The Saga of Sulayman and Indarapatra part 4
King Indarapatra readied himself. The sun reflected against the blade in his hands and he breathed in deep. His mind was filled with tales of the creature being all-seeing, but he would face the beast no matter how fearsome it was.
The fourth was the dreadful bird of Mount Gurayn.
King Indarapatra deftly dodged the head coming towards him, the sharp beak missing its mark by only a few inches. He rolled on the ground avoiding another two heads and tried to strike at a third, but the beast’s hide was tougher than King Indarapatra thought.
Surprise was the one thing King Indarapatra could not count on. In each direction, one of the seven heads would be watching. So the king resorted to applying his strength to the problem. As another head bared down upon him, King Indarapatra held his sword with two hands and used all his strength to cut the monster’s head in half.
The screams of the other six heads echoed through the mountain range, a combination of pain and anger. King Indarapatra was exhausted from the effort, his every muscle screamed in agony, but there was no time to rest. The monster still had six other heads, all preparing to take a vengeful strike at him.
The nights blended with the days, blood from both sides was spilt on the barren rocks of the mountains. King Indarapatra’s blade was almost blunt from hacking away at the bird’s hide, but his strikes were true and the monster did fall.
He stared at the body of the beast and closed his eyes, content with what he had done.
King Indarapatra awoke with a thought. What if not all were slain in these lands? Surely there must be some survivors among the hills and forests. Thus, the king sheathed his sword and went on another journey.
One day he saw, in the distance, a beautiful woman. King Indarapatra did not know if it was an illusion, but he was delighted to see the sight of another human being. The woman disappeared before the king could get near and he sat on a nearby rock, tired and hungry.
He prayed for relief and, surveying the area, he saw a pot of uncooked rice and a large fire on the ground in front of it. As he cooked the rice, he heard loud laughter. His heart rejoiced! An old woman was watching him. He greeted her and they talked as King Indarapatra ate his rice.
“There are other survivors,” the old woman told the king, but very few. She described a cave in which the people were sheltered, far from the fearsome might of the four beasts. The old woman and her husband hid in a hollow tree and were only able to venture outward when Sulayman killed the bird, Pah.
The old woman led King Indarapatra to the cave and the people gathered around the stranger and listened to his tale. He told of his brother, Sulayman and how he slew the beasts Kurita, Tarabusaw and Pah. He told of how his brother was crushed under the wing of the great bird and how he journeyed from his lands to avenge his brother. He told of how he slew the seven headed bird of Mount Gurayn.
The people gave thanks to the strangers that rid their land of the monsters. The headman of the people gave his daughter’s hand in marriage to the king, and King Indarapatra was surprised to find that it was the beautiful woman that he had seen before.
Others eventually came out of their hiding places and returned to their homes, living in peace and happiness for the rest of their days.
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Continued from Pah’s Tale
Written by Karl Gaverza
Copyright © Karl Gaverza
Adapted from “Mythology of Mindanao” in Philippine Folklore Stories. Cole. 1916. (Full text can be accessed at http://
The Bird of Mount Gurayn Illustration by Julius Arboleda
Watercolor by Catherine Chiu
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