Si Malakas At Si Maganda 1p3u2a

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Si Malakas at si Maganda Si Malakas, Si Maganda, At Ang Pagdami Ng Tao NANGYARI naman na mag-asawa nuon ang hangin dagat at ang hangin lupa, at may anak sila, si kawayan. Isang araw, lumulutang si kawayan sa tabi ng dagat nang nabangga niya ang paa ng lawin. Nagulat, nasaktan at nagalit, pinagtutuka ng lawin ang kawayan hanggang nabiyak ito. Kaginsa-ginsa, lumitaw sa isang piraso ang isang lalaki, si Malakas. Sa kabilang bahagi, lumabas naman ang isang babae, si Maganda. Sila ang 2 Unang Tao sa daigdig.

IPINATAWAG naman ng lindol ang lahat ng ibon at isda upang pag-usapan kung ano ang dapat gawin sa 2 tao. Ipinasiya nila na dapat mag-asawa sina Malakas at Maganda. Nangyari nga ito at marami silang naging mga anak, na pinagmulan ng iba¶t ibang tao sa daigdig ngayon.

Pagtagal, nayamot ang mag-asawang Malakas at Maganda sa dami ng kanilang mga tamad at walangpakinabang na mga anak. Nais nilang palayasin lahat subalit hindi nila alam kung saan itatapon ang mga ito kaya nagtiyaga na lamang ang mag-asawa.

Dumami pa uli nang dumami ang mga anak sa paglipas ng panahon at nangyari na hindi na nakaranas ng tahimik sina Malakas at Maganda.

Isang araw, hindi na nakatiis si Malakas at, dampot ang isang bakawan, pinagha-hataw ang mga bata. Takbuhan sa takot ang mga anak at nagtago sa iba¶t ibang lugar. Ang iba ang nagtago sa mga silid ng bahay, ang iba ay sumingit sa mga dingding. Ang iba ay nagkubli sa mga kalan sa cocina. Ang ibang anak ay tumakas sa labas, habang ilan ay tuluyang lumayas sa dagat.

Sa ganitong paraan, nagka-iba-iba ang mga tao na kumalat sa daigdig. Ang mga nagtago sa mga silid ang naging mga pinuno sa mga pulo. Ang mga sumingit sa dingding ang naging mga alipin. Ang mga nagkubli sa mga kalan ay naging mga negro. Ang mga tumakas sa labas ang naging mga malaya. Pagkaraan ng maraming taon, ang mga anak ng lumayas sa dagat ay bumalik, at sila ay mga maputing tao, ang mga dayuhan.

