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The alan[63] once found the afterbirth outside the town and made it a real baby whose name was Sayen.
Sayen lived in Bᴇnbᴇn. He was very brave and often went to fight without companions.
He wanted to marry Danipán who lives in Kadalayapan, but she did not wish. She hid; so Sayen married her servant, thinking she was Danipán. The name of the servant was Laᴇy. Sayen took her home. Page 186They had one baby. One day Sayen was making a plow under the house. Laᴇy was in the house with her baby. She was singing in the house to her baby. “Sayen thinks I am Danipán, but I am Laᴇy, Laᴇy no aglagᴇ-lᴇ-gᴇy-lᴇy.” Sayen heard the song and said to himself that his wife was not Danipán. He went up into the house and said, “Take off your upper arm beads, and in the morning you will go to the fields with your baby, because I will go there to plow.” She said, “Yes.” In the morning he went there. He went to cut down the bamboo bridge. At noon his wife carried food to him. She took her baby with her. When she reached the bamboo bridge it fell with her and they fell into the water. Sayen went back to his house. When he got there, he took his headaxe, spear, and shield, and he went to Kadalayapan. When he got there, he began to kill the people of the town. When he had killed many people the lakay[64] called Danipán, “Come out, Sayen is killing many people of the town, because you did something bad to him.” She came out to Sayen and said to him, “Do not kill all the people, leave some of them so I can go to borrow fire from them.” Sayen answered her, “Take the betel-nut in my bag and cut it in two pieces for me to eat, for I am very tired.” She took the betel-nut from his bag and cut it in two pieces, and Sayen chewed the betel-nut. Sayen spat on some of the dead people and made them alive again and he married Danipán and took her to Bᴇnbᴇn.
When the people in Magisang[65] went to hunt deer and when they went to divide it, the komau, a big spirit who looks like a man, and who kills people,[66] went to them to ask them, “How many did you catch?” If they had caught two they told him “Two,” and the komau said, “I caught two also.” When they went to their town, there were two dead people there in their town. Anytime they went to hunt the komau asked them how many they had caught, and when they said how many, the komau always said he had that many, and when they reached the town that many were dead. The komau did that often and many people were dead. The people in Magisang heard that Sayen was a very brave man and they went to him to tell him about the komau. Sayen said to them, “I come, but I must hide by the trees. When the komau comes and asks you how many deer you have caught he will ask you where I am. You will say to him that you do not know where I am, because you did not hear of me yet. I am sure the komau will ask you where I am, because he will smell me.” The people said, “Yes.” They went Page 187to hunt. When they reached the forest, they caught two deer and they went to the place where they singed and divided those deer which they had caught. While they were sitting there, the komau came to them and said, “How many have you?” They answered, “Two.” The komau said, “I have two also. Sayen is here.” The people said, “We do not know about Sayen, where he is.” Then Sayen came out and killed the komau.
Kabonīyan[67] went to Sayen in Bᴇnbᴇn and said, “Are you a brave man, Sayen? You are brave, because you killed the komau.” Sayen said, “Yes, I am a brave man.” Kabonīyan said, “If you are a brave man, I will meet you in that place at a distance.” Sayen said, “Yes.” Kabonīyan told him the day when he would meet him, and Sayen was to stay in the lower place and Kabonīyan in the higher place. Sayen went there on that day. When he reached there and was waiting he heard a sound like a storm and said to himself, “Here is Kabonīyan.” Kabonīyan called to him, “Are you there, Sayen?” “I am here,” said Sayen. “Are you a brave man?” said Kabonīyan to Sayen. Sayen said, “Yes.” Kabonīyan said to him, “Catch this,” and he threw his spear. Sayen caught the spear. It was as big as a large tree. Kabonīyan asked, “Did you catch it?” “Yes,” said Sayen. “Here is again,” said Kabonīyan, and threw his headaxe. Sayen caught it. “Did you catch it, Sayen?” said Kabonīyan. Sayen said, “Yes.” The axe was as large as the end roof of a house. Kabonīyan said, “Here is again,” and threw his shield. Sayen caught it again. “Did you catch it, Sayen?” Sayen said, “Yes.” Kabonīyan said, “Here is again,” and threw a very big stone. Sayen caught it. “Did you catch it, Sayen?” said Kabonīyan. Sayen said, “Yes,” and Kabonīyan said to him, “Wait for me, I come down to you.” When Kabonīyan got there, he and Sayen fought face to face and they got tired, because Kabonīyan could not beat Sayen, and Sayen could not beat Kabonīyan. Sayen said, “I take my headaxe, because I am very tired.” Kabonīyan said, “Do not take your headaxe; you are a brave man; I will be your friend and we will go to fight anywhere.” Sayen said, “Yes.” Then they were friends and went to fight in many towns. If the people in the town caught them in the way when they went home from fighting, or when they were in the river, Sayen could be a fish and hide. They fought in one town. Sayen became a chicken after fighting. He went under the house where the chickens roost. He did that many times and the people in the town noticed that Sayen could be a chicken or a fish. When he came with Kabonīyan to the town to fight Page 188the people, he went under the house to the chickens' place. The people said to themselves, “We will put a fish trap there, because Sayen after fighting goes in the chicken coop.” They put a trap under the house by the coop. Sayen came in the town again to fight. After fighting he went under the house and he went into the trap, and the people caught and killed him.
This all happened not very long ago.
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In the old times Malīlipeng was walking along the trail in the woods when he heard the alan[68] in the trees. He laid down on his face as if dead and the alan who saw him began to wail, for they thought he was dead. When they brought gold and beads to place on him, he sprang up and drove them away. “Give us the one bead which is nagaba, or we will burn your house,” said the alan. The man refused. When he reached home his house was burned, but he still had the bead.