*Note this story is in Kapampangan
“kinang kinang ya aslag
ing cabilugan na ning bulan
Ini na ing caorasan
Ing caorasan ning pamangulam”
Caung neng caung quing cucu y Aileen cabang cucua yang panulu ibat quing babo mantil. Dimput ne at inakmul at aliya man minum danum. Maluat ne ring malagnat at mangaligkig, at alub na namu salese ne. Marakal ya pa cailangang gawang obra, oneng ali mu pala obra ing manenaya caya.
“Tunggal tunggal
Tucyan mu ing delanan na
at tipunan mu ing gab-bun
para alaya ni metung mang bakas”
Mengurenta ne, at miganaca ne ing atchi ng Aileen. Minawus ne ospital oneng manenaya la pa murin. Malulunus neng manakit i achi na quing panamdaman na, ala ya muring acarapat nung ali manenaya at mangadi na datang ne ing ambulancia.
“Bubucal na ing danum
isamut mu na ing gab-bun
ditac namung panawun
at mibalic ne quing abu”
Milaco ne pangisnawa ampong pulsu y Aileen. Micarugan ne ing medic quing capali na katawan. Manyicsic ing pali careng gwantes cabang pipilitan neng pacabyayan pasibayu. Balang pwersa da reng gamat quing salu na macicintal ya quing bubucal nang catawan. Mipapawas neng marimla at mangalgal ne quing pagal ing macalunus a medic.
“Ini na ing tawling gab-bun
magigisan na at lalangi
camate na ning api
mapatlud ne ing alti”
‘Mepapa ya uling lalaban ya careng matwa na’ ana ning apu cabang timan timan ya.
=———————-=
English Version
“The moon is full
The moon is bright
The time is now
To feed my spite”
Aileen coughed. She grabbed another pill from her bedside and swallowed it without any water. It had been a few days since her fever started and she hoped it would be gone by now. There was so much work she still had to do.
“Walk in her footsteps
One at a time
Gather the dirt
A victimless crime”
40 degrees. Aileen’s sister was worried. She called the hospital but the waiting was torture. She could see her baby sister cry out in pain and there was nothing she could do about it. She prayed that the ambulance would be there soon.
“Heat up the pot
Mix in the earth
She won’t suffer long
For whatever that’s worth”
No breath sounds or pulse coming from the patient. The EMT was worried. He had never seen a fever this high before, it was as if the patient was burning up from the inside. He could feel the heat through his gloves while he was giving CPR. Each compression felt like he was pressing his hands against a hot iron, but he couldn’t stop now, he had to do what he could.
“The last of the dirt
Broken and dry
One final lick of flame
And thus she will die”
The old woman smiled. This would teach that ungrateful girl what happens when you don’t respect your elders.
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* Kapampangan, Pampango, or the Pampangan language is a major Philippine language. It is primarily spoken in the province of Pampanga, southern Tarlac, and northeastern Bataan. Kapampangan is also spoken in some municipalities of Bulacan and Nueva Ecija, by various Aeta groups of Central Luzon, and in scattered communities within the SOCCSKSARGEN region in Mindanao. The language is known honorifically as Amánung Sísuan (“breastfed, or nurtured, language”)
Written by Karl Gaverza
Copyright © Karl Gaverza
Translation Copyright © C.C. Lim
Inspired by the Mangangamod description in Myth Museum. Medina. 2015.
Mangangamod Illustration by Leandro Geniston from Aklat ng mga Anito
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