Aponībolinayen said, “You old enemy take this betel-nut,” and she cut it in two and gave it to them. “How are we sure Ginambo of Gonīgonan that only our names will not go back, we are afraid.” Ginambo said, “Do not be afraid, but hurry to be brave.” “Ala, now do what you can,” shouted Aponībolinayen who stood on a high rock. When they started toward Aponībolinayen their spears looked like rain they were so many. She glanced off the spears with both elbows. “Now I am the next to throw my spears,” said Aponībolinayen. “Yes, because all our weapons are gone,” they said.
Aponībolinayen was next, she said, “I will use my magic, and you, my spear, shall kill six and seven at one time, and you, my headaxe, cut off their heads from the left side and from the right side, and in back and in front.” “Ala, you spare me so that I may tell the people in Gonīgonan where I live,” said Ginambo. “Yes, but next month I will come to your town Gonīgonan to fight,” said Aponībolinayen.
Ginambo went home alone to her town. “Why are you alone?” asked the people who lived in the same town when she arrived. “What can we do, all my companions who went to fight are lost, because they did not throw their spears at Aponībolinayen.” “That is what we told you Ginambo of Gonīgonan when you started, but you did not heed, you know that the people of Kaodanan are powerful like Kabonīyan.”[82]
Soon after that Gīnáwan of Nagtinawan said, “You people who live in the same town in which I live, let us go to fight Aponīgawanī of Kadalayapan.” “No, we do not wish to go, because the people who live in Kadalayapan are powerful like Kabonīyan. We do not know whether she has a brother or not though someone has said that Aponīgawanī has no brother.” “No we go,” said Gīnáwan. “If that is what you say, we will go,” said the people. So they went and they walked and walked until they reached the spring at Kadalayapan. Gīnáwan said, “You women who are dipping water from the spring, to whom does it belong?” “To Aponīgawanī,” they said. Gīnawan said, “Ala, you go and tell your bravest that we fight with steel weapons.” The women who dipped water from the well said, “We do not know who is the bravest, whom we should tell, for Aponīgawanī has no brother.” They went up to the town, and said, “Uncle Pagbokásan the place about the spring is filled with enemies.” Then Aponīgawanī was in a hurry to go. “Do not go you will kill somebody,” said her father. “No, father, the spring will be lost and then what can we do? Father, I am a woman and since I have no brother, perhaps it is my fortune to fight, for you are weak.”
She took her skirt, headaxe, and spear and she went to the edge of Page 66the hill above the spring. She looked and looked at the place where the spring was for truly the enemies were thick like locusts about the well. “What did you come for?” she asked. “We come to fight the people who live in Kadalayapan, because we have heard that the woman who is always in the house[83] has no brother, so we have come to carry her away,” they said. “Ala, if you wish to prove her bravery you take this betel-nut.” She cut it in two pieces and gave it to them. “We asked you to excuse us from going Gīnáwan,” they said. “Ala, you begin and see what you can do,” said Aponīgawanī who stood on a high stone and she stood with her hands on her hips while they threw their weapons. “Now, I am next,” she said. “You, my spear, when I throw you, kill at once seven and six; and you, my headaxe, cut off their heads from the left and right sides, from in back and in front.” When Aponīgawanī had killed all of them except Gīnáwan and she had all their weapons, Gīnáwan said, “Please, my friend, let me live so that someone may go back to the town we came from.” “Ala, yes, if that is what you ask, my friend, but I will come next to your town,” she said, and Gīnáwan went home alone. Not long after that the month which they had agreed on came.
“Now, mother, go and make cakes and after that I will go to fight,” said Aponībolinayen. “Do not go,” said her mother Ebang of Kaodanan, but she could not detain her, so she made the cake, and when she finished, Aponībolinayen went.
“Mother, make preparations for me to go to war, for this is the month we agreed upon with Gīnáwan of Nagtinawan,” said Aponīgawanī to her mother Langa-an of Kadalayapan.
Bye and bye Aponībolinayen who was walking in the middle of the road, stopped because she was tired. Aponīgawanī was also walking and when she looked up she saw a woman to whom none compared, and she was startled, and she said, “Here is a woman who looks like me. I do not like to approach her who looks like me, yet I am ashamed not to do so, for she has seen me,” she said. “Good morning,” said Aponīgawanī to Aponībolinayen who sat on a high stone by the road. They leaned their spears together between them and then they talked. “Now, my friend, where are you going,” said Aponībolinayen. “I am going to war,” said Aponīgawanī. “And where are you going?” said Aponīgawanī to Aponībolinayen. “I am going to Gonīgonan, because the month which I agreed upon with Ginambo of Gonīgonan has come,” said Aponībolinayen. “Ala, let us chew betel-nut.” “Yes, if that is what you say, we will chew betel-nut,” said Aponīgawanī. After that they Page 67exchanged quids. And the quid which had been chewed by Aponīgawanī was covered with agate beads which are called pīnogalan, and the quid of Aponībolinayen was covered with gold. Aponīgawanī said, “You are more beautiful and have more power than I, because your betel-nut is covered with gold.” After that they spat in front of them. The place looked like the place where a child had been born. “Now, my friend, we are going to tell our names.” “Yes,” said each one, and they told their names. “I am Aponībolinayen of Kaodanan who has no brother, and Ginambo of Gonīgonan came to fight against me and the month in which we agreed to fight has come, so I go meet her.” “I go also to the town of Gīnáwan of Nagtinawan, because the month which we agreed on has arrived, my name is Aponīgawanī of Kadalayapan who also has no brother.” “If that is what you are going to do, we will go first to Gonīgonan, then we will go to the town of Nagtinawan,” said Aponībolinayen to her. “If that is what you say we will both go.” So they went.
Not long after they arrived at Gonīgonan. “Now, Ginambo of Gonīgonan I am here because the month which we agreed has come.” “You people who live in the same town with me prepare, because the woman who always stays in the house in Kaodanan has come to fight against us,” said Ginambo. “Yes, Ginambo, we will fight against her. We told you not to go against her before, because the people of her town are related to Kabonīyan. We do not know what magic they may use,” they said. “Now, what can we do, we are lost.” After that they began to fight. “Ala, you my spears and headaxes kill the people from the left and the right sides, from in back and in front,” said Aponībolinayen and Aponīgawanī.
As soon as they commanded their spears and headaxes their invisible helpers flew and they went to Dangdangáyan of Naglitnan. “Oh, sir, you are so happy, who are in bed in the house. The people who live in Gonīgonan have nearly killed your sister, because she went to fight against them,” said the helpers. After that he went to bathe and wash his hair. “Ala, you three girls take the rice straw and wash my hair,” he said, and the three girls washed his hair. After that he finished to wash and he went up to the town. As soon as they arrived in the town the three girls combed his hair. When they finished to comb his hair, “Now, you put little golden beads on each of my hairs,” he said. As soon as they put all the gold in his hair he took his spear and headaxe and he went.