|| A Filipino folklore ||
Thousands of years ago there was no land nor sun nor moon nor stars. The world was only a great sea of water, above which stretched the sky. Maguayan was the god of the sea, and the sky was ruled by the great god Captan.
Maguayan had a daughter called Lidagat, the sea, and Captan had a son known as Lihangin, the wind. The gods agreed to the marriage of their children, so the sea became the bride of the wind.
Three sons and a daughter were born to them. The sons were called Licalibutan, Liadlao, and Libulan; and the daughter was called Lisuga.
Licalibutan had a body of rock and was strong and brave. Liadlao was formed of gold and was always happy.
Libulan was made of copper and was weak and shy.
The beautiful Lisuga had a body of pure silver and was sweet and gentle. Their parents loved them all so much.
After a time Lihangin and Lidagat died and the four kids were now without a mother and father. However, their grandfathers, Captan and Maguayan, took care of them and guarded them from all evil.
The eldest son Licalibutan, the one with the body of rock, took control of the wind.
After a time, Licalibutan, proud of his power over the winds, resolved to gain more power, and asked his brothers to join him in an attack on his grandfather, the sky god, Captan. At first they refused; but when Licalibutan became angry with them, the amiable Liadlao, not wishing to offend his brother, agreed to help. Then together they induced the timid Libulan to join in the plan.
The three brothers rushed at the sky, but they could not beat down the gates of steel that guarded the entrance. Then Licalibutan let loose the strongest winds that blew down the gate. The brothers rushed inside, but were met by the angry god Captan. So terrible did he look that they turned and ran in terror; but Captan, furious at the destruction of his gates, sent three bolts of lightning after them.
The first struck the copper Libulan and melted him into a ball. The second struck the golden Liadlao, and he too was melted. The third bolt struck Licalibutan, and his rocky body broke into many pieces and fell into the sea. So huge was he that parts of his body stuck out above the water and became what is known as land.
In the meantime the gentle Lisuga had missed her brothers and started to look for them. She went towards the sky, but as she approached the broken gates, Captan, blind with anger, struck her with lightning, and her silver body broke into thousands of pieces.
Captan then came down to the sea, called the sea god Maguayan and accused him of ordering the attack.
The surprised Maguayan appeared and answered that he knew nothing of the plot.
Eventually, Maguayan calmed Captan down. Together they wept at the loss of their grandchildren, but with all their power, they could not restore the dead to life. However, they gave to each body a beautiful light that will shine forever.
And so it was that golden Liadlao became the sun, and copper Libulan the moon, while the thousands of pieces of silver Lisuga shine as the stars of heaven.
To the greedy Licalibutan the gods gave no light, but resolved to make his body support a new race of people.
So Captan gave Maguayan a seed, and he planted it on the land, which, as you will remember, was part of Licalibutan’s huge body.
Soon a bamboo tree grew up, and from the hollow of one of its branches a man and a woman came out. The man’s name was Sicalac, and the woman was called Sicabay.
They were the parents of the human race. They first had two sons named Libo and Pandaguan; and then a daughter named Saman and then many more.
Pandaguan was the younger son and he was very clever. He designed a trap to catch fish and once caught a shark.
When he brought it to land, it looked so great and fierce that he thought it was surely a god, and he at once ordered his people to worship it. Soon all gathered around and began to sing and pray to the shark. The gods Captan and Maguayan came out and ordered Pandaguan to throw the shark back into the sea and to worship none but them.
Pandaguan boldly and proudly answered that if the shark was as big as the gods, and that since he had been able to overpower it, he would also be able to conquer the gods.
Then Captan, hearing this, was enraged once again and struck Pandaguan with a small thunderbolt, for he did not wish to kill him but merely to teach him a lesson.
Then he and Maguayan distributed all Padaguan’s people all over the world. Some people went south, where the hot sun scorched their bodies and caused all their descendants to be of a brown color. Some went north, where it was cold and wet, they remained white.
Few people went east, where the land at first was so lacking in food that they were compelled to eat clay. On this account their children and their children’s children have always been yellow in color.
Pandaguan did not die. After lying on the ground for thirty days he regained his strength, but his body was blackened from the lightning, and all his descendants ever since that day have been black.
Thus, it is said, the world came to be made.
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