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“Ala, Aponībolinayen prepare our things, for we are going to plant sugar cane,” said Aponītolau. Not long after they went to see the cuttings and they were big. They took them and planted them when they arrived at the place where they wished to plant them. Aponītolau planted them and Aponībolinayen watered them. Not long after Aponībolinayen used magic and she said, “I use my power so that all the cuttings will be planted.” Soon they truly were all planted, so they went back home. After seven days Aponītolau went to look at them and their leaves were long and pointed so he used magic and said, “I used my power so that after five days all the sugar cane which we planted will be ready to chew.” Then he went back home. In five days he went again to see them and as soon as he arrived at the planting he saw they were all tall and about ready to chew. Page 108
Not long after Gaygayóma looked down on the sugar cane and she was anxious to chew it. “Ala, my father Bagbagak,[149] send the stars to go and get some of the sugar cane which I saw, for I am anxious to chew it,” she said, for she was pregnant and desired to chew the sugar cane. Not long after, “Ala, you Salībobo[150] and Bitbitówen[151] let us go and get the sugar cane, for Gaygayóma is anxious to chew it,” said Bagbagak. Not long after they went. As soon as they arrived where the sugar cane was, they went inside of the bamboo fence and some of them secured the beans which Aponībolinayen had planted. The stems of the bean pods were gold, and they got five of them. Most of them got one stalk of sugar cane. As soon as they secured them they went back up. When they arrived Gaygayóma chewed one of the sugar cane stalks and she felt happy and well, and she saw the beans with the golden stems and she cooked and ate them.
When she had chewed all the sugar cane which the stars had secured, she said, “Ala, my father Bagbagak, come and follow me to the place where the sugar cane grows, for I am anxious to see it.” Not long after, “Ala, Salībobo and Bitbitówen we are going to follow Gaygayóma, for she wishes to go and see the place of the sugar cane. Some of you stay outside of the fence to watch and see if anyone comes, and some of you get sugar cane,” said Bagbagak to them, and the moon shone on them. Soon they all arrived at the place of the sugar cane and they made a noise while they were getting the sugar cane, which they used to chew. Gaygayóma went to the middle of the field and chewed sugar cane. As soon as they had chewed all they wished they flew up again.
The next day Aponītolau said to Aponībolinayen, “I am going to see our sugar cane, to see if any carabao have gone there to spoil it, for it is the best to chew.” So he went. As soon as he arrived he saw that the sugar cane was spoiled, and he looked. He saw that there were many places near the fence where someone had chewed, for each one of the stars had gone by the fence to chew the cane which they wished. When he reached the middle of the field he saw the cane there which had been chewed, and there was some gold on the refuse and he was surprised and he said, “How strange this is! I think some beautiful girl must have chewed this cane. I will try to watch and see who it is. Perhaps they will return tonight.” Then he went back home. As soon as he reached home he said, “Ala, Aponībolinayen cook our food early, for Page 109I want to go and watch our sugar cane; someone has gone and spoiled it. They have also spoiled our beans which we planted.” So Aponībolinayen cooked even though it was not time. As soon as she finished cooking she called Aponītolau and they ate. When they had eaten he went and he hid a little distance from the sugar cane.
In the middle of the night there were many stars falling down into the sugar cane field and Aponītolau heard the cane being broken. Soon he saw the biggest of them which looked like a big flame of fire fall into the field. Not long after he saw one of the other stars at the edge of the fence take off her dress, which was like a star, and he saw that she looked like the half of the rainbow, and the stars which followed her got the sugar cane which they wished. They chewed it by the fence and they watched to see if anyone was coming. Aponītolau said, “What shall I do, because of those companions of the beautiful woman? If I do not frighten them they will eat me. The best thing for me to do is to frighten them. I will go and sit on the star's dress.”[152] He frightened them. The stars flew up and Aponītolau went and sat on the star dress.
Not long after the pretty girl came from the middle of the field to get her star dress; she saw Aponītolau sitting on it. “You, Īpogau,[153] you must pardon us, for we came to steal your sugar cane, for we were anxious to chew it.” “If you came to get some of my sugar cane it is all right. The best thing for you to do is to sit down, for I wish to know your name, for we Īpogau have the custom to tell our names. It is bad for us if we do not know each others' names when we talk.” Not long after he gave her betel-nut and the woman chewed it. As soon as they chewed, “Now that we have chewed according to our custom we will tell our names.” “Yes, if that is what you say, but you must tell your name first,” said the woman. “My name is Aponītolau who am the husband of Aponībolinayen of Kadalayapan.” “My name is Gaygayóma who am the daughter of Bagbagak and Sīnag,[154] up in the air,” said the woman. “Ala, now you, Aponītolau, even though you have a wife I am going to take you up, for I wish to marry you. If you do not wish to come I will call my companion stars, and give you to them to eat.” Aponītolau was frightened, for he knew that the woman who was talking was a spirit. “If that is what you say, and you do not wish me to go and see Aponībolinayen and you wish to be married to me, it is all right,” said Aponītolau to her. Not long after the stars Page 110dropped the galong-galong[155] of gold which Gaygayóma had ordered to be made. As soon as they dropped it Aponītolau and Gaygayóma got in it, and were drawn up, and soon they were there.
As soon as they arrived he saw one of the stars come to the place where they were, and it was a very big star, for it was Bagbagak. “Someone is coming where we are,” said Aponītolau to Gaygayóma. “Do not be afraid; he is my father,” said Gaygayóma. “Those stars eat people if you do anything wrong to them.” Not long after Bagbagak reached the place where they were. “It is good for you Aponītolau that you wished to follow my daughter here. If you had not we would have eaten you,” he said. Aponītolau was frightened. “Yes, I followed her here, but I am ashamed before you who live here, for you are powerful,” he said. While they were talking Bagbagak went back home.
