*Note this story is in Bicol-Naga
May manga oras na, kung tutugotan, ang manga segundo inu-unat sa manga taon. Ang panahon kadakul na manga amo, pero mayo kapoderoso arog kan takot. Ine haloy ko nang nanudan.
Ito . . . Siya . . . Dae ko aram kung papano ipaliwanag kung ano man ito. Basta, bigla na sanang nagbutwa itoo sa atubangan ko, ay bako, bakong dale-dale. Nagi-girumdoman ko ang tanog kan nagrara-ngisnis na manga dahon, ang malumbay na ngisi kan sarong lalake, asin ang parong kan tabako. Nunka ko malilingawan ang eksperiensyang ine.
Halangkaw siya, garo-higante kalangkaw. Sinup-sup ang saiyang tabako asin tumiruhok sakuya.
Ay, nanginginotan ako sa sakong sadire. Kan aldao na ‘idto nagtratrabaho ako sa oma na harane sa kadlagan, pigpapa-alang ang mga linabhan, asin siniguro na ang mga aanihon naka-andam na kan ako nagtukaw sa lindong nin Balete.
Pagmata ko yaon na siya. Nag-turuhok ang samuyang manga mata o pagmate ko naglakaw ang manga aldaw, hasta na tinarog niya ang silencio.
“Tara, namu-muotan ta ka.”
Nagkadarangog ko na ang manga istorya nin pagkamuot kan Kapre sa manga babaye. Nagi-giromduman ko ngani ang istorya ni Juana na pigparaikog-ikogan ni Kapre, asin nagbalyo pa ine ning porma para siya maging nobyo. Binadil siya kan mga pulis, alagad kan nirikesa ang nilalang yaon sana ang halangkaw na kahoy ning batag na may manga labot gikan sa tama kan manga bala.
Mayo ang bala makaka-salbar sakuya, dae ko aram kung ano ang puede. Tolo na simpleng tataramon ang nagparalizar nin pagkatakot sako asin naghehebi akong nagsimbag,
“Dae ta ka namu-muotan! Dae ta ka ngani bistado.”
Mababasa sa pandok ni Kapre ang dapat kong maaraman. Nakulugan ko siya. Mas urog pa kakulog sa totoong pagbadil.
Nagsupsup nin tabako si Kapre asin nagngirit.
“Mabibisto mo ako asin mamu-muotan mo ako.”
Tapos nawara siya duman sa kahoy.
Ang misteriosong parte iyo na tama siya. Perang taon ang nakalagpas asin naghuhuna ako na susunod-sunodon ako kaineng nilalang. Mayo akong paglaom na ito . . . siya . . . magigin amigo, asin mas pa.
Ang buhay pano-pano nin paglaom na mayo man kaa-abutan; mas pa pano nin mga sorpresa.
Yaon si Kapre sa kada pagkasawi, kada iriwal sa samuyang pamilya. Yaon siya kan nawara ko ang sakong matua, asin kan nagdarakula na pusog ang iba ko pang mga aki.
Sa pa-agi nin manga sadit na bagay pinaheling niya ang saiyang presensia. Natagiti nin manga gapo-gapo, ang sango kan tabako na dará-dara kan duros, asin pirme nang mate ko na yaon siya. Ang silensiong protektor.
Ang kabalos iyo ang pag-preserbar kan saiyang ini-istaran, ang kahoy na Balete na harong niya alagad garo man sana sakong harong. Dae ko mabibilang ang manga banggi, nagdadalan kang manga bituon kaibahan ko siyang nari-riparo sakuya.
Asin ngonyan na nakatukaw digde, 80 tag-init na kan buhay ko ang naka-agi. Iyo, yaon ako sa may Balete kan sakuyang padaba.
“Midbid ta ka, asin namu-muotan.”
=————————————————=
English Version
There are moments that stretch into years if you let them. Time has many masters, but none more potent than fear, this I learned many years ago.
It….He… I don’t know how to describe whatever it was. It just suddenly appeared before me, no, not suddenly. I remember the sound of rushing leaves, the soft laughter of a man and the smell of tobacco. I could never forget it.
He was tall, taller than any human had any right to be. He took a puff from his cigar and just stared at me.
I’m getting ahead of myself. I was doing chores in the field next to the forest, drying the laundry and making sure that the harvest would be ready when I sat under the Balete tree for some shade.
I woke up and he was there. We stared at each other for what felt like days, until he broke the silence.
“Hello, I love you.”
I had heard stories of the Kapre falling in love with human women before. I even remember a story of a girl named Juana who was stalked by her Kapre and the creature even changed form to be that of her lover. It was shot at by police officers but when they looked at the creature they only found a tall banana tree with bullet holes.
Bullets couldn’t save me now, I didn’t know what could. Three simple words were all that it took to paralyze me with fear and I cried as I said my reply.
“I don’t love you, I don’t even know who you are.”
The look on the Kapre’s face told me all I needed to know. I had hurt it. Far more than if I had taken a gun and shot it.
He took another drag out of his cigar and smiled.
“You will know me, and you will love me.”
Then, he vanished into his tree.
The strange part was he was right. Years had passed and I expected to be stalked by a monster, I had never expected that it… he… would become my friend, and then something more.
Life is full of expectations that are never met; it is even more full of surprises.
The Kapre was there through every broken heart, every fight with my family. He was there when I lost my first child, and when my other children grew to be strong.
He would show his presence in the small ways, a shower of stone outside my house, the smell of his cigar wafting on the wind, but I always knew he was there. A silent protector.
In return I would never let anyone harm his home, the Balete tree was as much my home as it was his. I spent countless nights, watching the stars with him watching over me.
And here I sit, 80 summers have passed through my life and I am under the Balete tree with my love.
“I know you, and I have loved you.”
=—————————————————=
*Central Bicol, commonly called Bicol Naga, is the most-spoken language in the Bicol Region of southern Luzon, Philippines. It is spoken in the northern and western part of Camarines Sur, second congressional district of Camarines Norte, eastern part of Albay, northeastern part of Sorsogon, San Pascual town in Masbate, and southwestern part of Catanduanes. Central Bicol speakers can be found in all provinces of Bicol and it is a majority language in Camarines Sur.
Written by Karl Gaverza
Bicol Translation by Patricia P. SanJose
Copyright © Karl Gaverza
Translation Copyright © Patricia P. SanJose
Inspired by the Kapre Myths and description in Creatures of Philippine Lower Mythology. Ramos. 1971.
Kapre Illustration by Abe Joncel Guevarra
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/abe.art.ph/joncel/
