“I am Balokanag whom Aponībolinayen desired, whom you left,” he said. “Now I take you home to Kadalayapan.” After that he Page 94truly took home Aponītolau, and Gintᴇban, who lived in Baygan. In a short time they arrived in Kadalayapan and Kanag's mother was there, because Aponīgawanī had taken her home. “Now we are married forever, Aponītolau,” said Gintᴇban who lived in Baygan. “No, for Aponībolinayen is his wife,” replied Aponīgawanī. “Ala! you chance it and the one who loses is not the one who is married. Put clay dishes in line, which you are to step on. The one who breaks them loses.” Aponībolinayen stepped first and there was nothing broken. Gintᴇban followed and all those clay dishes which she stepped on were broken. Then she went home to Baygan and after that Aponītolau and Aponībolinayen were married.
12
“I am anxious to eat the fruit of the bolnay tree[127] of Matawītáwen,” said Aponībolinayen. “What is that?” said Līgī. “I am anxious to eat fish roe, I said.” “Bring me a fish net and I will go and get some,” said Līgī. So she went to get the fish net and gave it to him. Not long after he went to the river and he used magic so that all the fish in the river were caught, so truly all the fish were in the net. He caught one of them and cut it open and took out the roe. As soon as he secured the roe he let the fish all go out of the net and he went back home. Not long after he reached the yard of their house. “Aponībolinayen, come and get the fish roe which you desire,” he said. She went to get it from him. She did not cook it, but put it on the bamboo hanger above the fire. Līgī went to the balaua and when Aponībolinayen thought he was in the balaua she threw away the roe and the dogs went to eat it, and they snarled and barked beneath the kitchen. “What are the dogs fighting about, Aponībolinayen? I think you threw away the fish roe,” he said to her. “I dropped one of them.”
Aponībolinayen went again to the room and she said again that she wished to eat the fruit of Matawītáwen, and Līgī asked what she said. “I am anxious for the liver of a deer, I said.” So Līgī went to the woods to hunt deer. As soon as he reached the woods he sent his dogs and he said to them, “You, my black dog, do not catch deer except in the low grass, and you, my striped dog, do not touch any deer unless they have large horns.” Not long after his dogs caught some deer, and he took their livers and he let them go again. Not long after he arrived at his house and he called Aponībolinayen, “Come and get the liver, Page 95which you wish to eat.” Aponībolinayen said to him, “Put it in the rattan hanger.” Līgī went back to the balaua, and Aponībolinayen used magic so that Līgī slept. While he was asleep she went to the kitchen to throw away the livers of the deer, and the dogs went to eat and made such a great disturbance that Līgī awoke and asked Aponībolinayen what was the matter. “One small piece of liver which I did not eat.” She went again to the room and laid down, and Līgī used magic and became an ant, and he went to the crack of the floor, for he wanted to know what Aponībolinayen was saying, for he suspected that she was not telling him the truth. As soon as he arrived in the crack Aponībolinayen repeated her wish to eat the bolnay fruit of Matawītáwen, and Līgī became a man again and appeared to her. “Why did you not tell the truth, Aponībolinayen?” he said and she answered, “I did not, because Matawītáwen is very far and I am afraid that you will be lost.” “No, give me a sack,” he said to her. So he went and he used magic so that he arrived at the tree at once.
Not long after he arrived truly at the place and he secured the fruit and put it in the sack. As soon as the sack was filled he took some of the fruit to hold in his other hand and he went. Not long after he reached the spring in Kadalayapan and his sweethearts were at the spring. “Līgī, how many and how pretty the bolnay fruit are. Your sack is filled and you have some in your hands. Will you give us some of it to eat?” So Līgī gave them all the fruit in the sack and all he held in his hand. “Do not give everything to Aponībolinayen, but give to us also.” So he gave them all he had. “The baby inside of Aponībolinayen, which desires the bolnay, is not your child, but is the child of Maōbágan,” said his sweethearts, and when they had eaten all of the fruit Līgī went home with nothing but the sack. He gave the sack to Aponībolinayen. As soon as she received it she looked to see what was inside and she found one little piece of the fruit which the women had overlooked, and she ate it. As soon as she ate it: “I am anxious to eat more if there are more. My headache is gone.” “What is that?” said Līgī, angrily. “You get ready for I will put you in the place where the tree is if you want more.” Aponībolinayen said to him, “Because I said that I wanted more you want to put me by the tree.” Līgī was angry and he seized her by the arm and dragged her to the tree. As soon as they arrived at the bolnay tree, he dug a hole about neck deep and he put her in it. As soon as he put her in the hole he went back home.
