*Note this story is in Ilocano
Makaawis diay isemna.
Addan ni Basilio sipud pay adda puotko. Bantay ti tawag ni lola kenkuana, ket iti apagbiit, agpayso met.
Nagnaedak idiay iti sangapulo ket dua laeng a tawen. Idiay ti maikadua a pagtaengak. Pinadas dagiti appok nga ilimed ti kinaagpayso maipapan ti pamilyak, ngem ammokon idi.
Mannugal ni Papa.
Mammartek ni Mama.
Ket impanawnak ni lola ken angkelko manipud idiay sidongda , kayarigak ti naikkan iti linong manipud iti bagyo.
Bugbugtongak nga anak ket dimet kayat dagiti kakabaggiak ti maaddaan iti bukodda a pamilya. Tinarakendak babaen iti panangtedda iti sagut, kas panangipakitada iti ayatda kaniak.
Numan pay napalaus a yamanko kadagiti inaramidda, maysa laeng ti kalikagumko.
Kalikagumko ti di agmaymaysa.
Idiay sirok ti mangga ti umuna a nagam-ammoan mi. Isu met daydi naudi nga aldaw a nakitak ti amak, dagiti sugatko ti mangpaneknek .
Madama nga agar-arubos dagit luluak ket natinnagda iti ramut ti mangga idi mangngegko ti timekna iti umuna a gundaway.
Saanka nga agsangit, diak kayat a mabasa toy balako.
Naamirisko a mangrabrabak laeng ket nagkatawa nak iti apagapaman.
“Ania ti naganmo? “Dinamagna.
“Aw-awagandak iti Cruz. “
“Dayta ti apelyidom, saan? Amin nga agyan dita a balay ket Cruz.”
“Isu ti awagda kaniak.”
“Ania ti awagmo iti bagim?”
“Ian.”
“Sige ngarud. Hello Ian, siak ni Basilio.”
“Ania ka?”
“No dimo pay nadlaw , maysaak kadagiti babassit nga espiritu.”
“Diak pay pulos nakasarak iti espiritu, bassit man wenno saan.”
“Ket siak ngaruden ti umuna. Hello Ian.”
“Hello Basilio. “
Ket manipud idin nagbalin kamin a nasinged nga aggayyem a tao ken espiritu. Insuro ni Basilio kaniak dagiti mahiko da ket pinagkatawak met isuna a kanayon.
Nasursurok ti maipanggep kadagiti datdatlag nga adda iti pisikal a lubong ken no kasano a sangoen ida.
Adda daydi tiempo a ginandat ti maysa a tikbalang nga agawen dyay taeng ni Basilio, ket napilitan ni Basilio nga agaramid iti maikaniwas.
Mabalin nga agindeg dagiti espiritu iti pisikal a lubong ken no dadduma manayonan ti pannakabalinda babaen kadagiti mortal.
Niluganannak ket pinapanawna dyay tikbalang.
Ngem adda nadagsen a subad dyay inaramidna.
Apaman a limmugan kaniak simrekak iti datdatlag a lubongda.
Nakitak dagiti nailemmeng iti mata ti tao.
Ket napalalo a babawi ni Basilio.
No dina napapanaw dyay tikbalang ket agpeggad ti entero a pamilyami. Ti nabatbati a pamuspusan ket ti panangiserrekna kaniak iti lubong dagiti espiritu.
Idi kuan nangrugin dagiti panagadalko.
Impakitana kaniak ti lubong a nagtaudanna.
Adu dagiti kayumanggi a patiyanak nga agay-ayam. (Naammuak a dagiti patiyanak ket agduma kadagiti mangmangan ti lasag nga ubbing a demonyo a nangngegkon manipud kadagiti estoria.)
Maysa pay a mangibabaet ni Basilio. Adda daydi tiempo sakbay ti kasangay ko nga inareglo na ti riri ti baet ti maysa a Nuno ken Lamam ni lota, agpada a nabileg nga espiritu nga agindeg iti lubong.
Paginnagawanda ti maysa a kadisso a daga. Daytoy a daga ket asideg iti pagindegan dagiti tattao, ket tapno maay-ayo dagiti espiritu, adu a daton ti naaramid ket kayat dagiti dua nga espiritu a bukodan dagiti sakripisyo.
Ti solusyon ni Basilio?
Pagbingayanda lattan.
Adu dagiti daton ket mabalinda a pagbingayan. Agsinnublatda a mangtagikua kada panawen: no matutudo kukua ni nuno; no kalgaw kukua ni lamam nin lota.
