CHAPTER XXVIII

MYTHOLOGICAL AND KINDRED BELIEFS

THE CREATION OF THE WORLD

The story of the creation of the world varies throughout the Agúsan Valley. In the district surrounding Talakógon creation is attributed to Makalídung, the first great Manóbo. The details of his work are very meager. He set the world up on posts, some say iron posts, with one in the center. At this central post he has his abode, in company with a python, according to the version of some, and whenever he feels displeasure toward men he shakes the post, thereby producing an earthquake and at the same time intimating to man his anger. It is believed that should the trembling continue the world would be destroyed.

In the same district it is believed that the sky is round and that its extremities are at the limits of the sea. Somewhere near these limits is an enormous hole called "the navel of the sea,"[1] through which the waters descend and ascend. This explains the rise and the fall of the tide.

[1] _Pó-sud to dá-gat_.

It is said that in the early days of creation the sky was low, but that one day a woman, while pounding rice, hit it with her pestle, and it ascended to its present position.

Another version of the creation, prevalent among the Manóbos of the Argáwan and Híbung Rivers, gives the control of the world to _Dágau_, who lives at the four fundamental pillars in the company of a python. Being a woman, she dislikes the sight of human blood, and when it is spilled upon the face of the earth she incites the huge serpent to wreathe itself around the pillars and shake the world to its foundations. Should she become exceedingly angry she diminishes the supply of rice either by removing it from the granary or by making the soil unproductive.

According to another variation of the story, which is heard on the upper Agúsan, on the Simúlau, and on the Umaíam, the world is like a huge mushroom and it is supported upon an iron pillar in the center. This pillar is controlled by the higher and more powerful order of deities who, on becoming angered at the actions of men, manifest their feelings by shaking the pillar, thereby reminding mortals of their duties.

CELESTIAL PHENOMENA

THE RAINBOW

The rainbow, according to the general account, is an inexplicable manifestation of the gods of war. At one end of the rainbow there is thought to be a huge tortoise, one fathom broad. The appearance of the rainbow is an indication that the gods of war, with their associate war chiefs and warriors from the land of death, have gone forth in search of blood. If red predominates among the colors of the rainbow it is thought that the mightier war spirits are engaged in hand-to-hand combat; but if the colors are dark, it is a sign of slaughter. If the rainbow should seem to approach, precautions are taken to defend the house against attack, as it is believed that a real war party is approaching.

On no account must the finger be pointed at the rainbow, as it might become curved.

THUNDER AND LIGHTNING

Thunder is a demonstration by Anit of her anger towards men for disrespect to brute animals. Lightning is spoken of as her tongue and is described as being a reddish tongue-shaped stone that is flung by her at the guilty one. Anit is one of the mighty spirits that dwell in Inugtúhan, the sky world, and together with Inaíyau is the wielder of the thunderbolt and of the storm.

She is a very watchful spirit and, in case one offends her, he must hurry to a house and get a priest to appease her with an offering of blood. The belief in this tongue stone is universal, but no one claims to have seen one nor can anyone tell where it can be found.

ECLIPSE OF THE MOON

The almost universal belief regarding an eclipse of the moon is that a gigantic tarantula[2] has attacked the moon and is slowly encompassing it in its loathsome embrace. Upon perceiving the first evidences of darkness upon the face of the moon, the men rush out from the houses, shout, shoot arrows toward the moon, slash at trees with their bolos, play the drum and gong, beat tin cans and the buttresses of trees, blow bamboo resounders and dance around wildly, at the same time giving forth yells of defiance at the monster saying, "Let loose our moon," "You will be hit by an arrow." The women at the same time keep sticking needles or pointed sticks in the wall in the direction of the enemy that is trying to envelop the moon.

[2] _Tam-ban-a-káu-a_. (Bisáya, _ba-ka-náu-a_.) Some say that a huge scorpion is the cause of eclipses.

The explanation of these curious proceedings is simple. If the moon does not become freed from the clutches of this gigantic creature, it is believed that there will be no dawn and that, in the eternal darkness that will subsequently fall upon the world, the evil spirits will reign and all human apparel will be turned into snakes.

