*Note this story is in Tagalog
“Paniki yung nakita ko! Sigurado ako dahil nakita kong mayroon itong malalaking pakpak sa bintana.”
“Baliw butiki iyon. Hindi mo ba napansin yung pula sa mga mata nito sa kalayuan. Ang ulo niya ay kahalintulad ng sa butiki at maaring nakakalipad ito. Hindi maaring paniki yung nakita mo, dahil nasilayan mo lang likuran nito.”
“Mali kayong dalawa, hindi niyo naman napansin yung kamay eh. Unggoy iyon.”
“Baliw.”
“Sa halip naman na mali.”
“Pards, may nanloloko ata sa atin. Nasilayan ko na yung paa nito ay paa ng isang tao at napansin naman natin yung mahabang buntot ay isang mahabang buhok lamang ng isang babae. Maaring isa ito sa mga babaeng gusto tayong takutin.”
“Alam ko yung nakita ko, walang taong nakakalipad.”
“Baka saranggola lang iyon at may humahatak ng tali.”
“Walang pupuntahan itong pag-aaway natin!”
“Iba-iba yung nakita natin kanina, puwede itong paniki, butiki, unggoy, at maaring may nanloloko sa atin. Pero ang mahalaga wala na iyon.”
“Sana nga. Kasi kinalibutan ako sa nakita natin, kung ano man iyon.”
“Pre?”
“Magiging maayos lang ba tayo? Na maaring yung nakita natin ay pinagsama-samang butiki, paniki, at unggoy?
“Baliw, paano mo naman naisip iyon?”
“Tingnan mo.”
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English Version
“It was a bat! That’s the only thing it could be. I saw it through a window and it had huge wings, but I know a bat when I see it.”
“You’re crazy it was a lizard. I could see the red in its eyes from a mile away. It had the head of a lizard and it was probably one of those flying ones. There’s no way it could have been a bat, besides you only saw it from behind!”
“You’re both wrong, I saw its hands and I can definitely say it was a monkey.”
“You’re crazy.”
“Better than being wrong.”
“Guys it was someone playing a prank. I saw the thing’s feet and it was human, besides we all saw the tail anyway and it looked like a woman’s long hair. Probably one of the girls wanted to scare us or something.”
“I know what I saw and there’s no way someone could fly like that.”
“Maybe they pulled themselves up on a string or something.”
“You really don’t believe that do you?”
“This arguing is getting us nowhere!”
“Look we all saw what we saw, it could have been a bat, it could have been a lizard or a monkey or someone pranking us. What matters is that it’s gone.”
“Yeah I hope so. Whatever that thing was it gave me the creeps.”
“Guys?”
“You think we could all be right? Like the thing could be a weird lizard-bat-monkey hybrid?”
“That’s crazy, what makes you think that?”
“Look up.”
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*Tagalog is an Austronesian language spoken as a first language by a quarter of the population of the Philippines and as a second language by the majority. Its standardized form, officially named Filipino, is the national language of the Philippines, and is one of two official languages alongside English.
Written by Karl Gaverza
Translation by Emman Bernardino
Copyright © Karl Gaverza
Translation Copyright © Emman Bernardino
Inspired by the Mansalauan description in Creatures of Philippine Lower Mythology. Ramos. 1971.
Mansalauan Illustration by Jowee Aguinaldo.