Immanamongda ket nabang-aran ni Basilio.
“Kunak no di mabalin, ” kinunana.
Ngem ammok a maaramidna.
Maaramidna ti uray ania.
Naglabas dagiti tawen ken bimmileg kami a dua. Ti bileg ti naespirituan a lubong ket dimmalan kadagii uratko.
Dua kami kontra iti lubong.
Ket adda latta dayta ngat isem.
Diak maibaga no kaano a mismo a nangrugi a nadlawko nga adda madi . Kasla dimmagsen lattan ti angin iti agtlawlaw.
Kalkalpas idi ti panagtutudo ket saan met a nakaskasdaaw kadagiti espiritu ti agyan apagapaman idiay pagyananna a kayo.
Ken di met nagsardeng nga umis-isem.
Nagtulid dagiti aldaw ket nagbalinda a bulan ket tinuladna dagiti aramid ni Basilio : mangibabaet, agkatawa, ken mangsaluad.
Idi kuan imbagana ti di mapakpakadaan a kiddaw.
Imbagana nga adda nabileg nga espiritu ti bagyo a lumabas ket kasapulanna ti pigsa tapno di madadael dyay balaymi.
Imbagana kaniak idi a dinan kayat a mapadasak manen ti maluganan.
Ngem gayyem ko met isuna. Isu a namatiak.
Napardas ti ritual ken nakaam-ames. Induronna ti paset ti kararruak a namagsilpo iti lubong a pisikal, ket idin a naamirisko.
Saan a ni Basilio daytoy nga espiritu.
Naguray iti nabayag a tiempo kalpasan ti adu a malem agingga a makombinsi nak a maluganan.
Ngem malagipko pay dagiti pudno nga insuro kaniak ni Basilio.
Impakatko ti bileg ti kararuak ket sinarangetko ti limmugan kaniak.
Imbaga kaniak ti pamilyak a diak pinanawan diay puon ti kayo iti makalawas, ken pagkedkedak ti naidiaya nga taraon ken inumen.
Ammoda ti maipanggep iti lubong dagiti espiritu ket binay-andak a makisaranget.
It was a fight of wills. The fake Basilio nearly broke me if not for the reminder.
Ranget ti tibker pakinakem. Dandaninak naparmek ti manglimlimo a Basilio, no saan a gapu iti pammalagip kaniak.
Nadangranna ti gayyemko.
Ket awan ti uray ania iti agsusukot a lublubong a manglapped kaniak a mangibales kaniana.
Kalpasan ti maikapito nga aldaw simmukon. Ammo diay espiritu a diak to agsardeng . Wenno basta nauma lattan, diak ammo.
Idi nakapanawen, nagari ti ulimek.
Awanen ni Basilio.
Napukawen ti nasinged a gayyemko.
Kadagiti simmaruno a bulan, saanen a nagapon dagiti espiritu idiay kayo, naulimek a testameto nga adda idi natan-ok nga espiritu a nangibilang kas taengna.
Ita, agayus ti bileg ti lubong ti espiritu kaniak. Mariknak pay laeng ti kaadda ni Basilio ket para kaniak saan pay a napukaw.
Nagpatulongak iti Nuno, iti Patiyanak, iti Lampong, ken sabsabali pay nga espiritu ti daga.They told me that the fake Basilio was named Binagoonan, a spirit of deceit.
Imbagada kaniak a diay manglimlimo a Basilio ket managan Binagoonan, mangallilaw nga espiritu.
Mabirukan kanto Basilio.
Mabirukakto ti gayyemko.
=———————————=
English Version
It was that smile.
Basilio was there ever since I could remember. Lola always called him our guardian, and for a while, she was right.
I had only been there for twelve seasons. There was my second home. The elders tried to shield me from the realities of my family, but I knew.
Papa was a gambler.
Mama was a drunk.
And I was taken from there by my lola and titos, given shelter from the storm.
I am an only child and my relatives never saw fit to make their own families. They doted on me and have me gifts, their language of love.
While I appreciated their efforts, I just had one wish.
I wanted not to be alone.
I first met him under the mango tree. It was the last day I had set eyes on my father and the bruises were testament to that.
My tears were falling on the tree’s roots and I heard him for the first time.
“Please don’t let your tears fall, I don’t like my house to be wet.”
I sensed that was a joke and gave a giggle.
“What is your name?” He asked.
“People call me Cruz.”
“That is your last name isn’t it? All those in this abode are ‘Cruz’”
“That is what they call me.”
“What do you call yourself?”
“Ian.”