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P U P P PP Noong unang panahon ang Unggoy at ang Pagong ay magkaibigan. Sila ay laging magkasama sa pamamasyal. Isang araw bumagyo nang malakas. Malakas ang ulan at hangin. Hindi sila makapamasyal. Maraming halaman ang nasira. Pagkatapos ng tatlong araw, huminto ang bagyo at lumabas ang araw. Namasyal si Pagong at si Unggoy. Maraming bagay ang nasira sa paligid. ³Aba suwerte tayo´ tawag ni Unggoy kay Pagong. ³Tingnan mo, isang puno ng saging! Nakatumba. Sa atin na ito.´ ´Aba, oo pero iisa ang puno at tayo ay dalawa,´ sagot ni Pagong. ³Hindi bale, puputulin natin sa gitna,´ sagot ni Unggoy. ´Sige, akin ang dulo´ sabi ni Pagong. ´Doon lumalabas ang bunga ng saging.´ ´Aba ! Hindi maari. Ako ang unang nakakita. Akin ang dulo´ sabi ni Unggoy. Pinutol nila ang puno. Kinuha ni Unggoy ang dulo. Kinuha naman ni Pagong ang puno. Umuwi sila at itinanim ang kanilang mga puno sa kanilang bakuran. Pagkaraan ng ilang araw, namatay ang tanim ni Unggoy. Subali`t ang puno ni Pagong ay lumaki at bumunga. Dumating si Unggoy at umiyak. ´Ang aking puno namatay´ ang hikbi ni Unggoy. Si Pagong ay malungkot din. Hindi siya kasi marunong umakyat sa puno. ´Huwag kang malungkot´ sabi ni Unggoy. ´Ako ang aakyat at pagdating ko sa dulo ay hahagisan kita ng hinog na saging´. At umakyat nga si Unggoy. Subali`t pagdating sa dulo kinain lahat at hindi binigyan ang Pagong. Nagalit ang Pagong. Nilagyan niya ng tinik ang palibot ng puno. Pagbaba ng Unggoy, siya`y nasaktan. ´Aray!´ ang sigaw ni Unggoy. Siya`y nagalit kay Pagong. ´Pag nakita ko siya, siya`y aking papatayin,´ ang sabi ni Unggoy. Hinanap niya nang hinanap ang Pagong, ngunit hindi niya ito makita. Ang Pagong ay nagtago sa ilalim ng isang bao. Nang mapagod ang Unggoy, naupo siya sa bao. May butas ang bao at ang kanyang buntot ay napasulot sa butas. Kinagat ng Pagong nang ubod lakas ang buntot ni Unggoy. Napatalon sa sakit ang Unggoy at ang bao ay tumihaya. ´Aha! Ikaw pala´ sigaw ni Unggoy. ´Humanda ka at ikaw ay aking papatayin.´ ´Hihilahin kita buhat sa bahay mong dala-dala.´ ´Aba, oo para ako ay makatakbo nang mabilis.´ ´Pag dala ko ang aking bahay, ako ay mabagal,´ paliwanag ni Pagong.

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c ´Hindi na kita hihilahin, itatapon na lang kita sa apoy´ ang sa bi ni Unggoy. ´Sige, para ako maging mapula at guwapo´ ang sagot ni Pagong. ´A, hindi kita itatapon sa apoy´ wika ni Unggoy. ´Didikdikin kita nang pinung-pino.´ ´Aba! Oo para ako`y dumami,´ ang sabi ni Pagong. Nag-isip ang Unggoy. Nakita niya ang ilog. ´A itatapon na lang kita sa ilog para ikaw ay malunod.´ Sumagot ang Pagong na nagmamakaawa, ´huwag, para mo ng awa, huwag mo akong itapon sa ilog! Hilain mo na ako, itapon mo ako sa apoy, dikdikin mo ako! Huwag mo lang akong itapon sa ilog,´ ang pagmamakaawa ni Pagong. Dinampot at inihagis ni Unggoy ang Pagong sa ilog. Lumubog ang Pagong, subali`t maya-maya ay dahan-dahan itong lumitaw. ³HA! HA! HA! Kaibigang Unggoy, hindi mo baa lam, ito ang aking tahanan! Hindi nakaimik ang Unggoy. Hiyang-hiya siya sa kanyang sarili. Ang unggoy ay laging nagbabantay sa pampang ng ilog. Alam niya na hindi maglalaon at lilitaw rin ang pagong. ´Makikita niya´, ang nagngingitngit na wika ng unggoy.´Maghihiganti ako sa kanya. At kapag nahuli ko siya, tiyak na mamatay ang pagong na iyan sa aking mga kamay.´ Samantala ang pagong ay matalas na nakikiramdam sa unggoy. Alam niyang hanggang siya ay nasa tubig hindi siya mahuhuli ng unggoy. Nguni`t hindi siya lubhang makatagal sa tubig. Ibig na ibig niya ng sariwang hangin. Ibig na ibig niyang magbilad sa araw. Kaya`t ang pagong ay umahon sa pampang kung wala ang unggoy. Isang araw ang pagong ay lumalanghap ng sariwang hangin. Siya ay nasa lilim ng isang malaki at malagong puno ng sili.Ang sili ay hitik na hitik ng bunga. ´Huli ka!´ ang wika ng unggoy at agad hinawakan ng mahigpit ang pagong sa leeg. ´At sa wakas bumagsak ka rin sa aking mga kamay!´ wika ng unggoy. ´Ito na ang huli mong sandali. Ngayon din ay puputulin ko ang leeg mo.´ Bahagyang pinalaki ng pagong ang kanyang boses at nagwika, ´Ako ay ibang pagong. Ako ay may ibang gawain.´ ´Aha! Kung ganoon ikaw ay ibang pagong. Ano ang gawain mo?´ ´Binabantayan ko ang punong siling ito. Baka may kumuha ng bunga nito. Mauubos ang gamot ng aking nanay sa namumulang mata.´ ´Ano? Gamot ang bunga ng sili sa namumulang mata? Paano ito ginagawa? ´Madali lang . Hindi mo ba alam? Kunin mo ang pinakamalaki at pinakamapulang bunga. Dikdikin mo itong mabuti. Pagkatapos, ikuskos mo nang mariin sa iyong mata.´

