*Note this story is in Ilocano
Rabiin idi, idi immay isu na.
Ammom sika, tatta ngay nga malgip ko, kuna nan sa nga gapo ta inbatik nga nakalukat adiay tawa’k ket mabalin isu na nga umuneg.
Iti malaglagip ko ket dadael adiay aircon ko idi, ket baraen akon, isu nga nilukatak adiay tawa. Naka-electric fan ak, yepyepen nak metten ah adiay uni na, aginggana nairidep ko met laengen.
Inot-inot nak nga nga nariing idi, ta makanggeg ak metten iti kasla agsasao ngay nga diyak maawatan, adiay uni na ket kasla ngay umasideg-umadayo, umasideg-umadayo.
Haan ko maibaga kitdi nu inya’t adiay nagparang. Adda metten iti bilog nga tumtumpaw idiay batog ko, iti kadakkel na ket kasla adiay pagil-iladak, santo adda iti nakaparang nga babai nga ammok lattan ah nga sabali isu, ta idi inted na adiay ima na tapno ibangon nak ket nakalam-lamiis met lakitdin.
Idiay met ket iti rugi na iti amin.
Tila’t nap-napanan mi, napasyar mi iti amin nga suli iti lubong idi nga rabii, adda adiay adda kami iti baybay nga nakaranranyag iti danom na, santo adda kami metten iti tep-ang iti nakangatngato a bantay, nga haan ko pay nga ammo nu kasatno kami nga naka-apan. Iti ritnak ket amin nga suli iti lubong ket napanan mi idi. Mabalin sa pay nga agpayso iti napanunot ko.
Saan ko a malipatan dagidiay nakitak idi nga rabii. Napan kami iti ilang nga nalipatanen iti tao, naiggamake pay adiay darat ken tapok na nga haan nga marun-runot, ken agidiay dissuor! Adiay kinatan-oc na adiay nga danom, nga nasilawan pay iti bulan, malagip ko pay laeng nu agkidem nak.
Nangrugin iti damdamag ken pnnakaawan iti talek ko kinyana, sinno ngata isu, ken kasatno na nga naamwan dagitoy amin nga inpakita na kinyak tatta a rabii. Kasla ammo na met iti panpanunotek, ta indissaag na met adiay bilog, sa na inbaskaag iti amin nga iduldulin na.
Nangidisu isu iti libro a dakkel iti sangok, sa na inbaga no inya iti nailemmeng a bileg na daytoy. Kuna na nga napanaganan isu iti libro de combania , nga iti nu usarek daytoy, makapan ak uray ayan na iti kayat ko nga papanan, nu laeng panunotek a naimbag.
Sinaludsod ko isu na nu apay na ibagbagak amin nga sansanikwa na kinyak, ket kinatawaan nak laeng. Adda kano iti nakita na kinyak nga gapo na, sa nak dinamag nu kano anya’t pagusarak daytoy a libro.
Saan ko nga masungbatan a dagos iti saludsod na. napanunot ko, pangusarak ngata agpayso? Innak ngata umuneg iti banko, tapno agtakaw? Wenno saan aya nga maymayat nga mapan iti rabaw iti kangatuan a banbantay? Panunotek pay ngata iti pamilya’k, sa nak agawid?
Ngem uray inya’t ragsak ko, haan ko maikkat adiay maritritnak nga sabali.
Kimmita ak kinyana, nagsabat iti mata mi, sa nak nakaritna iti kasla kuryente idiay bukot ko.
Maddik man makuna nu pay ak mabuteng kinyana. Saan ngata ta uray adda iti it-itde na kinyak a bileg, ket pinag-uray ko isu na kasangwanan ak nga simmungbat?
Ðinamag nak nu saan ko aya nga awaten iti it-ited na?
Haan ak nga nakasungbat.
Ado a dakes a sao iti nanggeg ko, agkakadakes nga ammo nga maipanggep kinyak.
Tabbed. Ingrato.
Nu man agpayso, ket agpayso, ngem saan ko nga awaten iti it-ited na kinyak. Saanen, malpas nga nagsabat iti mata mi.
Kinugtaran nak, natnag ak adiay bilog na, napigsa nga angin iti nangngeg ko habang matmatnag ak. Insaganak iti bagik para it ammok nga nalamiiis nga danom iti baybay.
Imbes nga lami-is nga danom, natnag ak iti pagidaak, idiay uneg iti kwarto, nga kasla awan latta iti napasamak.
Nag-uyek ak, dara iti intuprak. Isu gayamen iti rugi na iti aminen.
Tatta adda ak ditoy, nakailad, laglagipek iti napalabas, ken iti amin nga kamadi-an nga in-gapo na.