“Well then hello Ian, I am Basilio.”
“What are you?”
“If you haven’t noticed I am one of the small spirits.”
“I’ve never met a spirit before, small or otherwise.”
“Then let me be your first. Hello Ian.”
“Hello Basilio.”
Since that day we had become close as a human and spirit could be. Basilio taught me the magics of his kind and I kept him laughing.
I learned about the elementals that surround the physical world and how to challenge them.
There was a time a tikbalang spirit tried to claim Basilio’s tree for its own designs and Basilio had no choice but to do the forbidden.
Spirits can live in the physical world and in certain cases they can augment their power through mortals.
He possessed me and banished the tikbalang.
But that did not come without a cost.
The moment we mended I was thrust into a foreign world.
I could see what was kept from human eyes.
And Basilio was so very sorry.
If he didn’t fight off the tikbalang then the entire family would be in danger. His only recourse was to open myself to the spirit world.
And then my lessons came.
He exposed me to the realm from where he originated.
Basilio was an earth spirit and he had many friends that he invited to rest in the shadow of his mango tree.
The Idaemonon would not leave the ground but its fingers would poke out from the earth.
Many brown-skinned patiyanaks frolicked. (I learned that the patiyanaks were different from the flesh eating demon babies I had heard of in many legends).
Basilio was also a mediator. There was a time right before my birthday that he had to settle a dispute between a Nuno and Lamam nin Lota, both very powerful spirits that inhabited the earth.
They both claimed a patch of ground was their domain. This specific lot was near human settlements and to placate the spirits, many sacrifices were made there and each of the earth wanted it for themselves.
Basilio’s solution?
They would share.
The sacrifices were many and the bounty could be spread to both. Each would take the lot for a season, the rainy for the nuno and the dry to the lamam nin lota.
They greed and Basilio let out a sigh of relief.
“I didn’t think that would work.” He confessed.
But I knew he could do it.
He could do anything.
The years passed and we became stronger together. The flux of the spirit world finally flowing in my veins.
It was us against the world.
And there was that smile.
I cant tell you when exactly I felt something wrong. The atmosphere just felt weighted.
It was after rainy season and it wasn’t out of the ordinary for the spirits to dwell (temporarily) in his tree.
He wouldn’t stop smiling.
The days bled into months and he did what Basilio does: mediate, laugh and protect.
Then he asked the unthinkable.
He told me that there was a great spirit of the storm that would pass and he needed strength to keep it from destroying our home.
Before he had always said that he would never let me go through that again.
But he was my friend. I believed him.
The ritual was quick and brutal. He pushed back the part of my soul that tied me to the physical realm, and then I knew.
The spirit wasn’t Basilio.
It bided its time through the sunsets until it could convince me to be possessed.
But the real Basilio’s teachings were etched into my memory.
I summoned the power of my soul and fought back against the intrusion.
My family said I refused to leave the tree for one week, rejecting offers of food and water.
They knew of the spiritual world and let me have my battle.
It was a fight of wills. The fake Basilio nearly broke me if not for the reminder.
He hurt my friend.
And there was no way in the many layered worlds that I would not avenge him.
After the seventh day it had given in. That spirit knew I would not falter. Or maybe he just got bored, I do not know.
Once it left only silence reigned.
Basilio was gone.
My best friend was gone.
In the coming months the spirits rested in the tree no longer, a silent testament to the great spirit that once called it home.
Now the power of the spirit world runs through me. I could still feel Basilio’s presence and I think he may not be gone for good.
I asked aid from the Nuno, the Patiyanak, the Lampong and other earth spirits.
They told me that the fake Basilio was named Binagoonan, a spirit of deceit.
I will find you Basilio.
I will find my friend.
=—————————=
*Ilocano is the third most-spoken local language of the Philippines.An Austronesian language, it is related to such languages as Malay (Indonesian and Malaysian), Tetum, Chamorro, Fijian, Maori, Hawaiian, Samoan, Tahitian, Paiwan and Malagasy. It is closely related to some of the other Austronesian languages of Northern Luzon, and has slight mutual intelligibility with the Balangao language and the eastern dialects of the Bontoc language.
Written by Karl Gaverza
Ilocano translation by Maria Jesusa Villaruz
Copyright © Karl Gaverza
Translation Copyright © Maria Jesusa Villaruz
Inspired by the description in Pinatubo Aytas: Continuity and Change. Shimizu. 1989. pg 57
Illustration by Von Milano used with permission from Rob Martin of Pine Box Entertainment and Secret Garden Games
