*Note this story is in Tagalog
“Dito!”
Pasilakbong binitag ni Miguel ang kanyang huli, isang malaking isdang maipagmamayabang sa bayan.. Ngunit, hindi ito ang panahon.
Siya ay nagsasagawa ng Panangyatang at hindi maaaring maabala.
“Nono. Inaalay ko sa’yo ang aking unang huli; nawa ay tanggapin.”
Naghihintay si Miguel. Ginagalang niya ang kinaugaliang saksihang matanggap ang alay.
Isang oras ang lumipas saka niya nakita ang pag ahon ng kahon. Tinatanggap ang alay at magbabalik na ito sa ilalim upang lumamon.
Hindi alam ni Miguel kung kalian nagsimula ang gawain. Lagi siyang nagtataka kung bakit tungkuling ialay ng mga mangingisda ang unang huli, gaano man kalaki.
Alam lang niya na tulad ng kaibigan nitong Aswang, ang Buwaya ay kumakain ng tao tuwing gutom na gutom. Subalit, ang takot ay hindi sapat upang ipaliwanag ang Panangyatang.
Ito ay paggalang. Hamak ngunit totoo. May angking bagay ang Buwaya na nagpaparatang ng paggalang kaya marahil “Nono” ang bansag sa Buwaya.
Marahil, tao rin ang Buwaya nuon; isinumpa ng mga Bathala at ngayo’y hangad ang paggalang ng mga nakababata.
Marahil naman, isa itong ligaw na kaluluwang nagdadala ng masaganang ani sa mga nakaaalala pa ng mga katutubong kaugalian.
O marahil ito’y mabangis at naniniil na hayop! uhaw sa dugo at kailangang pakainin bago maghanap ng taong kakainin.
At ano naman ang kahon sa likuran nito? Taguan lang kaya ito ng mga pagkain, o iba pang kababalaghan?
Anuman, ikinasiya nalamang ni Miguel na hindi siya ang nasa kahon.
“Sige po Nono, sa susunod nalang muli.” bulong niya sa ilog..
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English Version
“This is the spot.”
Miguel reached for his first catch and breathed deep. It was a large fish, something that he would be proud to show to the other fishermen, but pride could wait another day.
He was performing the panangyatang and he would not be disturbed.
“Nono* I present this catch to you. Please accept my offering.”
Miguel waited, he had to respect the tradition by witnessing it finish eating his catch.
An hour passed, then he saw the box. The offering had been accepted and it would be going back to the depths to enjoy its meal.
Miguel didn’t know when the tradition started. He always wondered why fishermen would give up their first catch, no matter how big.
He knew that the buwaya was a friend to the aswang and partook of human flesh when it was starving, but simple fear wasn’t enough to explain the panangyatang.
This was respect, pure and simple. There was something about the buwaya that commanded reverence. He thought to the reason why the buwaya was called ‘grandfather’.
Maybe it was human once, cursed by the gods, and it seeks the respect of its descendants.
Maybe it is a wandering spirit bringing a bountiful catch to those that remember the traditions.
Maybe it is a bloodthirsty beast that needs to be fed before it seeks out human prey.
And what of the box on its back? Does it just keep its victims there, until it is time to feed, or is there something more mysterious at work?
Whatever the answers, Miguel was glad not to be in that box, and even gladder that he was on his way home.
“Goodbye nono, until the next time,” he whispered softly to the river.
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*Nono = Lolo / Grandfather
*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
Tagalog translation by Iman Lalo
Copyright © Karl Gaverza
Translation Copyright © Iman Lalo
Inspired by the buwaya description in El Folk-lore Filipino. Isabelo de los Reyes, trans. Dizon and Peralta-Imson. 1994. (Original Spanish Manuscript Printed 1889)
Buwaya Illustration by Kael Molo of Agla – The Graphic Novel