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“Look out for our children, Līgī, while I wash my hair,” said Ayo. “Yes,” said Līgī. As soon as Ayo reached the spring Līgī went to make a basket, in which he put the three little pigs which had little beads around their necks. As soon as he made the basket he put the three little pigs in it, and he climbed a tree and he hung the basket in it. Not long after he went down and Ayo went back home from the well. “Where are our children—the little pigs—?”[162] said Ayo to him. As soon as Līgī said he did not know, Ayo began to search for them, but she did not find them.
The little pigs which Līgī hung in the tree grunted, “Gᴇk, gᴇk, gᴇk,” and the old woman, Alokotán of Nagbotobotán, went to take a walk. While she was walking she stopped under the tree where the pigs hung. She heard them grunting and she looked up at them and saw that the basket contained three pigs. “What man hung those little pigs in the basket in the tree? Perhaps he does not like them. I am going to get them and take them home, so that I will have something to feed.” So she got them. She took them home, and she named the older one Kanag, the second one Dumalawī, the third was Ogogībeng.
Not long after the three little pigs, which had the beads about their necks, became boys, and Ogogībeng was naughty. When the old woman Alokotán gave them blankets, he was the first to choose the one he wished. “Shame, Ogogībeng, why are you always the naughtiest and are always selfish.” “Yes, I always want the best, so that the girls will want me,” said Ogogībeng. When Alokotán gave the belts, and clouts, and coats, he always took the best, and Kanag and Dumalawī were jealous of him, and they said bad things. Ogogībeng said to them, “I am not ashamed, for she is my mother, so I will take the best.”
Not long after they were young men. “Mother Alokotán, will you let us go to walk? Do not worry while we are gone, for we will return soon,” said the three young men. The old woman said “yes” Page 117and they went. They agreed on the place they should go, and Ogogībeng said to them, “We will go where the young girls spin.” Kanag and Dumalawī agreed, so they went. Not long after they arrived where the young girls were spinning. “Good evening, girls,” they said. “Good evening,” they replied. “This is the first time you have been here, rich young men. Why do you come here?” “We came to join you and get acquainted,” they said, and they talked. They waited for the girls to go home, but they did not go. Not long after it became morning, and they did not wait any longer for the girls to go home, so they went away. As soon as the three boys went home the young girls went to their homes also. Not long after they arrived where Alokotán was and they ate breakfast. As soon as they finished eating they went to take a walk again. Not long after they arrived in Kaodanan, in the middle of the day. “Good morning, Aunt,” they said to Aponīgawanī. “Good morning, my sons,” she replied. “What do you come here for, boys?” “What do you come here for, you say, Aunt; we come to take a walk, for we are anxious to see you,” they said. “That is good. Where did you come from?” said Aponīgawanī. “We came from Nagbotobotán where our mother Alokotán lives.” Not long after Aponīgawanī went to cook for them to eat. As soon as she cooked she fed them. So they ate. Not long after they finished eating and they talked. After that it became night. When they had finished eating in the night they said, “We are going back home, Aunt, but first we are going to the place where those young girls spin.” “No, I will not let you go back to Nagbotobotán now, for it is dark. If you are going to the place where the girls are spinning it is all right, but if you are going home I will not let you go down from the house, for I fear you will be lost.” So the three young boys said to her, “If you will not let us go back home tonight we will go tomorrow, but we will go where the young girls spin.” So Aponīgawanī and Aponībalagen let them go to where the girls were spinning.
Not long after they arrived at the place where the young girls were and they said, “Good evening, young girls.” “Good evening,” answered the girls who were spinning. “Why do you come here, rich young men?” “‘Why do you come here,’ you say, we come to see you spin and to talk with you.” Not long after they talked together, and the young men did not wait until the girls went home, for it became morning, so they went back home. As soon as they went away, the young girls went home. When the boys reached the house of Aponīgawanī and Aponībalagen they told them they were going home to Nagbotobotán. Aponīgawanī and Aponībalagen did not want to let them go until they had eaten breakfast. The three boys went even Page 118though they did not want them to go. As soon as they reached Nagbotobotán the old woman Alokotán asked them where they had been, and she was very angry with them. “Do not be angry with us, mother, for we want to take a walk; we were not lost.” “Where did you go, then?” “We went to Kaodanan to see the pretty girls who never go out doors, but we did not find any. We found some young girls spinning at night, but they were not as pretty as we wished, and we talked with them until morning, for we wanted to see where they lived, but we could not wait for them to go back home.”