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c ´Ganoon pala. Ang tagal-tagal kong naghihirap sa pamumula ng aking mata.´ Dali-daling binitiwan ng unggoy ang pagong. Humanap siya ng pinakamalaki at pinakamapulang bunga ng sili. ´Huwag! HUwag! Para mo ng awa. Putulin mo na ang leeg ko. Patayin mo na ako! Huwag mong kunin ang gamot ng nanay ko!´ Ngunit mabilis na kumuha ng sili ang unggoy. Dinudrog ito nang pinung-pino at ubos diing ikinuskos sa kanyang mga mata. ´Ang walang hiya! Ngayon ay hindi na siya makakaligtas sa akin. Mahigit na isang linggong namaga ang aking mga mata. Muntik na akong mabulag.´ Ang unggoy ay nagpalakad-lakad sa tabi ng ilog. ´Makikita ko rin siya. Aahon rin siya.´ Matiyagang nagbantay ang unggoy. Nagpalipat-lipat siya sa mga punong nakatanim sa magkabilang pampang ng ilog. Nagtiyaga siya sa pagbabantay sa pagong. Isang araw namataan ng unggoy ang pagong na naglalakad sa pampang. Bigla siyang tumalon sa harap nito. ´Saan ka pupunta magaling na pagong? Tingnan mo ang nangyari sa mga mata ko. Hanggang ngayon ay mahapdi pa. Muntik na akong mabulag. Hindi ka na makakaligtas ngayon. Ito na ang iyong wakas.´ Sumagot ang pagong sa matinis at ipit na tinig. ´Ako ay ibang pagong. Iba ang aking gawain.´ Matamang nag-isip ang unggoy. ´Iba nga ang kanyang tinig. Hindi ito ang luminlang sa akin.´ Nguni`t humarang rin ang unggoy sa dinaraanan ng pagong. ´Ano ang gawain mo? ´Hayun, babantayan ko ang pampaligo ng aking lolo. Mapaghimala ang tubig na yaon. Nawawala ang kanyang rayuma at pananakit ng kanyang likod pagkatapos niyang maligo.´ ´Iyon pala! Iyon pala ang gamot sa rayuma at pananakit ng likod. Ngayon din ay maliligo ako.´ ´Huwag! Huwag! Mawawalan ng pampaligo ang aking lolo. Pukpukin mo na ng bato ang aking ulo. Patayin mo na ako. Huwag mong kunin ang pampaligo ng aking lolo!´ Mabilis na itinulak ng unggoy ang pagong. ´Umalis ka riyan. Ako ang maliligo. Mauuna ako sa lolo mo. At tiyak na uubusin ko ang tubig.´ Mabilis na lumundag ang unggoy sa kumukulong tubig. At iyon ang wakas ng unggoy.

