wilted.
 The monkey volunteered to get the fruit for the turtle. When he was up there, he did not
care to go down anymore. He ate everything. He was so full that he slept with a banana in his
mouth. This made the turtle very mad.
Silently, the turtle planted bamboo stakes around the banana stalk. When the monkey
turned on his side, he fell and was at once impaled. Helpless, the monkey agonizingly died.
The turtle feasted on the monkey. His ears were like good buyo leaves, his tail was like
betel nut, and his brain tasted like superior lime. He chewed the concoction and was pleased with
himself.
On his way home, he met a pack of monkeys who were on their way to the kaingin. They
saw the turtle’s black teeth so they asked for some of his nama. He hesitated for a while because
he was afraid the monkeys might harm him. Then a wonderful idea struck his mind. He turned his
back and wrapped some of his nama in a leaf from a wild tree that grew by the roadside. He told
the monkeys to open the package only when they reached their kaingin.
Thee monkeys did as bidden. When they reached their kaingin they gathered around the
package and looked forward to a wonder nama. After chewing some, many threw up; others felt
weak and dropped dead. Those who did not partake of the nama realized that what their
companions chewed was a monkey. They decided to run after the turtle and kill him.
The monkeys found the turtle near the river bank. The turtle was subdued at once. The
monkeys laid him on a flat stone. They saw how the turtle enjoyed it. “Go ahead, continue beating
me so I’ll turn out wide and flat; then I will be able to lick you all with my tail.” So the monkeys
decided to throw him into the river. This seemed to frighten the turtle. Seeing how pale the turtle,
the monkeys were sure they decided on the right thing. So into the water the turtle went with a
splash.
“Ha-ha!” The monkeys heard the turtle laugh. “Don’t you know that I can live in water?”
The monkeys were very mad. Then it happened that a deer was drinking upstream. They
asked the deer to drink all the water there so they could get to the turtle.
The deer promised to help the monkeys. He asked them to put a stopper in his anus. They
used a corn cob to close the orifice.
The monkeys waded toward the turtle while the deer drew water from the river. When the
monkeys could almost make it to the turtle, tabkuko pecked on the corn cob and out went the
water again. Thrice the deer drew the water, thrice did the tabkuko remove the corn cob. Three
monkeys drowned.
The tabkuko incurred the monkeys’ wrath because they never succeeded in laying their
hands on the turtle. The seized the bird and twisted its neck. The bird writhed in pain and felt its
end was near. “You won’t kill me that way. Can’t you see you’re even making me beautiful? See
how red my bill is? The harder you twist my neck the redder my bill becomes. But if you want to
kill me, pull the feathers and leave me on that stone near the river. In a week’s time you will see
worms feasting on my body.”
The monkeys stripped the tabkuko of all its plume and left it on stone. After a week, they
saw what looked like worms all over the tabkuko’s body. They thought it was rotting. When the
monkeys’ left, the bird stretched its wings and examined what it knew would turn out into beautiful
feathers.
But the turtle did not go unpunished. When he went out of the water, he met a red-tailed
lizard. He wanted to have a tail as red as the lizard’s. The lizard told him that he only had to climb
a red tree and jump from it. The lizard offered to bring him up the tree.
So up the tree they went. The turtle held on to the lizard’s tail as hard as he could, but he
slipped! Down he fell with a loud crash. His lizard friend went to him but he was beyond help; his
shell was broken into a thousand pieces. And while the sun hid behind a tree, the turtle died.

Comprehension Check
1. What Filipino beliefs and values are reflected in the story?
2. Read at least two other versions of the story of the Monkey and the Turtle from other regions
of the Philippines. List similarities and differences between the Bilaan version and each of the
other version along setting, character, plot, conflict, and theme.