During the eclipse the priests never cease to call upon their deities for aid against the mighty tarantula that is menacing the moon.

As to the origin, habitat, and character of this tarantula I have never been afforded the least information. The huge creature seizes upon the moon, but soon releases it on account of the shouts and menacing actions of the human spectators. Objections that one may raise as to the invisibility, magnitude, and other obvious anomalies are at once refuted by the simple and sincere declaration that such belief is true because it has been handed down from the days of yore.

ORIGIN OF THE STARS AND THE EXPLANATION OF SUNSET AND SUNRISE

It is said that in the olden time the sun and the moon were married. They led a peaceful, harmonious life and two children were the result of their wedlock. One day the moon had to attend to one of the household duties that fall to the lot of a woman--some say to get water, others say to get the daily supply of food from the little farm. Before departing she crooned the children to sleep and told her husband to watch them but not to approach them lest, by the heat that radiated from his body he might harm them. She then started upon her errand. The sun, who never before had been allowed to touch his bairns, arose and approached their sleeping place. He gazed upon them fondly and, bending down, kissed them, but the intense heat that issued from his countenance melted them like wax. Upon preceiving[sic] this he wept and quietly betook himself to the adjoining forest in great fear of his wife.

The moon returned duly and, after laying down her burden in the house, turned to where the children slept, but found only their inanimate forms. She broke out into a loud wail, and in the wildness of her grief called upon her husband. But he gave no answer. Finally softened by the long loud plaints he returned to his house. At the sight of him the wild cries of grief and of despair and of rebuke redoubled themselves until finally the husband, unable to soothe his wife, became angry and called her his chattel.[3] At first she feared his anger and quieted her sobs, but finally, breaking out into one long wail, she seized the burnt forms of her babes and in the depth of her anguish and her rage, threw them out on the ground in different directions. Then the husband became angry again and, seizing some taro leaves that his wife had brought from the farm, cast them in her face and went his way. Upon his return he could not find his wife, and so it is to this day that the sun follows the moon in an eternal cycle of night and day. And so it is, too, that the stars stand scattered in the sable firmament, for they are her discarded children that accompany her in her hasty flight. Ever and anon a shooting star breaks across her path, but that is only a messenger from her husband to call her back. She, however, heeds it not but speeds on her way in never-ending flight with the marks of the taro leaves[4] still upon her face, and with her starry train accompanying her to the dawn and on to the sunset in one eternal flight.

[3] _Máñg-gad_ (chattel) and _bin-ó-tuñg_ (purchase slave) are the ordinary terms of reproach used by an angry husband toward his wife and refer to her domestic status as originating in the marriage payment.

[4] Some say that spots upon the moon are a cluster of bamboos; others, that they are _baléte_ trees, and others again, that they are the taro marks referred to.

THE STORY OF THE IKÚGAN,[5] OR TAILED MEN, AND OF THE RESETTLEMENT OF THE AGÚSAN VALLEY

[5] From _i-kug_, tail.

It seems that long, long ago a ferocious horde of tailed men, Tíduñg,[6] overran the Agúsan Valley as far south as Veruéla. They were tailed men from all accounts, the tail of the men being like a dagger, and that of the women like an adze of the kind used by Manóbos. For 14 years they continued their depredations, devastating the whole valley till all the Manóbos had fled or been killed, except one woman on the Argáwan River or, as some say, on the Umaíam.

[6] It would be interesting to know whether these Tíduñg were members of a tribe in Borneo that made piratical raids to the Súlu Archipelago.

When the Manóbos first arrived in the Agúsan Valley they tried to withstand the tailed men. The Manóbos of the Kasilaían River are said to have dug trenches and to have made valiant resistance, but were finally obliged to flee to the Pacific coast.[7] It is said that when encamped near the present site of San Luis these tailed folks slept on a kind of nettle[8] and being severely stung, took it for a bad omen and returned.

[7] It is true that the Manóbos of the Tágo River, province of Surigao, claim kinship with those of the Kasilaían and Argáwan Rivers, but their migration from the Agúsan Valley seems to have been comparatively recent, if I may believe their own testimony.

[8] _Ság-ui_.