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Maria Makiling c Sa alamat ng Pilipinas, si Maria Makiling ay isang diwata na nagbabantay ng Bundok Makiling, isang bundok na matatagpuan sa Los Baños, Laguna. Nilalarawan siya bilang isang magandang dalaga na may mahabang buhok at kulay kayumangging kaligatan. by:walter jhon sabanal Alamat ni Mariang Makiling Nasa pagitan ng Laguna at Quezon ang bundok Makiling. Kalakip na ng kulturang Pilipino ang mga kuwentong bumabalot sa bundok na ito. Hindi kumpleto ang bundok Makiling kung ipwepwera si Mariang Makiling sapagkat ang bundok Makiling at si Mariang Makiling ay nagbibigay buhay sa bawat isa. Sinasabing si Mariang Makiling ay hindi lamang nakikipanirahan sa bundok Makiling. May mga nagpapatunay na ang nabanggit na kabundukan ay kay Mariang Makiling. Isang misteryo si Mariang Makiling. Ang maraming taong nakakita at nakadaupang palad daw ng dalaga ay nangalilito at hindi na nakababalik pa sa kani-kanilang pinanggalingang tahanan. May mga nagpapatunay na pawang nawawala silang parang bula. Ang mga ilan-ilang sinuswerteng nakauuwi pa ay nagmimistulang estatwa, hindi makapagsalita at nakatulala. Mabibilang mo sa daliri ang ilang pinagbabalikan ng diwa na kapag nagsalaysay na ay lagi nang misteryosang dalaga ang kwento nila. Sapagkat ibat-iba ang salaysay, ang mga kwentong nagkakaugnay ang pinaniniwalaan larnang na may patotoo at pagpapatunay. Ang mga pinagtagni-tagning kwento ay nagsasaad na si Mariang Makiling daw ay nakatira sa isang nagliliwanag na kaharian na napapalibutan ng mga puno at halamang kung hindi hitik ng bunga ay marangya namang pinamumulaklakan ng mga petalyang kulay dilaw, pula o lila. May ilan ding nagpapabulaan sa kwento na nagsasabing kitang-kita ng kanilang mga mata na sa isang dampa lamang na nabububungan ng pinagtagpi-tagping sawali nakatira si Maria. Na ang dalaga ay nagbabayo ng palay, namimitas ng mga gulay at nanunungkit ng mga prutas araw-araw. May naniniwala sa una. Mayroon din sa ikalawa. Pero may nagbibigay diin na si Maria sapagkat may iba-ibang katauhang misteryosa ay maaaring mabuhay na isang diwata o isang mortal na dalaga. May isang katulong na nagpapatunay na isang umaga ay nakita niya si Maria na pumasok sa isang talahibang malapit sa paanan ng kabundukan. Takang-taka siya sapagkat parang manipis na hangin lang itong inihip kaya di man lang nahawi ang mga nadaanang halaman. Nang magbalik ay dala na ni Maria ang isang bungkos ng mga puting bulaklak ng talahiban na masaya niyang ipinanhik sa kabundukan. Nagtataka ang nakasaksi sapagkat parang nakaangat sa lupa ang mga paa ng dalaga. Sa pakiwari niya si Maria ay isa ngang ada. May ilang namamasyal sa kabundukan na nagpapatunay namang kitang-kita nila si Maria na umuupo sa matatarik na gilid ng bundok. Iwinawasiwas niya ang mahabang buhok na sa kaalinsanganan ng hapon ay naghahatid ng mabining hanging nagpapalamig sa kapaligiran at nagpapasaya sa mga hayop sa kabundukan. Kung ganda ang pag-uusapan wala na raw tatalo sa kariktan ni Maria. Siya ay may balingkinitang pangangatawan, mabibilog na mga mata, maninipis na mga labi at malamyos na tinig ng

