*Note this story is in Cuyonon
Ingdara ang pangalamo ang angin alin sa kasaplan.
Usá? Békén. Iba anang pangalamo.
Arabuay. Naélaman ko dia.
Anang paningot, isara sa anang ing papabugal, ay midyo maroya dading gabi. Sa mga normal nga adlaw, kaya na maélaman kung anonong ayép maski sa marayéng distansya, paagi sa pangalamo lamang.
Tama.
Tao.
Békén ang midyo malam dén, ig matégas. Dagi malémék pa anang onod. Aglébas dén da ang marakéng adlaw na ara tana kakakaén i mga kabatan. Mas madasig sanda kaysa sa mga malam, atagamtam pa sa anang dila ang matamis na lasa i andang onod pagkatapos na i kaénén.
Tatlo?
Békén. Darwa lamang.
Aga pabaskég sa anang léba ang amot ang angin. Dorong kasabor sa anang pamati. Saka lalaki. Pito ka dagon anang idad, ingkékélban ig ingolasan mayad. Midyo mabaél anang lawas. Ang sakabilog, babai. Mi rilasyon sa lalaki. Isarang daraga. Tana maman ang agapangona kanandang darwa sa andang pag-agi sa kagéban. Agapangona papakon kanana, anang onang pagkaén sa aglébas na pira ka adlaw. Ang mga mayrinték na mga ayép maman ang naging pagkaén ang babai na iganti sa pira ka dominggo nga aglébas. Ing dadara na sa anang kwiba, na kung sadin ang kalayo maman ang nagaonong sa anang mapongaw na kabui.
Maski sa ibang mga iganti, tana ing lilipi-lipi lamang. Békén tana mabaskég pariho ang Bungisngis, ang makaradlék na Dambuhala, o ang ingsompang si Sarimao. Tana si Bekat, isarang babai na iganti na kakapangalamo. Ig dading adlaw, tana inggégétém.
Ang mga kabatan ay sa parti ang kagéban na marapit sa suba.
Sakto. Mamawgasan na na lagi ang karni. Ag bél tana mabaél na sanga na naolog sa kaoy ang narra para umpisan anang pangaso.
Dato roman ang pangalamo.
Basi sa pangalamo, makokon na na parihong ingolasan ang darwa ka bata, andang kélba asisintian na agaloa sa andang lawas.
Agagarokgok dén anang tyan sa kagétém. Ang dapat na lamang boatén ay makarapit maité, ig ilampés ang sanga. Kaysara lamang.
Ag ogiaw ang daraga, na ag taw timpo para sa anang libayén kadalagan.
Ing dakép ni Bekat ang daraga, mintras aga pélég-pélég na makaboliaw sa anang awid.
Mi napangalamoan si Bekat sa daraga, isarang pamot? Indi tana maliag ag kaén dato, midyo tana akaén kemikal.
Timpo rén para lémésén na ang daraga. Ang maramig na tobig ang suba ay siguradong mababanlawan ig maminosan ang pangalamo ang pamot.
“Arabuay!” makon ang daraga. “Indi mo ako lémésén, akéng onod magiging matégas!”
Ag isip si Bekat, siguro dato manda rason kung ayamo matérégas anang mga nakaén dati. Ag gorang ang iganti, ang daraga sigi pa ang pélég-pélég.
“Hmmmm.. Ano akéng bubuatén kanimo?”
“Pabayan mo ako kaoli. Dadaran ta kaw mas marakéng mga tao”
“Kaya ta kamo i-kaénén tanan kung mi tsansa ako. Piro ministir ko lamang ang makakaén maité.”
“Tay anono imong naliagang pagkaén?”
“Datong midyo maonod ig masabaw.”
“Pwidi ko itaw kanimo akéng libayén! Pabayan mo ako kaoli para mabél ko tana.”
“Pasamoro kung ag palagiaw kaw?”
“Indi ako ag palagiaw, matod!
Ing pabayan ni Bekat na kaoli ang daraga, ig ag élat tana.
Ag salép ang adlaw, ig ag élat tana para éngéd.
Ag kasésérémén dén, ig aga élat tana para éngéd.
“Dyaski! Aloko ako roman.” Makon tana sa anang sadili.
Békén dia ang primirong timpo na naloko tana, ig békén dan ang oring timpo. Anang baskég kapariho anang kakabosan.
Kasingot tana pangalamo ang usá sa angin.
Ig agpadayon tana sa pangaso.
=—————————-=
English Version
The scent was carried by the western wind.
Deer? No not gamey enough.
Wait. I know this one.
The olfactory sense, the one she was most proud of was weak tonight. In normal days she could identify the musk of a carabao or even the scent of freshly cut undergrowth at a great distance.
Yes.
Humans.
Not the stringy kind, she thought, much more tender.
It had been a while since she had eaten juveniles. They were faster than the older ones, but the sweet taste of their flesh lingered on her tongue, long after that meal.
Three?
No. Two.
The wafting of the breeze emboldened her.
A great vintage. She said to no one in particular.
One male. Seven years old, very nervous. Sweating too much. A bit heavy set.
Another one. Female. Related to the boy. Old enough to have passed puberty. She seems to be the one leading them both through the forest.
Leading them to her first meal in a while.
Small game was what the giantess had been subsisting on for the past few weeks. She brought them to her cave, the soft light of the small fire exuding some form of comfort in her bleak existence.
She was an outcast even among the giants. She was not the strong Bungisngis, the fearsome Dambuhala or the oath sworn Sarimao.
She was Bekat, the giantess who could smell.
And today she was hungry.
The humans were in the part of the forest where the river ran.
Perfect. She could wash the meat without having to inconvenience herself.
She took a large log, felled from a narra tree and started her hunt.
That smell again.
She could tell by the scent that both of them were sweating, their adrenaline seeping out of their bodies.
Her belly growled. All she had to do was get close enough for one swipe. Just one.
The girl screamed, giving ample time for the boy to run away.
Bekat grabbed her quarry, the girl struggling to escape her grasp.
She smelled something on the girl, a kind of perfume or a lip balm? Bekat never liked eating those, they tasted like chemicals and preservatives.
It was time to drown her prey. The cold waters of the river would rush away any unwanted flavors.
“Wait!” The girl said. “Do not drown me giant, my flesh will be tough!”
Bekat reflected, had all her drowned prey been tough to chew? That may have been the case.
The giantess sat down, the girl still struggling against her grip.
“Hmmm.. How should I deal with you, child?”
“You could release me, giant. I can bring you many more humans.”
“I could not eat all of you given the chance. I only want a light meal.”
“then what kind of meal do you want to have?”
“Something plump and juicy.”
“I can get you my brother! All you need is to let me go and I can bring him!”
“What if you run away?”
“I will not, I promise.”
So Bekat let her go and waited.
The sun set and she waited.
Twilight passed and she waited.
“Damn, fooled again,” she said.
It was not the first time she was tricked like this and it wouldn’t be the last. Her strength equaled her ignorance.
She smelled a whiff of deer in the air.
And resumed her hunt.
–===================================–
*Cuyonon is a regional Visayan language spoken on the coast of Palawan, and the Cuyo Islands in the Philippines.
Written by Karl Gaverza
Cuyonon Translation provided by Arlan Belen
Copyright © Karl Gaverza
Translation Copyright © Arlan Belen
Inspired by the Bekat description in The Creatures of Philippine Lower Mythology, Maximo Ramos, Phoenix Publishing, 1990.
Bekat Illustration by emirajuju
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