Soon Aponībolinayen was ready to give birth. “What can I do?” she said to the spirit Ayo. Ayo said, “The best thing for us to do is to prick your little finger.” Not long after the little baby popped out of Page 96her finger.[128] “What shall we call him?” they said. “We will call him Kanag, for it is the name of the people who live in Kadalayapan.” Every time they gave him a bath the baby always grew, for they used magic.[129] Not long after the baby became a boy, and he wanted them to get out of the hole. “No, we do not get out, for I am afraid your father is watching us.” The little boy got out even though his mother was afraid.
As soon as the boy got out of the hole he listened to hear where many children were playing. So he walked to where the sounds came from. As soon as he arrived at the place where the boys were swimming Dagoláyan saw him. “Who is that boy?” he said to his companions, and the little boy went near to them. “Why, this boy looks like my uncle in Kadalayapan,” said Dagoláyan to his companions, and he asked him who his father was, and the boy said he was the son of an alan of Matawītáwen. Not long after they agreed that they would go to fight. So Kanag agreed with them and they decided on a day and Dagoláyan told him that he would go to his home. “If that is what you say, it is all right,” said Kanag, and they all went home. As soon as he arrived at the hole by the bolnay tree: “Why, we are cousins,” said the other boy to me. And Aponībolinayen said, “Perhaps it is the boy from Kaodanan.” “We agreed to go to fight, day after tomorrow. Make cakes for me to take with me.” “No, do not go, for I fear that your father will meet you.” “No, I am going. I will plant the lawed vine by the stove, and if it wilts I am dead,”[130] he said.
Not long after Aponībolinayen went to make cakes for his provisions, and Dagoláyan started early in the morning to go to see Kanag, and it seemed as if a thousand men struck their shields. Kanag heard the sound of the shield. “Who are the boys with Dagoláyan who go with us to fight?” As soon as Kanag met Dagoláyan they went, and they both struck their shields, and Līgī heard them and he was surprised for it sounded like two thousand people. So Līgī thought that Dagoláyan had many companions. As soon as they arrived where Līgī was waiting for them, “Where did you get the other boy who is with you?” he said to Dagoláyan. He answered that he met him where they were swimming, and that they agreed to go to fight together. Līgī wanted to kill him, and he said, “I want to kill.” “No, do not kill him,” said Dagoláyan. Page 97Not long after they went. As soon as they arrived where there were no houses, Kanag used his power so that it rained very hard and they had nothing to cook. Not long after it rained and Līgī and Dagoláyan did not cook anything, for everything was damp. The spirit helpers of Aponībolinayen always fed Kanag, and Līgī and Dagoláyan ate with him. “What is the matter of this boy who is the son of alan? He has something to eat. I do not believe that his mother alan knows how to prepare good food,” said Līgī, angrily.
After they had finished eating they went, and after a while they wished to fight. “The best for us to do is to stand in different places and ambush the people,” said Līgī. “The best for you, son of alan, is to stay at the place where the carabao pass by.” And Līgī went to hide where the people passed by on the way to the spring, and Dagoláyan staid on the other side. A young pretty girl passed by the place where Kanag was hiding, so he cut off her head and he shouted, for he was very happy. “Why did the son of alan kill someone before us?” said Līgī. Not long after an old woman and an old man passed by where Līgī and Dagoláyan were hiding, and they killed them. Not long after they saw the head which Kanag had taken, and Kanag saw the heads which Līgī and Dagoláyan had taken were those of an old man and old woman. Dagoláyan said to him, “What did you say when you killed that pretty girl? I think I heard you say, ‘Your father does not like you.’ I did not hear very well so I ask for sure.” “‘The son of alan of Matawītáwen kills the pretty girl is what I said.’” “No, that is not what you said. You said you were the son of a man who lives in Kadalayapan.” Not long after, when Dagoláyan could not make Kanag repeat what he had said, they all went back to Kadalayapan where Līgī lived.