The First Monkey.
Long years ago there lived in a thick forest a young girl under the care of the goddess of weaving. Here she lived happily and without care, for everything that she wanted to eat was provided for her by her patroness.
One day the goddess said to the girl, “Take this cotton, clean it, and make out of it a dress for yourself.” Now, the girl knew nothing about making cloth and weaving it: so she said to the goddess, “When the cotton is cleaned, is it ready for use?”
“No,” answered her guardian; “after it is cleaned, it must be beaten.” “Well, after it is beaten, is it ready for use?” said the lazy girl.
The goddess said that before it could be used, it would have to be spun.
“Well, after it is spun,” persisted the saucy maiden, “is it ready for use?”
“No; it must next be woven into cloth, cut, and sewed,” answered the patient goddess.
“Oh!” said the girl, “it will take a long time and much hard work to make clothes that way. This leather hide, which you have given me to beat the cotton on, will make me better clothing, because it will wear longer.” So she covered herself with the leather. The goddess was so angry at the girl for her laziness, that she determined that the leather should not only be her dress, but also become her very skin. Then the goddess took the stick for beating the cotton, and, thrusting it between the maiden’s buttocks, said to her, “This stick will become a part of your body, and you will use it for climbing-purposes. As a penalty for your laziness, henceforth you shall live in trees in the forest, and there you will find your food.”
Thus originated the first monkey with a coat of leather and a tail.
Obviously connected with this Ilocano story are three Tinguian myths recorded by Cole, who abstracts them thus:—
(No. 65.) A lazy man, who is planting corn, constantly leans on his planting-stick. It becomes a tail, and he turns into a monkey.
(No. 66.) A boy is too lazy to strip sugarcane for himself. His mother, in anger, tells him to stick it up his anus. He does so, and becomes a monkey.
(No. 67.) A lazy girl pretends she does not know how to spin. Her companions, in disgust, tell her to stick the spinning-stick up her anus. She does so, and at once changes into a monkey.
Compare also a Bagobo story collected by Miss Benedict (JAFL 26 : 21), where a ladle becomes a monkey’s tail; also an African saga in Dähnhardt (3 : 488).
The Filipinos have other explanatory myths which credit Lucifer with the creation of monkeys and snakes.