Legends

HOW THE ANGELS BUILT LAKE LANAO

(Maranaw)

Long ago there was no lake in Lanao. On the place where it is now situated, there
flourished a mighty sultanate called Mantapoli. During the reign of Sultan Abdara Radawi, the
great grandfather of Radia Indarapatra, this realm was expanded by military conquests and by
dynastic marriages, so that in time its fame spread far and wide.
The population of Mantapoli was numerous and fast increasing. At that time the world was
divided into two regions: Sebangan (East) and Sedpan (West). The mighty sultanate of Mantapoli
belonged to Sebangan. Because this sultanate rapidly increased in power and population, too,
the equilibrium between Sebangan and Sedpan was broken.
This disequilibrium soon came to the attention of Archangel Diabarail (Gabriel to the
Christians). Like a flash of sunlight, Diabarail flew to the Eight Heaven and told Allah: “My Lord,
why have you permitted the unbalance of the earth? Sebangan, because of the power of
Mantapoli, is now heavier than Sedpan.”
“Why, Diabarail,” replied the Sohara (voice of Allah),”what is wrong with that?”
“My Lord, Mantapoli has a vast population, countless as the particles of dust. If we will
allow this sultanate to remain in Sebangan, I fear that the world would turn upside down, since
Sebangan is heavier than Sepdan.”
“Your words show great wisdom, Diabarai,” commented the Sohara.
“What must we do, my Lord, to avert the impending catastrophe?”
To this query, the Sohara replied: Go right away to the Seven-Regions-Beneath the Earth
and to the Seven-Regions-Beneath-the-Sky and gather all the angels. I will cause a barahana
(solar eclipse) and in the darkness let the angels remove Mantapoli and transfer it to the center
of the earth.”
Upon receiving the mandate of Allah, Archangel Diabarail, travelling faster than lightning,
rallied the millions of angels from the Seven-Regions-Beneath the Earth and the Seven-Regions-
Beneath-the-Sky. With this formidable army, he presented himself to Allah, saying:
“My Lord we are ready to obey Your command.”
The Sohara spoke: “Go to Sebangan and lift the land of Mantapoli.”
Diabarail, leading his army of angels, flew to the East. In the twinkle of an eye, the sun
vanished and a terrible darkness as black as the blackest velvet shrouded the universe. The
angels sped faster than arrows. They swooped on Mantapoli, lifting it with great care and carried
it (including its people, houses, crops and animals) through the air as if it were a carpet. They
brought it down at the center of the earth, in accordance with the command of Allah. The very
spot vacated by the sultanate of Mantapoli became a huge basin of deep, blue water – the present
Lanao Lake.
 The waters coming from the deep bowels of the Earth rose higher and higher. Archangel
Diabarail, seeing the rising tides, immediately returned to the Eight Heaven and reported to Allah:
“My Lord, the earth is now balanced. But the place where we removed Mantapoli is becoming an
ocean. The waters are rising fast, and unless an outlet for them can be found I fear that they might
inundate Sebangan and drown all you people.”
In response, the Sohara said: “You are right, Diabarail. Go out then and summon the Four
Winds of the World: Angin-Taupan, Angin-Besar, Angin-Darat and Angin-Sarsar. Tell them to
blow and make an outlet for the overflowing waters.”
Obeying the master’s command, the faithful messenger summoned the Four Winds. “By
the will of Allah,” he told them, “blow your best and make an outlet for the rising waters of the new
lake.”
The Four Winds of the World blew and turbulence swept the whole eastern half of the
earth. The surging waters rolled swiftly towards the shores of Tilok Bay to the Southeastern
direction. But the towering ranges impeded their onrush. The Four winds blew, hurling the waves
against the rocky slopes, but in vain; no outlet could be cut through the mountain barrier.
Changing direction, this time eastward, the Four Winds blew harder driving the raging
waters towards the shores of Sugud Bay (situated east of Dansalan, now Marawi City). Once
again, the attempt to create an outlet failed because the bay was too far away from the sea.
For the third time, the Four Winds changed direction and blew at their hardest. The waves,
plunging with ferocity, rolled towards Marawi. Day and night, the Winds blew as the waters lashed
against the shoreline of Marawi. This time the attempt succeeded. An outlet now called Agus
River was made, and through the outlet the waters of Lake Lanao poured out to the sea, thereby
saving Sebangan from a deluge.
It came to pass that there was a high cliff at the outlet, and over the cliff the waters
cascaded in majestic volume. Thus, arose the beautiful falls which, aeons later was named Maria
Cristina, after a famous queen of Spain.

