*Note this story is in Inabaknon

Aniya’ gihapon kahahalapun na si dimu’an .

Anurapsik i lunso’ si takulok-na si paragdaying. Agpulbaran na kunta’ pasurrob si buwahi’-kalawot piro kay ga’i papirdi i madlus. Pira ka yukot  maktak na si uran i manlurulagapak si day gana’  kurti na si kalawot, piro katu’anan iya nga aniya’  sito gihapon katatapuson na.  Ga’i iya agbawa na mayya ato para hamok alimbo’ sanglit mahaya pagtapod na si mga iya hasta si mga allaw nga anakka i katapusan-na.

Sa’intuman na i mga luha’-na si sa’i-na ngan agpabihing na i rosaryo-na. Atalaw to para si iya,  piro ammas nga atalaw to para si kaluluwa-na. Dadi’-nayto si sama-na mayto paragdaying nga durudiritso pa gihapon agtutu’o si mga dati pa pama’agi kay alsi kamatu’uran , aniya’  parti  na si kalawot nga sakob si laha’ -na, si pagka’allom na.

Agmakimalu’oy i sa’i-na nga antapod iya si paragsalbar-na, i paragsalbar na mga iya. I mag’ataman si iya si  pudir-na nga para anghaya si gugma’ ngan si kadanta’an, piro ni adda ga’i  to mamati’ si iya. Ga’i  sakatu’anan  na kon ay klasiha kinabuhi’ i aniya’  mayya si kalawot, ngan i mga paragbantay nga pirmi magparasagdon si mga iya.

“Asuwang na si kalawot” — iyayto i ban’o na si mga iya. Lingon-na mga iya, para pang’aguy-agoy to mga espiritu si mga mangngalawot pina’agi si kanta-na mga iya para alimbo to paragdaying to ngan diritso to mayya kakan na. Nginarat pa gihapon iya si ka’awat na na siray mga surusurumaton ngan kon pira pa gihapon katabbol i manutu’o sito. Katu’anan  i paragdaying siray mga uru’istorya: adda bagay nga naggamit para pankorti si pag’agi na si mga panahon para kabuwanan pagrispitar ngan  paghanga i mga espiritu.

Piro kay gana’ may siray sa himo’-na. Agbag’o na na  si panahon kon ay i magpantakka si mga iya si mga uras si pagkinahanglanun na mayya. Gana’ na sapapumwan-na pa si kalawot, ngan mga pangadyi si mga lunso’. Iya na hamok i mabilin. I pinakadamuri dadi’  lalla si tikaparong pagtu’o.

Agtikawara’ na ina’anto i kusog na si mga sugbong-na si paragdaying. I puho’-na pa’abuyon na si gana’  kahuhuwayon na paglagapak  si kalawot ngan uran. Ag’intom na gihapon i sa’i-na ngan ma’isog pa gihapon agtungghunan na i pagtu’o na. Angbusngal dawlo i mga bihi-na pangadyi bago iya pa’utok  si kalunsu’an:

Bawa-na ako si kalawot si ruma’ -ko

Agtapod ako si ka’aw

O kaluluwa-na si bagyo ngan kalawot

I kalu’uman salli’an na si kadanta’an

Dinaluman to gihapon mga lunso’

Huwang ko i kalawot

Aniya’ gihapon kahahalapun na si dimu’an.

=——————=

English Version

Everything will be alright.

The waves crash over the fisherman’s head. He tries to tread water but the storm will not let up. Thousands upon millions of raindrops batter the ocean’s shapeless form, but he knows they will pass. They did not lead him here to drown and he will trust in them until the end of his days.

He remembers the tears in his mother’s eyes when he tossed her rosary aside. She was scared for him, but more concerned for his soul. The fisherman was his father’s son and carried on believing in the old ways because the water was in his blood.

His mother begged him to trust his savior, their savior. The one she had raised him to remember in love and light, but he couldn’t listen to her. She could never understand the life they had at sea, the guardians that protected them.

“Aswang ng Dagat” – that’s what they called them. They say that the spirits lured fishermen into the water with their songs to drown and eat them. It still surprised him how long that lie had lasted and how many people still believed in it. The fishermen knew those stories for what they were: a brush used to paint over the centuries of respect and admiration of the spirits.

There was nothing he could do though. The years had changed what people turned to in their times of need. There were no more offerings by the sea, or prayers to the waves. What was left was him. The last son of a dying belief.

The fisherman’s arms are getting weak now. His body is finally surrendering to the endless onslaught of the waves and the rain. He thinks back to his mother and stays firm in his conviction. His lips release one final prayer before his head goes beneath the waves:

The water will lead me home

I will trust in you

O spirits of storm and sea

The darkness will turn into light

The waves will calm

I will be with the sea

Everything will be all right.

=————————-=

*The Inabaknon language, also known as Abaknon, Abaknon Sama, Capuleño, Kapul, or Capul Sinama, is an Austronesian language primarily spoken in the Island Municipality of Capul of Northern Samar, in the Eastern Visayas Region of the Philippines. Unlike the other indigenous languages of the Eastern Visayas, namely Waray, Cebuano and Boholano, Inabaknon is not classified as part of the Visayan language family, but is rather grouped with the Sama–Bajaw languages.

Written by Karl Gaverza
Inabaknon Translation by Jo-An Panis Magloyuan
Copyright © Karl Gaverza
Translation Copyright © Jo-An Panis Magloyuan

Inspired by the Magindara entry in Bikol Beliefs and Folkways: A Showcase of Tradition. Nasayao 2010.

Magindara Illustration by emirajuju
IG: https://www.instagram.com/emirajuju/

Watercolor by Mykie Concepcion
Tumblr: http://mykieconcepcion.tumblr.com/

*Note this story is in Inabaknon

Kapa’i kay nagkinahanglan nga atalaw kaw si kamatayon?