Haan nga makuna ken maawaten iti doctor nu inya iti rit-ritnaek, ken haan ko met nga maibaga kinyada adiay istorya adiay babae. Dinawat ko laengen nga pagawiden dak, ken nu laeng kuma mabalin ket palliative care laengen iti aramiden da. No haan da nga maikuna, uray mamin-ano dak nga duyuken iti hiringgilya, ket kay-kayat ko pay nga matay ak idiay balay.
Kuna na nu apong ko ket mang-ayab kano iso iti adda iti laing-laing nan ga mang-kita kinyak, ta bareng maagsan ak kano pay. Wen lattan, lola, agyaman ak, kunak, ngem haan ak nga agnam-naman nga umimbag ak pay.
Nagkidem ak, ken limmagip.
Adiay natangsit nga mat ana, ken adiay dissuor.
ken inya’t ritna na iti tumayab.
=———————————–=
English Version
She came in the night.
It’s funny, looking back I think it was the window I left open that might have been a sign for her to enter.
I remember my aircon was broken and I wanted to let the cold in, the hot air being kept at bay by the electric fan and its gentle sound, nudging me to blissful sleep.
I woke up to the sound of her voice catching waves of my consciousness towards her. Each ebb and flow pulsing towards a barely audible sound.
What was there defied explanation. A boat as large as my bed floated above me. On it was a woman, though I could tell she wasn’t ordinary. Her hand felt cold to my touch. She beckoned I come closer.
And that’s when it began.
We traveled the world that night, going from crystal clear beaches to gigantic mountains in the blink of an eye. Part of me thought that we crossed the whole globe then. Maybe I was right.
I will never forget what I saw then. We went to deserts forgotten by man and fondled the sands that kept time at bay, and the waterfalls! Such pristine majesty amplified by the moonlight. I still think of them when I close my eyes.
I tried to look at her throughout all of this. My mind wanted to know who she was and how she did these things.
As if she sensed my thoughts, she set the flying ship down by a lagoon and told me her secrets.
She set before me a book, larger than any book I had seen before and told me of its power. The woman said it was called the libro de la combania and she said that it could take me anywhere I wished. All I needed to do was think of a location and I would be there in an instant.
When I asked why she was telling me this, she laughed. She said there was something in me that interested her and she asked me what I would do with the book.
I didn’t answer her right away, my mind was filled with ideas clashing to the forefront. Would I use it to go in a bank and take as much money as I’d like? Would it be better to see the world from atop mountains? Would I think of my family and return home?
Excitement raced through my thoughts, but a part of me held back.
I looked into her eyes and electricity raced through my spine.
I didn’t know why the woman scared me so much. It might have been because she was offering me so much power, but I hesitated just long enough that she noticed.
She asked me if I would reject her gift.
I didn’t reply.
A string of profanities filled the air, words that should never be put together were strung as curses directed my way.
She called me a fool and an ingrate.
Maybe I was, but I would not accept the gifts she was giving me. Not after I saw her eyes.
She kicked me out of the boat and I could feel the wind rushing past me as I fell from the sky. I prepared myself to feel the cold water from the lagoon below.
Instead of the plunging into the clear waters, I fell on my bed, in my room as if nothing had happened.
I coughed then and I noticed there was blood, a prelude to my future troubles.
And here I stay, in my bed thinking of the past and the damage that it had dealt to me.
The doctors don’t know what’s wrong with me and I won’t tell them about the woman. I asked to be returned home for palliative care. If all the needles and prodding couldn’t solve it, I didn’t want to die in a hospital bed.
My lola said she would call a faith healer. I thanked her for the gesture but I think it’s too late for me.
I close my eyes and I remember.
Her cruel eyes and the waterfalls.
And what it was like to fly.
=——————————=
*Ilocano is the third most-spoken local language of the Philippines.An Austronesian language, it is related to such languages as Malay (Indonesian and Malaysian), Tetum, Chamorro, Fijian, Maori, Hawaiian, Samoan, Tahitian, Paiwan and Malagasy. It is closely related to some of the other Austronesian languages of Northern Luzon, and has slight mutual intelligibility with the Balangao language and the eastern dialects of the Bontoc language.
Written by Karl Gaverza
Ilocano translation by Ronan Espinueva
Copyright © Karl Gaverza
Translation Copyright © Ronan Espinueva
Inspired by The Sangkabagi description in El folklore Filipino . Isabelo delos Reyes, trans. Dizon and Peralta-Imson. 1994. (Original Spanish Manuscript printed 1889)
Sangkabagi Illustration by Florence Alcantara
