76
Hundreds of years ago there were two people who were husband and wife. Their names were Tagápen and Gīáben, and they had only one son whose name was Soliben. Those people came from Ilocos Norte; they came down to Vigan to pass a while, then came into the Abra river. When they were in Banoáng, they sailed on a raft in the Abra river to come up to Langiden. When they reached that town, they stopped there to stay a short time, because Tagápen went to the town to give thoughts to the people there and to give a nice face to the girls. When Tagápen was in the town, in Langiden, his son Soliben was weeping on the raft by his mother. “Sleep, sleep, sleep, my dear son, because your father is not here yet; it-to-tes, it-to-tes, so sleep my son, do not weep,” said his mother, whose name is Gīáben. When Tagápen came back from the town of Langiden, they began to sail again until they came to Pidigan. When they reached the town of Pidigan, they stopped there because Tagápen went to the town to give a nice face to the ladies and girls. Then his son wept again, “Oh, dear son, sleep, sleep, sleep; oh, dear son, sleep, sleep, sleep, for your father is not here yet. When he comes back, he will get bananas for you to eat. It-to-tes, it-to-tes, it-to-tes, sleep, Soliben, sleep, my son; do not weep; your father will give you to eat,” said the mother. In a short time Tagápen Page 194came back from the town and they sailed to come up. When they reached the mouth of the Sinalang river, they came up in the river; they sailed up here; this is the river of Sinalang town (Patok). “We go there to give the people some nice face and good thoughts, so they will be very wise.” When they arrived in Sinalang town, they left their raft in the river and went up in the town. When they reached the town, every person went to them to give their regards. Tagápen and his wife with her son stayed in a little house we call balaua; they lived there teaching many dalengs[75] and bagayos[75] of the Tinguian people. Page 195
[1] This dīam is recited by the medium when the spirit house known as balaua is built. See also [page 12].
[2] Spirit name for Tinguian.
[3] The greatest of Tinguian ceremonies.
[4] A large house built for the spirits during the Sayang ceremony.
[5] Spirits.
[6] Kadaklan is the most powerful of the spirits. Agᴇmᴇm is his wife.
[7] The names of small buildings or shrines elected for various spirits.
[8] Chanted by the medium while making offerings in the Dawak ceremony which is made for the cure of minor illnesses, such as fever, etc.
[9] A powerful spirit.
[10] The dīam recited during the Pala-an ceremony.
[11] The east.
[12] Feathers attached to a stick, which serve as hair ornaments in the Sayang ceremony.
[13] Spirit name for Tinguian.
[14] See [p. 171, note 2].
[15] Chanted by the medium, over the offerings given to aid in the cure of a sick child, or to stop a child from incessant crying.
[16] The ceremony.
[17] Dīam recited during the Sangásang ceremony in the town of Lumaba.
[18] Chanted when the Sangásang ceremony is made for sickness, or to take away a bad omen.
[19] Spirit name for the earth.
[20] See [p. 172, note 4].
[21] See [p. 22, note 3].
[22] Chanted when the ceremony is made to remove a bad sign.
[23] An omen bird.
[24] The true omen bird.
[25] Dīam recited during the Sangásang ceremony held to remove continued misfortunes.
[26] Several native names which have no exact English equivalents are used here.
[27] Woven bamboo used on ceilings.
[28] This dīam was chanted during the Ubaya ceremony in Villaviciosa, an Igorot town much influenced by Tinguian. The Ubaya is also held in Lumaba, a Tinguian settlement.
[29] No one is allowed to enter the town after the ceremony begins.
[30] The most powerful of all spirits.
[32] See [p. 13, note 1].
[34] A somewhat similar tale, current among the Dayak, will be found in Roth, The Natives of Sarawak and British North Borneo, Vol. I, p. 309 ff.
[35] A small spirit house built during the bawī ceremony.
[36] A kind of grass.
[37] Account concerning the guardian stones at Patok.
[38] Peculiarly shaped stones in which Apdel, the guardian spirit of the village is supposed to reside.
[39] A Tinguian town several miles south of Patok.
[40] Told by the people of Lumaba, to account for a peculiar knifelike cut in one of the guardian stones outside the village.
[41] Large knife.
[42] Account of the securing of the guardian stones at Lagayan, Abra.
[43] Compare with account of La Gironière, Twenty Years in the Philippines, pp. 120 ff; also with Cole, Philippine Journal of Science, Vol. III, No. 4, 1908, pp. 210–11.
[44] A ceremony held while the body is still in the house.
[45] A grass which is eaten.
[46] Taboo. A fire is kept burning at the grave and at the foot of the house ladder for ten nights following the burial. During this time the members of the family and near relatives must remain close to home.
[47] A barrio of Patok.
[48] A rope lasso.
[49] An evil spirit.
[50] People in the house with the dead and the relatives must observe the kanyau (taboo) for ten days or they will meet the spirit of the dead person and it will harm them.
[51] Smilax vicaria Kunth.
[52] The name by which the Tinguian designate themselves.
[53] Blumea balsamifera D.C.
[54] A blanket with red or yellow stripes which resemble the markings on a young wild pig.
[55] See [p. 54, note 2].
[56] A mountain town in eastern Abra.
[57] A ceremony held about a year after a funeral.
[58] See [p. 10, note 1].
[59] Spirit name for Tinguian.
[60] The three persons mentioned were still living when this story was recorded.
[61] The name of the spirit of a dead man which still remains near its old haunts.
[62] See [p. 28, note 2].
[64] Head man.
[65] Near Namarabar in Ilocos Sur.
[66] The Ilocano consider the komau a fabulous, invisible bird which steals people and their possessions. See Reyes, El Folklore Filipino, p. 40. Manila, 1899.
[67] A powerful spirit.
[69] In the Bagobo version of this tale, a ladle becomes the monkey's tail. See Benedict, Journal American Folklore, Vol. XXVI, 1913, p. 21.
[70] A story accounting for the origin of the kálau, a bird.
[71] See page 10, note 1.
[72] The cave is situated in the mountains, midway between Patok and Santa Rosa.
[73] The old custom was that when a party returned from a head hunt the women went to the gate and held ladders in a Λ so the men did not pass through the gate; or they laid them on the ground and the men jumped over them.
[74] The river emerges from Abra through a narrow pass in the mountains.
[75] Songs.