*Note this story is in Bicol Sorsogon
“Nahahadlok ako.”
“Lain kaipuhan, batit. Hihimuon ning mga kalag ang gusto ninda.”
“Sabay kita makadto sa puno ning Balete nang bibilinon ko ikaw didto. Maingkod ka sa irarom ning puno nang dadarahon ka sa itaas na kinab-an ng ibaba na kinab-an.”
“Nakay?”
“Para ipangaki ulit.”
“Makulog idto?”
“Lain ko maalala. Awat na ning nag agi ako sa inisasyon ko. Lain ka mahadlok batit, ipapakita ninda saimo ang bag-ong kinab-an.”
“Amo ba ina ang dahilan nakay nakalayog ka?”
“Oo batit, ina ng mas damo pa. Nakadtuan ko na ang mga kairaruman ning dagat ng sa laog ning lawas ning mga tawo. Nakaisturya ko na ang mga kalag didi sa kinab-an ng sa sunod pa. Napakadto na ako sa lugar na wara na sing tawo na makakakita pa utro. Nang pagal na ako.”
“Yadi na kita.”
“Magmati ka sa mga kalag. Gagabayan ka ninda kung pan-o ninda ako ginabayan sa bilog na buhay ko.”
“Magkikita pa ba kita gihapon.”
“Sino ang nakaaram kung nano ang itutugot sang mga kalag? Paaram batit, ibibilin ko ang mga tawo ko saimo.”
“Paaram Lola.”
Hinarampas ning hangin ang batit na babayi habang nakaingkod siya sa irarom sang puno ning Balete. Ang mga adlaw nag abot sa pirang semana na lain siya naghiwag maski sarong pulgada. Ang mga nag aragi aram ninda na mas mayad na dili isturbuhon ang biyahe niya. Sang ang urhing gab-i nagpadaog sa bag-ong aga tuminindog ang siya nang hilom na nagpasalamat sa mga kalag.
Sa urhi nakita ning bag-o niyang mga mata ang kinab-an na di nakikita na nakapalibot sa dati niyang buhay. Lain niya naisip na mag ngirit.
May trabaho pa siya na kaipuhan himuon.
=———————–=
English Version
English Version
“I’m scared.”
“You don’t need to be, child. The sprits will do as they will.”
“What will happen to me?”
“We will both go to the Balete tree and I will leave you there. You will sit underneath the tree and be taken to the Skyworld and the Lower World.”
“Why?”
“To be reborn.”
“Will it hurt?”
“I…. don’t remember. It has been so long since I went through my initiation. Don’t be scared child, they will let you see a new world.”
“Is that why you can fly?”
“Yes, child. That and much more. I have been to the depths of the sea and inside the bodies of humans. I have spoken to the spirits in this world and the next. I have traveled to places that no human will ever see again. And I am tired.”
“We are here.”
“Listen to the spirits. They will guide you as they have guided me all my life.”
“Will I see you again?”
“Who knows what the spirits will allow? Goodbye child, I leave my people to you.”
“Goodbye, Lola.”
The winds buffeted the girl as she sat beneath the Balete tree. The days stretched into weeks and she did not move a single inch. Those that passed by knew better than to interrupt her journey. When the last night finally gave way to a new dawn she stood up and quietly thanked the spirits.
Her new eyes finally saw the invisible world that surrounded her old life. She did not think to smile.
She had work that needed to be done.
=——————–=
*The Bikol languages or Bicolano languages are a group of Central Philippine languages spoken mostly in the Bicol Peninsula in the island of Luzon, the neighboring island province of Catanduanes and the island of Burias in Masbate. There is a dialect continuum between the Visayan languages and the Bikol languages; the two together are called the Bisakol languages.
The Tabaco-Legazpi-Sorsogon (TLS) dialect is spoken in the eastern coast of Albay and the northeastern part of Sorsogon. TLS is the dialect that has been most influenced by the Inland Bikol languages.
Written by Karl Gaverza
Bicol Translation by Rochelle Jarque
Copyright © Karl Gaverza
Translation Copyright © Rochelle Jarque
Inspired by the Baylan initiation ritual as described in The Soul Book. Demetrio & Cordero-Fernando 1991.
Babaylan Illustration by emirajuju
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Watercolor by Catherine Chiu
FB: Wildling Child
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