*Note this story is in Bicol – Sosogon

“Grrrah,” sabi san buwaya.

“Ssssh, ayaw lang kay pag-abot san pagkaon ta mawawara na ina na gutom,” sabi san aswang sa alaga niya.

Mapagal niyan ang paghanap san pagkaon. Aram san mga tawo na didi pirmi naghahanap an aswang san pagkaon ninda san buwaya pero wara makapugol sa gutom niya.

“Pag harani na kita sa mga balay makakakuwa na kita pagkaon.” Sobrang gutom na san buwaya pero an aswang dili mapabaya saiya. “Makakakita man kita batit taud taud. Paborito mo baga an mga batit.

Hiwag hiwag man an buwaya san ikog niya sa ugma. Awat na siya lain nakakaon batit.

“Marani kita sa mga balay tapos dadakopon ta an mga naglalangoy harani sa salog!” sinabihan san aswang an buwaya habang naglalalkat sinda sa gilid san salog.

Grabe na an gutom na namamatean ninda san buwaya. Nag-iingat na ang mga tawo na nakaistar harani sainda kaya mapagal maghanap pagkaon. An urhi ninda na pagkaon san may nakita sinda na parasira na naglubog sa salog. Payaton an parasira, dili lamang sinda nabusog.

Pero niyan maugma an aswang. Aram niya na may makakaon sinda niyan. An buwaya an madakop san pagkaon ninda kay habo niya manhadlok sa mga tawo.

An tawag saiya “aglapon hayopan,” o aswang may alaga na buwaya para magdakop san pagkaon niya. Sabi san iba na aswang hugak daw siya pero dili man ninda aram na mapagal magpadako buwaya.

Nagrereklamo na an buwaya, natatawa na lang siya. Awaton na sinda mag-upudan batog pa san bunay pa lamang an buwaya. Kilalahunon na niya an mga namamatean niya. Kilalahunon na ninda an kada saro. Makakaon lang an buwaya, mabalik na ini sa kahugakan niya.

“Yadi na kita,” sabi san buwaya.

“Madakop na kita san kaunon ta.”

“Grrrah,” simbag san buwaya.

English Version

“Grrrah,” The crocodile groaned.

“Hush now, the food will come by soon, then we will both have something to eat.” The aswang said lovingly to her pet.

Prey was hard to come by these days, the humans knew that this place in the swamp was the hunting ground for the aswang and her pet, but that wasn’t about to stop her from finding a meal.

“We just have to go closer to the village, and then everything will be better,” The crocodile grunted again and the aswang reassured him. “I know, we’ll find some children, I know how much you like the taste of those.”

The crocodile wagged its tail with joy; it had not had that treat in many months.

“Yes, let’s go nearer to the village and set a trap. We can catch the ones swimming by the river!” The aswang walked alongside her pet to the riverbank.

She was hungry, and so was her pet. Due to the human’s caution, food was hard to find. The last meal they both had was a fisherman that strayed too far into the swamp. He was stringy and tough, not a dinner that either of them savored.

The aswang was all smiles though. She knew that prey would be plentiful. She had always relied on the strength of her pet to catch their meals, she was not like the other aswang who would fly around the village terrorizing the humans.

She was an agalon hayopan, a kind of aswang that would raise crocodiles to hunt their prey for them. The other aswang would often jeer and call their kind lazy, but they would never know the hardship one would take just to raise a single crocodile from an egg.

Her pet grumbled again and she laughed. They spent years together and she had raised this one ever since he was a hatchling. She knew his quirks and quips just as well as he knew hers. They were inseparable. She knew that once he had something to eat, he would change back to his lazy self.

“We’re here,” The aswang and her pet stood by the river.

“Time to get some food.”

“Grrrah,” replied her pet.

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*The Bikol languages or Bicolano languages are a group of Central Philippine languages spoken mostly in the Bicol Peninsula in the island of Luzon, the neighboring island province of Catanduanes and the island of Burias in Masbate. There is a dialect continuum between the Visayan languages and the Bikol languages; the two together are called the Bisakol languages.

The Tabaco-Legazpi-Sorsogon (TLS) dialect is spoken in the eastern coast of Albay and the northeastern part of Sorsogon. TLS is the dialect that has been most influenced by the Inland Bikol languages.

Written by Karl Gaverza
Bicol Translation by Sara Grace C. Fojas
Copyright © Karl Gaverza
Translation Copyright © Sara Grace C. Fojas

Inspired by the Agalon Hayopan legend from Bicol: Filipinas Volume 12, Page 53, Filipinas Pub., 2003

Agalon Hayopan Illustration by NightmareSyrup
Tumblr: http://nightmaresyrup.tumblr.com/