*Note this story is in Hiligaynon

O marcupo, marcupo, sa imo harianon nga padong

O marcupo, marcupo, sa imo pugad nagatambong

Sa labing taas nga bukid  sa dumaan nga kadutaan

Sa tunga sang Marapara kag Canlaon ang ginapuy-an

Ambahanon mong’ nagapanglakaton sa mga suba kag linaw

Ang imo tulunggon nagatay-og sa adlaw nga masinaw

O marcupo, marcupo, ano nga manggad ang imo gina-alinga

Sa halapunan mong’ taas, ngaa natrangkahan ang puerta

Kilala ko ang imo pakaisa, kon anong’ dalit ang yara sa iya

Kay sa idalom sang puno, kumari ang iya mga biktima

Nagtener sa ila aliwansan, isa ka puno kon kabigon

Ginhingadlan Kamandag, kon diin ginkabig sila nga tulokbon

O marcupo, marcupo, ngaa bala, ang dalit nga kalangil-aran

Nahulom sa mga sanga agud ang kalag mahingalayuhan

Ang ambahanon mo nagtunong, sa kagat mo napa-idalman

Nagtulin sa mga ugat sang kasulgan sang kapulakan

Marcupo, marcupo, ambaha sa amon ang ambahanon mo

Magtener ka lamang sa kahoy nga puluy-an mo

Ang imo dila kag sungay ipaiway, wala na sang agsik sang dugo

Ihilayo ang imo bangkil kag ikog kag padong sa imo ulo

Bangud kami dili mangin imo daga

Sa imo kahoy, kalayo ang igadala

Kag amon tupukon tubtob sa wala ka na

O,marcupo, marcupo, ini amon ginapanumpa

=————————————=

English Version

O marcupo, marcupo, with your royal red crest
O marcupo, marcupo, guarding your nest
 
In the highest of mountains in all the ancient lands
Between Marapara and Canlaon is where it stands
 
Your song travels through the rivers and the lakes
On days that are clear the melody quakes
 
O marcupo, marcupo, what treasure do you guard
In your perch up high, why is the door barred
 
I know of your cousin, such venom with he
For under the tree did his victims come to be
 
They stayed under their refuge, a tree as they say
Called Kamandag, where they were treated as prey
 
O marcupo, marcupo, why, with poison so dire
Soaked within the branches to set souls afire
 
Your song ended, yielded to your furious bite
Coursing through their veins in a torrent of blight
 
Marcupo, marcupo, sing to us your song
Stay in your trees where you belong
 
Keep your tongue and thorns away, no more bloodshed
Stay away with your tusks and tail and crest so red
 
For victims we shall not be
We will take fire to your tree
 
And burn it until you are no more
O, marcupo, marcupo, this we swore
 =—————————————=

*The Hiligaynon language, also colloquially referred often by most of its speakers simply as Ilonggo, is an Austronesian regional language spoken in the Philippines by about 9.1 million people, mainly in Western Visayas and SOCCSKSARGEN, most of whom belong to the Visayan ethnic group, mainly the Hiligaynons. It is the second-most widely spoken language and a member of the so-named Visayan language family and is more distantly related to other Philippine languages.

Written by Karl Gaverza
Hiligaynon translation by Juriel Ong
Copyright © Karl Gaverza
Translation Copyright © Juriel Ong

Inspired by The Marcupo description in Creatures of Philippine Lower Mythology. Ramos. 1971.
Marcupo Illustration by Edrian Paolo T. Baydo
 
Colors by Catherine Chiu
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