Pata’anin ako, agbuwan istorya si ka’aw .

Ngan siray bali na awat mga panahon, aniya’ bali yaman danda nga ag’istar matapit si kalawot. Gana’  ngi adda ruyag-na bisita, husto na si iya i kamingawan nagpumwan na si mahaya ruma’-na. Aggamit na hamok pirmi i mga allaw ngan sangom nga aniya’  iya pina’agi si beach, nga kun singnga para isip na i kada bitu’on ngan kun pira bug’os i baybay.

Aniya’  hamok adda kumpanya-na, ma’in  pariyo si bisan say a’a ha si kalibutan, kay ma’in gayud iya a’a bisan pa pinapa’i. I lingaw-na si kamatayon i kahuruhuwang na pirmi para ka’ibanan i kasurub’on na. Primiro mayya agsikilalahay ngan ag’ako’ na si lingaw-na si kamatayon i sa’i-na si danda. Ga’I iya atalaw ma’in pariyo na si mga a’a nga dapat agtangdo na hamok ngan agbuwan respito sito lingaw.

“Kapa’i  kay ga’i kaw angabat katalaw?” I patilaw na si lingaw. “Parti kaw kun kay kapa’i mas aghalap i kinabuhi’.” I saruman na si danda.

Dati, ga’i  ni adda kapinugaran mahalap i lingaw-na si kamatayon ngan pirmi to hamok antis anakka i panahon nga satima na si danda i larao, adda to ritwal nga nagparahimo para ka protektaran i puho’ -na si sa’i-na si mga maruyag magkilwag sito pakahuman-na si kamatayon. Siray, aruyag i lingaw si danda, kay ga’i iya bisan sumiran akabagat adda a’a nga agbuwan respiratar pariyo si pagpakulaw na respito si iya.

Masiniluson i lingaw-na si kamatayon ngan karuyag na agtatawa’ na hamok i danda. Agsunuran na i danda pada’iray  si baybayon ngan agplanuhan na nga limbo nayto, para pirmi na iya si pudir na si kamatayon hasta si kahastahan.

Piro kay ma’in bulok i danda, sakatu’anan  na kon ay i hirimuhon na si iya si lingaw. Ag’ambanan na i ruma’-na ngan padugok iya si papo’-na danda. Aniya’  pambihira kapangyarihan-na sito maktong nga adda beses na agdiri’an na sito ampo nayto danda. Gana’ la’in  pagpipili’an na si danda, ag’itatapit na i lingaw-na  si kamatayon.

Ngan satakka na na kunta’  si lingaw i danda nginarat to iya. Hintak to danda to kawara’an hingasong, ga’i na sa abat na i kupkop na si lingaw.

Piro kay ga’i  gad kunta’ ambanan na si danda i lingaw-na si kamatayon. Sakatu’anan  na sanglit i pagtraydor na si iya si adda kumpanya nga agtapuran na gayud, ngan sito butang, ga’i  liwat iya pahuway hasta ga’i iya akabulos. Balang ga’i nagrespitar i kamatayon pina’agi si paghimo’ si larao, pada’iray iya. Rangka na kon ay may i primyo na si lingaw.

Ma’in  kinahanglan nga agkatalawan mo i kamatayon.

Atalawa si kun titakka pakatima na siray.

=————————-=

English Version

Why should you fear death?

Let me tell you a story.

A long time ago, there was a rich woman who lived by the sea. She would not have any visitors, for she liked the quiet that her large house gave her. She would spend her days and nights by the beach, counting each star and each grain of sand.

She had but one friend, not like any person in the world, for it was not a person at all. The shadow of death would spend time with her to ease her loneliness. They first met when death’s shadow claimed the woman’s mother. She was not afraid as most people would have been and greeted the shadow politely.

“Why are you not running in fear?” The shadow asked. “You are part of what makes life beautiful.” The woman answered.

Death’s shadow had never been called beautiful before and it stayed until the woman finished the larao, the ritual ceremony to protect her mother’s body from those that would harm it after death. The shadow fell in love with the woman then, for it had never met a human who respected death such as she did.

Death’s shadow was a jealous thing and it wanted the woman all to itself. It had followed her to the seaside and had planned to drown the woman, so that she may be in death’s embrace forever.

The woman was no fool, though and knew what the shadow had planned. She left her house and visited her grandmother. For you see, the old woman had great power that was once rejected by her granddaughter. The woman had no choice, death’s shadow was approaching.

When the shadow caught up to the woman it was surprised. She had become deathless, she would never know the shadow’s embrace.

The woman would not leave death’s shadow though. She had known the betrayal of a trusted friend, and she would not rest until she had her revenge. Every time death was not respected through the larao, she would be there. Desecrating what would have been the shadow’s prize.

You should not fear death.

Fear what comes after.

=—————=

*The Inabaknon language, also known as Abaknon, Abaknon Sama, Capuleño, Kapul, or Capul Sinama, is an Austronesian language primarily spoken in the Island Municipality of Capul of Northern Samar, in the Eastern Visayas Region of the Philippines. Unlike the other indigenous languages of the Eastern Visayas, namely Waray, Cebuano and Boholano, Inabaknon is not classified as part of the Visayan language family, but is rather grouped with the Sama–Bajaw languages.

Written by Karl Gaverza
Inabaknon Translation by Jo-An Panis Magloyuan
Copyright © Karl Gaverza
Translation Copyright © Jo-An Panis Magloyuan

Inspired by the Aswang (Capiz) description in Creatures of Philippine Lower Mythology. Ramos. 1971.

Aswang (Capiz) Illustration by Leandro Geniston from Aklat ng mga Anito
FB: That Guy With A Pen