Not long after the old woman Alokotán went to cook. As soon as she finished cooking they ate. Not long after they finished eating and they agreed to go at once to Kadalayapan. The old woman Alokotán would not let them go, so when they finished eating at night they went to Kadalayapan without her consent. As soon as they arrived at the place where the young girls were spinning they said, “Good evening, young girls.” “Good evening,” the girls answered. “How are you? What do you want here?” “‘What do you want here,’ you say, and we came to watch you spin and we want to talk with you.” So they talked until morning, but the young boys could not wait until the girls went to their homes.
Ayo was still searching for the pigs who had become boys. She heard somebody say that three young boys were talking with the girls last night and they said to her that they were pretty young boys. Ayo said, “Those were my sons. I think they have become men.” So she went around the town looking for them. Not long after she met them and she saw that they were no longer little pigs. “Where did you come from, my dear sons?” “We came from Nagbotobotán, Aunt,” they answered. “Do not call me aunt, call me mother,” said Apon=lbolinayen. The young boys would not call her mother. So Aponībolinayen pressed her breasts and the milk from her breasts went into Kanag's mouth, and when she pressed again the milk went into the mouth of Dumalawī, and when she pressed her breasts the third time the milk went to the mouth of Ogogībeng. So Aponībolinayen was sure that they were her sons. The little boys asked her why it was that the milk from her breasts went into their mouths. “I pressed my breasts to make sure that you are my sons. I am surprised that you have become men, for you were little pigs. That is why you must call me mother, not aunt. For a long time I have searched for you, and when I heard that you were talking with the young girls last night, I came to look for you.” So the boys believed that she was their mother. “Why did we grow up in Nagbotobotán with our mother Alokotán, if you are truly our mother?” “I think she found you and took you away, for she is a good Page 119woman. She thought you were lost and took you to Nagbotobotán.” So Aponībolinayen took them home.
As soon as they arrived home Aponībolinayen said to Aponītolau, “Here are our sons whom I found. They said that they came from Nagbotobotán and that Alokotán was their mother. I told them that I was their mother, but they did not believe me.” “I do not believe that they are our sons, for our children were three little pigs.” “I also had doubts when I met them, but I pressed my breasts and the milk went to their mouths, so I am sure that they are our sons.” Aponītolau was glad that they were men, for he did not want them when they were pigs.
Not long after Aponītolau said to Aponībolinayen, “We are going to make balaua, so that we can invite all our relations in the other towns, especially Alokotán.” Aponībolinayen used magic, so that when she put a grain of rice in each of twelve big jars they were filled.[163] Not long after Aponītolau commanded his spirit helpers to go and get betel-nuts, to send to the relatives who lived in other places, to invite them. As soon as one of the betel-nuts arrived in Nagbotobotán it said, “Good afternoon, old woman Alokotán. I cannot stay long. Aponībolinayen and Aponītolau sent me to invite you to attend their Sayang”. “I cannot go, for I am searching for my three sons.” “If you do not come I will grow on your knee.” “You go first and I will follow, but I cannot stay there long.” Not long after all the people from the other towns arrived and they danced until the old woman Alokotán arrived. The three young boys went to hide when Alokotán arrived. Not long after when the batana was nearly finished, “I cannot wait until your balaua is finished, for I am searching for my three boys.” “Do not go home yet, for we will see if they will come here to see the young girls. Perhaps they are near here,” said Aponītolau. Not long after the three boys appeared to her and Alokotán was glad to see them. “Where have you been, my sons?” “We came to this town and we intended to go back to Nagbotobotán, but our mother Aponībolinayen saw us and she detained us, for she was sure that we are her sons. She pressed her breasts and the milk came into our mouths.” The old woman Alokotán was surprised and she went to Aponībolinayen and Aponītolau and talked with them. “Are you sure those boys are your sons? They are my sons. They grew up with me.” “Yes, we are sure that they are my sons, for the milk from my breasts went to their mouths. I am surprised that they have become men, for they were three pigs. I searched for them a long time. That is why I was surprised Page 120when I saw them, so I pressed my breasts.” “Why were you searching for them? Did someone else hang them in the tree?” said Alokotán. Aponībolinayen was surprised and she asked Aponītolau if he saw someone hang the little pigs in the tree while she was washing her hair. Aponītolau laughed, “I did not see anyone get them.” One of the women had seen Aponītolau hang them in the tree and she told Alokotán that Aponītolau had hung them up. Alokotán hated Aponītolau and she asked why he had hung them in the tree. “I went to hang them up for I was ashamed, because they were not men but pigs.” “That is why you hung them up. You have power. If you did not want them to be pigs you could change them to men. If I had not found them, perhaps they would have died.” Not long after the balaua was finished, and the people went home, and the old woman Alokotán went home after the others. She gave all her things to the three boys. This is all.
(Told by Angtan of Langangilang).