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isang mortal na dalaga at misteryosang Engkantada. Karaniwang nakikita siyang namamasyal sa paligid ng kabundukan kung umagang kasisikat pa lang ng araw. May nagsasabing matapos makapananghalian ay umuupo ang ada sa mga tipak ng bato habang pinanunuod ang marahang agos ng ilog. May ilang nagpapatunay na kung gabing maalinsangan at natutulog na ang lahat ay naglulunoy daw si Maria sa malamig na bukal. Usap-usapan ng lahat ang magandang alpa na tinutugtog ni Maria kung kabilugan ang buwan. Ang sinumang nakaririnig nito at nagbabakasakaling maghanap ay nangalilito raw. Sa halip na matunton ang kinaroroonan ni Maria ay napapalayo pa ito sa kaakit-akit na Engkantada. Lubhang matulungin si Mariang Makiling. May ilang nagsasabing nag-aanyong magbubukid daw si Maria na nagmumudmod daw ng luya sa lalong pinakamahirap na magsasaka. Kataka-takang ang mga nabanggit na luya ay nagiging ginto raw kapag naiuwi mo na. Bukas ang mga palad ni Maria sa mga karaniwang mamamayang naninirahan sa paligid ng kabundukan. Kapag may bininyagan, kinasal o namatayan ay pinahihiram ni Maria ng mga nakatagong kasuotan at kasangkapan. Ang mga mag-anak na tinutulungan ay inoobliga niyang maghandog ng isang dumalagang manok bilang kabayaran. May nagpapatunay na mahirap kalabanin si Mariang Makiling. Minsang papalubog na ang araw ay may nangahas mamaril ng mga baboy-damo sa paanan ng bundok. Kahit binawalan na ni Maria ay sumige pa rin sila. Hinabol nila nang hinabol ang isang baboy-damo hanggang sa makaakyat sa bundok. Nagalit si Maria sa kapangahasan. Nang dumidilim na ay takang-taka sila sapagkat ang baboy-damo na hinahabol nila na sumuot sa mga kasukalan ay lumabas kasama ang isang kumpol pa na baboy-damong nanghahaba ang mga pangil at mapupula ang mga mata. Natakot sila sa laki ng mga hayop na papalapit sa kanila. Ang higit na matapang na manunudla ay nakapagpaputok pa pero ang naduwag ay nagtatakbo na. Maya-maya lang ay nadinig sa kabundukan ang napakalakas na hiyaw ng pagmamakaawa ng pobreng kaluluwa. Naswertehan ng naduwag na makababa kaagad ng bundok. Narating kaagad nito ang bayan na takot na takot na humihingal. Kinaumagahan ay pinagkaguluhan ang bangkay ng matapang na mangangaso. Hindi na nakilala ang tunay na anyo nito. Nagbulung-bulungan ang lahat na kinalaban daw siguro ng mangangaso ang kapangyarihan ng Engkantada ng Kabundukan. Naniniwala sila na sa alinmang labanan, tiyak ang pagwawagi ni Mariang Makiling na Diyosa ng Katarungan. Kung noong unang panahon ay nagbabalatkayo si Mariang Makiling upang tumulong sa mga magsasaka, ngayon ay hindi na napagkikita ang Engkantada at ang pagtulong ay nahinto na. Hindi raw kasi nagsasauli ng kagamitan ang marami sa kaniyang pinahihiram. Marami daw ang hindi nagbibigay ng dumalagang manok na dapat ay handog. At napakarami na raw ngayong nagiging pangahas na gustong galugarin upang maangkin ang kabundukan. Ito ang pinagmulan ng alamat ni Mariang Makiling.

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Ô My Br ther Le n Br ght Ô e P Wife She stepped down from the carretela of Ca Celin with a quick, delicate grace. She was lovely. SHe was tall. She looked up to my brother with a smile, and her forehead was on a level with his mouth. "You are Baldo," she said and placed her hand lightly on my shoulder. Her nails were long, but they were not painted. She was fragrant like a morning when papayas are in bloom. And a small dimple appeared momently high on her right cheek. "And this is Labang of whom I have heard so much." She held the wrist of one hand with the other and looked at Labang, and Labang never stopped chewing his cud. He swallowed and brought up to his mouth more cud and the sound of his insides was like a drum. I laid a hand on Labang's massive neck and said to her: "You may scratch his forehead now." She hesitated and I saw that her eyes were on the long, curving horns. But she came and touched Labang's forehead with her long fingers, and Labang never stopped chewing his cud except that his big eyes half closed. And by and by she was scratching his forehead very daintily. My brother Leon put down the two trunks on the grassy side of the road. He paid Ca Celin twice the usual fare from the station to the edge of Nagrebcan. Then he was standing beside us, and she turned to him eagerly. I watched Ca Celin, where he stood in front of his horse, and he ran his fingers through its forelock and could not keep his eyes away from her. "Maria---" my brother Leon said. He did not say Maring. He did not say Mayang. I knew then that he had always called her Maria and that to us all she would be Maria; and in my mind I said 'Maria' and it was a beautiful name. "Yes, Noel." Now where did she get that name? I pondered the matter quietly to myself, thinking Father might not like it. But it was only the name of my brother Leon said backward and it sounded much better that way. "There is Nagrebcan, Maria," my brother Leon said, gesturing widely toward the west. She moved close to him and slipped her arm through his. And after a while she said quietly. "You love Nagrebcan, don't you, Noel?" Ca Celin drove away hi-yi-ing to his horse loudly. At the bend of the camino real where the big duhat tree grew, he rattled the handle of his braided rattan whip against the spokes of the wheel. We stood alone on the roadside. The sun was in our eyes, for it was dipping into the bright sea. The sky was wide and deep and very blue above us: but along the saw-tooth rim of the Katayaghan hills to the southwest flamed huge masses of clouds. Before us the fields swam in a golden haze through which floated big purple and red and yellow bubbles when I looked at the sinking sun. Labang's white coat, which I had wshed and brushed that morning with coconut husk, glistened like beaten cotton under the lamplight and his horns appeared tipped with fire. c

