*Note this story is in Bahasa Sug
Ha kalawman, nakatagad siya.
Bükün mataüd in makaingat sin sūy-sūy niya, malayngkan awn kaibanan manjari kaingatan in kajinis niya.
In manga mangangaün bulan.
Manga binatang kalangitan.
In singa. In tangangang. In kagang. In āgasi. In manuk-manuk. In hās.
In naga.
Katān sila naniyasiyahi ha kaytan, nanigin kaniya pa kalawman pagtawagün niya hüla’an.
Awn katakata hikasūy?
Atawa asal didtu sadja siya rayng kaangay?
Kalu baha’ hapdi’ in nakapügüs ha sattuwa biya’ sin tangangang. Unu in dugaing hahampitan magmumpāat pa kaytan bang bükün amu in katayangan sin bulan kimüküwp?
Manjari ra isab ha pasalan pagpanayam-panayam, biya’ sin singa. In bulan hambuuk katibulungan sangat laggü’ amu in makatumbang ha lipaga sin binatang, tumūn pa haybatün niya. Unu in dugaing kainasilan makapilad ha kaytan?
Manjari dugal, biya’ sin kagang. In kaytan panubu’ ka sin süga iban bulan? Magmaana ini pagtungbas ha pusaka’ dayng ha mawmāas wala’ niya nakilā?
Manjari pamawli, biya’ sin āgasi. Hambuuk baha’ piyaawn magkamatay in kaytan? Kiyapagmulka’an baha’ siya sin manga tuhan? Unu in miyabut kaniya amu in nakasigin kaniya pa kalawman-bitubitu matubig?
Manjari katigidluman, biya’ sin manuk-manuk. Bang in kaytan nakatangbus na sin daakan kaniya, ampa in dunya kiyalü’güm pa kalambungan, unu in sumunud niya kaünün?
Kalu baha’ hambuuk pārbahagi’an sin kainasilan, biya’ sin hās. Ha panganyam-nganyami ha dunya, lamud baha’ siya ha pārsunuran?
Na iban yan in katakata sin naga.
In tiyap-tiyap awn kabuhi’ makaingat sin sūy-sūy niya.
In manga bulan pitu. In tuhan Bathāla.
In naga mulākab.
In kaytan ha lawm tagaran sampay in kaibanan mahulug pa suwara sin kamānusiya’an.
Awn hambuuk kata-kata kiyapamünnākünan ku sahi.
In manga piyaawn-buhi’ kalangitan, pagtawagün mangangaün bulan, katān sila pārbahagi’an sin dunya. Kaniya-kaniya sila awn sabab mamihag ha bulan, atawa manga bulan, supāya matumlang.
Iban didtu nakalihan in kaytan.
Pagka siya amu in salamma-lamma ha baanan, wala’ siya nagmumpāat mamihag ha katibulungan tünga’-düwm.
Biyalikan.
Biyalikan.
Biyalikan pa.
Kiyaingatan niya in kawaysallamatahan, iban di’ na mabaya’ sumulay magbalik, sahingga kiyaingatan niya masallamata niya in pagkawa’ sin aaynan.
Ha hüla’an niya ha kalawman nagpasaula-ula siya. Kaingatan niya di’ siya kümüsüg biya’ sin kaibanan, bükün biya’ sin dugal nila, bükün biya’ sin hapdi’ nila.
In astül niya nanglipatan na, bükün tudju pa kaibanan piyaawn-buhi’, sagawa’ tudju pa luggiya’ baran niya.
Mahi siya kiyabütang ha dunya ini bang hāt da siya ha ulihan?
In tubig nagtapuk sin luha’ niya.
Ampa timagad.
Sampay pa rüwm.
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English Version
In the depths it waits.
Not many know its story, though others may know of its kind.
The moon-eaters.
The celestial beasts.
The lion. The scorpion. The crab. The giant. The bird. The snake.
The dragon.
They all pass over the shark, relegating it to the depths it calls home.
Is there a tale to tell?
Or has it always been there?
It may be hunger that drives the beast, like the scorpion. What other prey will the shark have if not the warmth of the waning moon?
It may also be for play, like the lion. The moon is a giant orb that catches the beast’s attention, captivating it. What other element could enthrall the shark?
It may be anger, like the crab. Is the shark the offspring of the sun and moon. Does it mean retribution against the inheritance from the parents it never knew?
It may be revenge, like the giant. Was the shark ever a mortal being? Did it incur the wrath of the gods? What happened to it that relegated it to the watery abyss?
It may be darkness, like the bird. When the shark completes its task and the world is plunged into shadow, what will it eat next?
It may be a part of nature, like the snake. In the machinations of the natural world, is it part of the cycle?
Then there is the tale of the dragon.
Every being knows its story.
The 7 moons. The god Bathala.
The greedy dragon.
The shark lies in wait, until the others have fallen, to the sounds of humanity.
There is one tale which I believe to be true.
The celestial beings, called the moon eaters, are all part of the world. Each having their own reason to capture the moon, or moons to be more precise.
And it was there that the shark resided.
The weakest of the pack, it failed to capture the midnight orb.
Again.
Again.
And again.
It had known failure and would not try again, not until it knew it could successfully take its prize.
In its home in the deep it connives. It knows it will never be as strong as the others, not as angry, not as hungry.
Its hatred multiplies, not against the other beings, but against itself.
Why was it put on this earth if only to be last place?
The water hides its tears.
And it waits.
Until the night.
=——————————————————=
*Bahasa Sug or Tausug is an Austronesian language spoken in the province of Sulu in the Philippines and in the eastern area of the state of Sabah, Malaysia, by the Tausūg people. It is widely spoken in the Sulu Archipelago (Sulu, Tawi-Tawi, and Basilan), the Zamboanga Peninsula (Zamboanga del Norte, Zamboanga Sibugay, Zamboanga del Sur, and Zamboanga City), southern Palawan, and Malaysia (eastern Sabah).
Written by Karl Gaverza
Bahasa Sug translation by Benj Bangahan
Copyright © Karl Gaverza
Translation Copyright © Benj Bangahan
Story inspired by Baconaua entry in Creatures of Philippine Lower Mythology. Ramos. 1971.
Baconaua Illustration by Benedict Jose Villarante
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