As to the origin and departure of these invaders nothing seems to be known, but they devastated the valley from Butuán to Veruéla and from east to west.

The solitary woman who had hidden in the _runo_ reeds of Argáwan continued to eke out an existence and to pass her time in weaving _abaká_ cloth. One day as she was about to eat she found a turtledove's egg in one of her weaving baskets and she was glad, for meat and fish were scarce. But when the hour to eat arrived she forgot the egg. Thus it happened day after day until the egg hatched out, when lo! instead of a little dove there appeared a lovely little baby girl who, under her foster mother's care and guidance, throve and grew to woman's estate.

Now it happened that, as the war had ended, scouts began to travel through the country to discover whether the Ikúgan had really departed, and one day a band of them found the woman and foster daughter. Amazed at the young girl's marvelous beauty the chief asked for her hand. The foster mother granted his request, but upon one condition--that he would place a married couple upon every river in the valley. Well pleased with such a simple condition he started upon his quest and before long succeeded in placing upon every river a married couple. In this way came about the repopulation of the Agúsan Valley. The chief then married the beautiful maiden and peace reigned throughout the land.

GIANTS

The great mythic giants of Manóboland are _Táma_, _Mandayáñgan_, and _Apíla_. All three are described as of marvelous height, "as tall as the tallest trees of the mountains," and their domain is said to be the deep and dark forest.

_Táma_ is a wicked spirit, whose special malignancy consists in beguiling the steps of unwary travelers. Leading his victim off the beaten trail by cunning calls and other ruses, he devours him bodily. His haunt is said to be sometimes the balete tree, as the enormous footprints occasionally seen in its vicinity testify. A Manóbo of the Kasilaían River assured me that he had seen them and that they were a fathom long. I have heard various accounts of this fabulous being all over eastern Mindanáo.

_Mandayáñgan_, on the contrary, is a good-natured, humanlike giant, who loves to attend the combats of Manóboland. He is said to have been one of the great warriors of the days of yore. His dwelling is in the great mountain forests, where live the gods of war.

_Apíla_ is an innocuous giant whose one great pleasure is to leave his far-off forest home and, crashing down the timber in his giant strides, go in quest of a wrestling bout with Mandayáñgan. The noise of their fierce engagement can be heard, it is said, for many and many a league, and there are not wanting those who have witnessed their mighty struggle for supremacy.

Besides these three greater giants, there are others, lesser but more human, the principal of whom is _Dábau_. _Dábau_ lived on a small mountain in view of the present site of Veruéla. It is said that, before beginning his trip up the Agúsan, he sent word to the inhabitants of the Umaíam River that on a certain day he would pass through the lake region and that all rice should be carefully protected against the commotion of the waters.[9]

[9] The nearest settlements to the channel through which _Dábau_ must have passed were several kilometers distant.

On the appointed day he is said to have seized the trunk of a _palma brava_ palm and, using it for a pole, to have poled his bamboo raft from Butuán to the mouth of the Maásin Creek, near Veruéla, in one day.[10] With him lived his sister, also a person of extraordinary strength, for it is on record that she would at times pluck a whole bunch of bananas and throw it to her brother on a neighboring hill.

[10] This trip is a row of from 8 to 12 days in a large native canoe and under normal conditions.

PECULIAR ANIMAL BELIEFS

There is, besides the various omens taken from birds, bees, dogs, and mice, a very peculiar observance prevailing among the tribes of eastern Mindanáo with regard to members of the animal kingdom. This strange observance consists in paying them a certain deference in that they must not be laughed at, imitated, nor in anywise shown disrespect. This statement applies particularly to those creatures which enter a human haunt contrary to their usual custom. To laugh at them, or make jeering remarks as to their appearance, etc., would provoke the wrath of Anítan[11] the thunder goddess, who dwells in Inugtúhan. If they enter the house, they must be driven out in a gentlemanly way and divinatory means resorted to at once, for they may portend ill luck.

[11] Called also _Á-nit_ and _In-a-ní-tan_.

I have myself at times been upbraided for my levity toward frogs and other animals. I also received numerous accounts of disrespect shown to brute visitors to a house and of the ill results that might have followed had not proper and timely propitiation been made to Anítan. The two following incidents, of which the narrators were a part, will sufficiently illustrate the point.