c He faced the sun and from his mouth came a call so loud and vibrant that the earth seemed to tremble underfoot. And far away in the middle of the field a cow lowed softly in answer. "Hitch him to the cart, Baldo," my brother Leon said, laughing, and she laughed with him a big uncertainly, and I saw that he had put his arm around her shoulders. "Why does he make that sound?" she asked. "I have never heard the like of it." "There is not another like it," my brother Leon said. "I have yet to hear another bull call like Labang. In all the world there is no other bull like him." She was smiling at him, and I stopped in the act of tying the sinta across Labang's neck to the opposite end of the yoke, because her teeth were very white, her eyes were so full of laughter, and there was the small dimple high up on her right cheek. "If you continue to talk about him like that, either I shall fall in love with him or become greatly jealous." My brother Leon laughed and she laughed and they looked at each other and it seemed to me there was a world of laughter between them and in them. I climbed into the cart over the wheel and Labang would have bolted, for he was always like that, but I kept a firm hold on his rope. He was restless and would not stand still, so that my brother Leon had to say "Labang" several times. When he was quiet again, my brother Leon lifted the trunks into the cart, placing the smaller on top. She looked down once at her high-heeled shoes, then she gave her left hand to my brother Leon, placed a foot on the hub of the wheel, and in one breath she had swung up into the cart. Oh, the fragrance of her. But Labang was fairly dancing with impatience and it was all I could do to keep him from running away. "Give me the rope, Baldo," my brother Leon said. "Maria, sit down on the hay and hold on to anything." Then he put a foot on the left shaft and that instand labang leaped forward. My brother Leon laughed as he drew himself up to the top of the side of the cart and made the slack of the rope hiss above the back of labang. The wind whistled against my cheeks and the rattling of the wheels on the pebbly road echoed in my ears. She sat up straight on the bottom of the cart, legs bent togther to one side, her skirts spread over them so that only the toes and heels of her shoes were visible. her eyes were on my brother Leon's back; I saw the wind on her hair. When Labang slowed down, my brother Leon handed to me the rope. I knelt on the straw inside the cart and pulled on the rope until Labang was merely shuffling along, then I made him turn around. "What is it you have forgotten now, Baldo?" my brother Leon said. I did not say anything but tickled with my fingers the rump of Labang; and away we went---back to where I had unhitched and waited for them. The sun had sunk and down from the wooded sides of the Katayaghan hills shadows were stealing into the fields. High up overhead the sky burned with many slow fires.