After he had lived with Gaygayóma five months she had him prick between her last fingers and a little baby popped out, and it was a beautiful baby boy. “What shall we call our son?” said Aponītolau. “We are going to call him Tabyayen, because it is the name of the people who used to live above,” said Gaygayóma. So they called him Tabyayen, and they used their power so that the baby grew all the time. Soon he was big. After three months, “Now Gaygayóma, let me go back down and see Aponībolinayen of Kadalayapan. I think she is searching for me. I will return soon, for you two are my wives,” said Aponītolau, but Gaygayóma would not let him go. “Ala, let me go and I will return soon,” he said again. “Ala, you go, but you come back here soon. I will send the stars to eat you if you do not wish to return,” said Gaygayóma to him. “Yes,” he said. Not long after he rode again in the galong-galong, and the stars followed, and they went down. Aponītolau wanted all of them to go to Kadalayapan, but he went alone and the stars and Gaygayóma and the boy went up.
Not long after Aponītolau said, “Wes” at the entrance to the yard of their house in Kadalayapan. Aponībolinayen got up from her mat and she had not eaten for a long time. When she looked at him she was very happy. Aponītolau saw that she was thin. “Why are you so thin, Aponībolinayen?” said Aponītolau. “I have not eaten since you went away. Where have you been so long? I thought that you were dead.” “No, I did not die, but Gaygayóma took me up into the sky because they were the ones who spoilt our sugar cane. She would not let me come back any more, and she took me up. I did not want Page 111to go with her, but she threatened to feed me to the stars who were her companions. So I was afraid, and I went with her, for she is a spirit.”
When the day came on which Aponītolau and Gaygayóma had agreed for his return up, Aponītolau failed to go, because Aponībolinayen would not let him go. In the evening many stars came to the yard of their house and some of them went to the windows and some of them went beside the wall of the house, and they were very bright and the house looked as though it was burning. The stars said, “We smell the odor of the Īpogau and we are anxious to eat.” Aponītolau said, “Hide me, Aponībolinayen, for those stars have come to eat me, because you would not let me go back to Gaygayóma. I told you that if I did not go back to her she would send the stars to eat me, and now truly they have come. I told you I would come back, but you would not let me go.” Not long after the stars went inside of the house where they were, and they said to Aponītolau, “Do not hide from us, Aponītolau. We know where you are. You are in the corner of the house.” “Come out of there or we will eat you,” said Bagbagak. Soon he appeared to them and they said to him, “Do you not wish to come back up with us?” “I will go with you,” he answered, for he was afraid. So they did not eat him, for Gaygayóma had told them not to eat him if he was willing to follow them. Not long after they flew away with him and Aponībolinayen cried. When they arrived up Gaygayóma said, “Why, Aponītolau, did you lie to me and not return? You were fortunate when you followed the stars, for if you had not they would have eaten you.” “I did not return because Aponībolinayen would not let me. You and she are my wives. Do not blame me,” said Aponītolau.
After he had lived with her eight months he said, “Now, I am going to leave you, for our son Tabyayen is large. If you will not let me take our son Tabyayen down, he can stay up here with you.” “You may go now, but you cannot take our son. You will return here,” said Gaygayóma. “Yes,” said Aponītolau. So they went down again in the galong-galong. Aponītolau wanted to take them to Kadalayapan, but they would not go with him. “No, do not take us, for it is not our custom to stay down here; we are always above,” they said. So they went up and Aponītolau went to Kadalayapan. Not long after he said, “Wes” at the yard of the house, and Aponībolinayen went to see who it was. She saw that it was Aponītolau, and she was very glad.
After one year with Aponībolinayen he said, “Command someone to pound rice, for we are going to make balaua, and I am going to call our son Tabyayen from above.” Aponībolinayen had also given birth five days after Gaygayóma had given birth, and they called the boy Kanag. Page 112
Not long after Aponītolau went to take Tabyayen from above and Gaygayóma was very glad to see him. When they were talking he said, “Now I am going to take Tabyayen down, for I want him to attend our Sayang.” “Yes, you may take him, but you must bring him back when the Sayang is finished.” So Aponītolau took the boy to attend the balaua in Kadalayapan. As soon as they arrived there he began to play with Kanag and they were the same size and looked alike, because they were half brothers. While they were playing, during the Sayang, Kanag said, “Mother, it is showering,” and Aponītolau heard what the boy said to Aponībolinayen. He said, “It is the tears of Tabyayen's mother, for I think she is thinking of him. I told them not to go over there, but they went anyway. I think Gaygayóma saw them playing and she cried.” Then Aponībolinayen went to take them away from the yard where they were playing. She took them upstairs. It was at the time when they were building the balaua. Not long after that they made Lībon,[156] and they invited Gaygayóma and all their relatives from the other towns and they danced for one month. Then the people from the other towns went home. As soon as all the people had gone home Aponītolau went to take back the boy to his mother Gaygayóma.
When they arrived where Gaygayóma lived he gave the boy to her and he staid there three days. After three days he went back home, and he said, “I am going now, but I will come back in a few days, for I cannot live here all the time, for we, Īpogau, are accustomed to live below, and I also have another wife there. I cannot leave Aponībolinayen alone most of the time.” So Gaygayoma let him go down and she said, “Yes, you may go, but you come back sometimes.” “It is good that Tabyayen came down and made Sayang with us.” Then he went down again. When he arrived down Aponībolinayen was glad to see him, for she feared he would not return to Kadalayapan. Not long after they arranged for Kanag to be married, and as soon as Kanag was married they arranged for Tabyayen also and he lived down below and Gaygayóma always staid above.
(Told by Lagmani, a man of Domayko.)