Two Manóbos of the Kasilaían River entered a house and, upon perceiving a chicken that was afflicted with a cold, began to make unseemly remarks to it by upbraiding it for getting wet. Shortly after it began to thunder and, remembering the offense that they had committed, they had recourse to their aunt, a priestess, who decided that Anítan was displeased and had to be propitiated. Finding no other victim than a hunting dog, for the chicken was considered by her ceremonially unclean, she at once ordered the dog to be killed for Anítan. The thunder and the lightning passed away promptly. It may be noted here that the dog may have had considerable value, for a really good hunting dog commands as high a value as a human life.

In another case on the same river the narrator had captured a young monkey. When he arrived at the house its uncouth appearance caused a little merriment and induced the owner to place upon its head a small earthen pot in imitation of a hat. Almost immediately the first mutterings of thunder were heard, and the owner, remembering his indiscretion, slew the monkey and offered it in propitiation to Anítan. As he had expected he averted the danger that he feared from the threating[sic] thunderbolts.

In some cases those who are guilty of this peculiar offense become turned into stone, unless they take the proper means of appeasing divine wrath, as the following legend will show.

THE PETRIFIED CRAFT AND CREW OF KAGBUBÁTAÑG

In the old, old days a boat was passing the rocky promontory of Kagbubátañg.[12] The occupants espied a monkey and a cat fighting upon the summit of the promontory. The incongruity of the thing impressed them and they began to give vent to derisive remarks, addressing themselves to the brute combatants, when lo and behold, they and their craft were turned into stone, and to this day the petrified craft and crew may be seen on the promontory and all who pass must make an offering,[13] howsoever small it be, to the vexed souls of these petrified people. If one were to pass the point without making an offering, the anger of its petrified inhabitants might be aroused and the traveler might have bad weather and rough seas.[14]

[12] _Kag-bu-bá-tañg_ is a point within sight of the town of Placer, eastern Mindanáo.

[13] The offering may consist of a little piece of wood, in fact anything, and must be thrown overboard while one is passing the point.

[14] There is said to be a similar locality near Taganíto, between Clavér and Carrascál.

In further explanation of this singular belief it may be stated that the imitation of the sounds made by frogs is especially forbidden, for it might be followed not merely by thunderbolts, as in some cases, but by petrifaction of the offender; in proof of this I will adduce the legend of Añgó, of Bináoi.[15]

[15] _Bin-á-oi_ is the name of an oddly shaped peak at the source of the River Añgadanán, tributary of the Wá-wa River. From the upper Tágo its white crest may be seen overlooking the source of the stream Malitbug that delivers its waters to the Tágo River through the Borubuán.

AÑGÓ, THE PETRIFIED MANÓBO

Añgó lived many years ago on a lofty peak in the eastern Cordillera with his wife and children. One day he went to the forest with his dogs in quest of game. Fortune granted him a fine big boar, but he broke his spear in dealing the mortal blow. Upon arriving at a stream he sat down upon a stone and set himself to repairing his spear. The croaking of the near-by frogs attracted his attention and, imitating their shrill notes, he boldly told them that it would be better to cease their cries and help him mend his spear. He continued his course up the rocky torrent, but noticed that a multitude of little stones began to follow behind in his path. Surprised at such a happening he hastened his steps. Looking back, he saw bigger stones join in the pursuit. He then seized his dog and in fear began to run but the stones kept on in hot pursuit, bigger and bigger ones joining the party. Upon arriving at his _camote_ patch he was exhausted and had to slacken his pace, whereupon the stones overtook him and one became attached to his finger. He could not go on. He called upon his wife. She, with the young children, sought the magic lime[16] and set it around her husband, but all to no avail, for his feet began to turn to stone. His wife and children, too, fell under the wrath of Anítan. The following morning the whole family had petrified up to the knees, and during the following three days the process continued from the knees to the hips, then to the breast, and then on to the head. And thus it is that to this day there may be seen on Bináoi Peak the petrified forms of Añgó and his family.

[16] Limes and lemons, it will be remembered, are supposed to be objects of fear to the evil spirits.