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c When I sent Labang down the deep cut that would take us to the dry bed of the Waig which could be used as a path to our place during the dry season, my brother Leon laid a hand on my shoulder and said sternly: "Who told you to drive through the fields tonight?" His hand was heavy on my shoulder, but I did not look at him or utter a word until we were on the rocky bottom of the Waig. "Baldo, you fool, answer me before I lay the rope of Labang on you. Why do you follow the Wait instead of the camino real?" His fingers bit into my shoulder. "Father, he told me to follow the Waig tonight, Manong." Swiftly, his hand fell away from my shoulder and he reached for the rope of Labang. Then my brother Leon laughed, and he sat back, and laughing still, he said: "And I suppose Father also told you to hitch Labang to the cart and meet us with him instead of with Castano and the calesa." Without waiting for me to answer, he turned to her and said, "Maria, why do you think Father should do that, now?" He laughed and added, "Have you ever seen so many stars before?" I looked back and they were sitting side by side, leaning against the trunks, hands clasped across knees. Seemingly, but a man's height above the tops of the steep banks of the Wait, hung the stars. But in the deep gorge the shadows had fallen heavily, and even the white of Labang's coat was merely a dim, grayish blur. Crickets chirped from their homes in the cracks in the banks. The thick, unpleasant smell of dangla bushes and cooling sun-heated earth mingled with the clean, sharp scent of arrais roots exposed to the night air and of the hay inside the cart. "Look, Noel, yonder is our star!" Deep surprise and gladness were in her voice. Very low in the west, almost touching the ragged edge of the bank, was the star, the biggest and brightest in the sky. "I have been looking at it," my brother Leon said. "Do you how I would tell you that when you want to see stars you must come to Nagrebcan?" "Yes, Noel," she said. "Look at it," she murmured, half to herself. "It is so many times bigger and brighter than it was at Ermita beach." "The air here is clean, free of dust and smoke." "So it is, Noel," she said, drawing a long breath. "Making fun of me, Maria?" She laughed then and they laughed together and she took my brother Leon's hand and put it against her face.

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c I stopped Labang, climbed down, and lighted the lantern that hung from the cart between the wheels. "Good boy, Baldo," my brother Leon said as I climbed back into the cart, and my heart sant. Now the shadows took fright and did not crowd so near. Clumps of andadasi and arrais flashed into view and quickly disappeared as we ed by. Ahead, the elongated shadow of Labang bobbled up and down and swayed drunkenly from side to side, for the lantern rocked jerkily with the cart. "Have we far to go yet, Noel?" she asked. "Ask Baldo," my brother Leon said, "we have been neglecting him." "I am asking you, Baldo," she said. Without looking back, I answered, picking my words slowly: "Soon we will get out of the Wait and into the fields. After the fields is home---Manong." "So near already." I did not say anything more because I did not know what to make of the tone of her voice as she said her last words. All the laughter seemed to have gone out of her. I waited for my brother Leon to say something, but he was not saying anything. Suddenly he broke out into song and the song was 'Sky Sown with Stars'---the same that he and Father sang when we cut hay in the fields at night before he went away to study. He must have taught her the song because she ed him, and her voice flowed into his like a gentle stream meeting a stronger one. And each time the wheels encountered a big rock, her voice would catch in her throat, but my brother Leon would sing on, until, laughing softly, she would him again. Then we were climbing out into the fields, and through the spokes of the wheels the light of the lantern mocked the shadows. Labang quickened his steps. The jolting became more frequent and painful as we crossed the low dikes. "But it is so very wide here," she said. The light of the stars broke and scattered the darkness so that one could see far on every side, though indistinctly. "You miss the houses, and the cars, and the people and the noise, don't you?" My brother Leon stopped singing. "Yes, but in a different way. I am glad they are not here." With difficulty I turned Labang to the left, for he wanted to go straight on. He was breathing hard, but I knew he was more thirsty than tired. In a little while we drope up the grassy side onto the camino real. "---you see," my brother Leon was explaining, "the camino real curves around the foot of the Katayaghan hills and es by our house. We drove through the fields because---but I'll be asking Father as soon as we get home." "Noel," she said.