Comprehension Check
1. As cited in the story, what were the two regions of the world long ago?
2. How do the angels built Lake Lanao?
3. What is the moral lesson of the story?

Epic

TUWAANG ATTENDS A WEDDING

(Manuvu)
Translated by E. Arsenio Manuel

Tuwaang, after finishing some work, calls his aunt aside and informs her that the wind has
brought him a message: he is to attend the wedding of the Maiden of Mo:nawon. The aunt tries
to dissuade him from going, for she foresees trouble. Tuwaang however, is determined to go. He
picks the heart-shaped basket that can activate the lightning, puts on his headdress and costume
made by goddesses, arms himself with a long blade and dagger, and takes his shield and spear.
He rides on a flash of lightning and arrives at the Kawkawangan grassland. While resting there a
while, he hears a gungutan bird crowing. He decides to catch the fowl, but soon sees the gungutan
with a daggerlike spur. The gungutan tells Tuwaang he came to know of his coming in a dream
and that he wants to go with him to the wedding celebration. Tuwaang agrees to bring the
gungutan along. The two shake their shoulders and are carried into space.
 Upon arriving at the Mo:nawon, Tuwaang is admitted into the hall. He sits on a golden stool
while the gungutan perches on a crossbeam. Meantime, enchanting sounds from afar and
flowering trees signal the arrival of the Young Man of Panayangan. Other gallants – the Young
Man of Liwanon and the Young Man of the Rising Sun – arrive. Finally, the groom, the Young
Man of Sakadna, arrives with a hundred followers. He haughtily asks the house owner to clear
the house “of the dirt,” implying the people in the house who do not count. To this insult, Tuwaang
answers there are “red leaves,” i.e., heroes in the house.
Preliminaries of the wedding ceremony start. The savakan (bride wealth consisting of
articles and wrapped food to be paid for by the groom’s kinsmen) are offered one by one, until
only the two most costly remain. One is given the value of an ancient gong with ten bosses and
nine relief-rings; the other is redeemable only by a golden guitar and a golden flute. The groom
confesses his inability to redeem these articles. Tuwaang saves the groom from the embarrassing
predicament by taking his place: through his magic breath he produces a more ancient gong,
which is accepted by the bride’s party. He also produces the golden flute and golden guitar.
The bride is now asked to come out of her room and serve the guests some betel chew. She
commands her betel box to serve everyone. Magically, the betel box obeys, with the betel chew
jumping into the mouths of the guests. After two betel chews leap into the groom’s mouth, the
betel box moves to Tuwaang, before whom it stops altogether. Tuwaang brushes it away but the
box does not budge. The bride decides to sit beside Tuwaang.
The groom blushes; he is shamed. He decides to fight Tuwaang. He goes down the house
and challenges Tuwaang to come down to the yard.
After the bride unrolls and combs Tuwaang’s hair. Tuwaang goes down to fight. The
gungutan, meanwhile, has been fighting the groom’s men and has slain a number of them until
only six gallants remain. Tuwaang and the gungutan engage the six gallants.
Finally, only Tuwaang and the Young Man of Sakadna are left moving about. Tuwaang is
thrown against a boulder, which turns into dust. Trees get bent and topple. Tuwaang gets hold of
his foe, throws him down so hard that he sinks into the earth. The Young Man of Sakadna surfaces
quickly and confronts Tuwaang once more. Tuwaang in turn is thrust into the earth and sinks into
the Underworld. There he talks to Tuwaha, god of the Underworld, so tells him the secret of
overcoming his foe. Tuwaang surfaces and summons the golden flute in which the Young Man of
Sakadna keeps his life.
Accompanied by the gungutan, Tuwaang takes the bride home to Kuaman, where he rules
forever.

Comprehension Check
1. Why does Tuwaang decide to go to Monawon?
2. What does he arm himself with for the journey?
3. Describe a typical Manuvu wedding ceremony.
4. Tuwaang saves the Young man of Sakadna but later takes him in duel.How does
Tuwaang overcome his opponent?
5. What are the qualities of Tuwaang which make him a hero among the Manuvus. List at least
five from the most important to the least important.
6. Research on the traditional wedding ritual of at least one Oriental country. How does
this compare with the weddings ceremony attended by Tuwaang?