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c "Yes, Maria." "I am afraid. He may not like me." "Does that worry you still, Maria?" my brother Leon said. "From the way you talk, he might be an ogre, for all the world. Except when his leg that was wounded in the Revolution is troubling him, Father is the mildest-tempered, gentlest man I know." We came to the house of Lacay Julian and I spoke to Labang loudly, but Moning did not come to the window, so I surmised she must be eating with the rest of her family. And I thought of the food being made ready at home and my mouth watered. We met the twins, Urong and Celin, and I said "Hoy!" calling them by name. And they shouted back and asked if my brother Leon and his wife were with me. And my brother Leon shouted to them and then told me to make Labang run; their answers were lost in the noise of the wheels. I stopped labang on the road before our house and would have gotten down but my brother Leon took the rope and told me to stay in the cart. He turned Labang into the open gate and we dashed into our yard. I thought we would crash into the camachile tree, but my brother Leon reined in Labang in time. There was light downstairs in the kitchen, and Mother stood in the doorway, and I could see her smiling shyly. My brother Leon was helping Maria over the wheel. The first words that fell from his lips after he had kissed Mother's hand were: "Father... where is he?" "He is in his room upstairs," Mother said, her face becoming serious. "His leg is bothering him again." I did not hear anything more because I had to go back to the cart to unhitch Labang. But I hardly tied him under the barn when I heard Father calling me. I met my brother Leon going to bring up the trunks. As I ed through the kitchen, there were Mother and my sister Aurelia and Maria and it seemed to me they were crying, all of them. There was no light in Father's room. There was no movement. He sat in the big armchair by the western window, and a star shone directly through it. He was smoking, but he removed the roll of tobacco from his mouth when he saw me. He laid it carefully on the windowsill before speaking. "Did you meet anybody on the way?" he asked. "No, Father," I said. "Nobody es through the Waig at night." He reached for his roll of tobacco and hithced himself up in the chair. "She is very beautiful, Father." "Was she afraid of Labang?" My father had not raised his voice, but the room seemed to resound with it. And again I saw her eyes on the long curving horns and the arm of my brother Leon around her shoulders. "No, Father, she was not afraid." "On the way---"

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c "She looked at the stars, Father. And Manong Leon sang." "What did he sing?" "---Sky Sown with Stars... She sang with him." He was silent again. I could hear the low voices of Mother and my sister Aurelia downstairs. There was also the voice of my brother Leon, and I thought that Father's voice must have been like it when Father was young. He had laid the roll of tobacco on the windowsill once more. I watched the smoke waver faintly upward from the lighted end and vanish slowly into the night outside. The door opened and my brother Leon and Maria came in. "Have you watered Labang?" Father spoke to me. I told him that Labang was resting yet under the barn. "It is time you watered him, my son," my father said. I looked at Maria and she was lovely. She was tall. Beside my brother Leon, she was tall and very still. Then I went out, and in the darkened hall the fragrance of her was like a morning when papayas are in bloom.

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Weddind Dance c They have been married for seven harvest periods yet Awiyao and Lumnay weren't able to produce children and Awiyao badly need one to affirm his virility and to establish his place among his tribesmen so he decided to leave Lumnay and marry Madulimay.The story is set in one of the mountainous provinces in the northern Philippines on the eve of Awiyao's wedding to Madulimay, while gangsas beat and women dance to celebrate the union. Awiyao slipped away from the celebration to convince Lumnay to the dancing women. Instead, their conversation turned to a ionate goodbye, each expressing love for the other, their speeches filled with recollection of precious memories, finding it hard to let go of one another.The climax was reached with Awiyao running, blood surging, resolved to stop the dance and complain against the tribe's culture that permits a man to marry another woman if the first wife couldn't bear him children. But suddenly she stopped and turned back, defeated.Daguio, in the story presented a clash against a basic human emotion and culture and thus established two important points: that culture transcends love and the bitter truth about the inequality of the sexes. He did not establish though that Lumnay was sterile. Awiyao could have been the one with fertility problems, who knows? Awiyao's pride forced him to leave Lumnay, no matter how he loved his wife. But if he was the one with fertility problems, would Lumnay's love be enough to take him back?On the second point, their culture permits man to leave his wife and take another woman hoping the second wife would bear him children but no such provision for women exists. And although the first wife may remarry, it would only be after her husband left her. And what if, in Lumnay's second marriage, she would bear children, what of the culture now?

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