*Note this story is in Cebuano
“Wala ka maka-ila niya sama nako!”
“Palihug, ayaw ako padunga anang imong pangatarungan. Ikaw ang wala masayod kong unsa na ang imong ginabuhat. Aduna ka ba’y bisag gamay lang nga nahibaw-an bahin anang lakiha? Kinsa siya ug unsa ang iyang mga binuhatan?!”
“Wala ko maghuna huna ana. Gihugma ko siya ug wala’y makapa-usab sa akong gibati bisag unsa pa man ang imong isulti!”
“Wala ka makasabot! Sayop ang imong pagka-ila niya”
“Hunong na gud! Kahibalo man ko mag amping sa akong kaugalingon. Tiguwang naku, nasayod ko kung unsa akong gibuhat. Saligi lang ako. O kahibalo ko nga di padugay sa dihang nagka-ila kami, apan gipabati niya nga importante ako. Dugay nakong wala makasinati ani ug kahibalo ka ana. Wala ako nasayud kong asa man ako dalhun ni-ini, apan mao ni ang akong gusto. Salamat sa imong paghuna-huna sa akong ka-ayuhan apan ako pa? Kaya ni naku ui.”
“Siya ang diablo”
“Unsa? Binuang mana imo.”
“Paminawa gud ko! Naka-ila nimo siya sa Punta de Diablo, katong guba-on nga taytayan nga mura’g agi-anan padulong sa isla sa Talim diba? Nangutana ako. Wala’y bisag kinsang naka-ila niya didtong lugara, makahibalo man ang mga katawhan kong turista ba o taga laing lugar siya. Wala’y taga Binangonan nga angay sa iyang hulagway ug kung naa man gani makahibalo unta sila.”
Huna-huna-a gud. Bughaw ang iyang mga mata, ang iyang tingog parehas sa kinaham nimong mangantahay, kahibalo siya “katingalahan” nga kahibalo siya tanan bahin nimo bisag wala pa kamo magkaila. Daghan kaayong mga maihap nga sulagma.
Kahibalo ka ba nganung ginalikayan sa katawhan ang Punta de Diablo?! Kada pila ka-tuig anaay babaye nga maglumos sa iyang kaugalingon didtong taytayana. Sumala pa nila ilang adtoon ang ilang bana. Wala mahuman katong taytayan kay matud pa sa mga sugilanon, ang diablo nahigugma sa usa ka dalaga og aron tugotan siyang mapakaslan iyang gibuhat ang maong taytayan padulong sa isla sa Talim, ug sa dihang hapit na unta niya kini mahuman, nakit-an siya sa usa ka mananagat ug gipatinggog ang kampana sa simbahan arun mahunong nag pagtukod.
“Mura man ka’g buang paminawun tawn ui, adto nako”
“Nagtu-o ka lang nga nahigugma ka niya apan di na nimo angay ipadayun. Wala siya nahigugma nimo. Gipasalig ka lang niya, gipatu-o ka nga di siya sama sa ubang laki, og sakto kana kay mas grabe man siya kompara sa tanan.”
Kahibalo na siya kung unsa iyang gibuhat ug nasayod siyang pasakitan ka lang niya. Palihug intawn ayaw kana tuguti nga mahitabo.
Manamilit naku nimo. Kung dili ka magmalipayun alang kanako mo adto na lang ko’g dapit nga higugmaon ako.
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English Version
“You don’t know him like I do!”
“Please, spare me the cliché lines. You’re the one that doesn’t know what she’s doing. Do you know anything about this guy? Who he is and what he’s done?!”
“It doesn’t matter! I love him and there’s nothing you can say that can change my mind!”
“You don’t understand! He’s not what you think he is.”
“Stop trying to protect me! I can take care of myself. I’m old enough to handle this. Please, just trust me. I know it hasn’t been long since I met him, but he makes me feel like I matter. You know as well as I do that hasn’t happened in a long time. I don’t know where this will take me, but I know this is something I need. I know you care about me, but I’ll be okay. I know I can handle this.”
“He’s the devil.”
“What? Now you’re just being petty.”
“Listen to me! You met him at the Punta de Diablo, that broken bridge that looks like it’s going to Talim island right? I’ve been doing my research. No one’s ever heard of him in this area and if he were a tourist or an outsider, people would know. There’s no one fitting his description that lives anywhere in Binangonan and people would know if he did.
Think about it. He has blue eyes, he sounds like your favorite singer, he knows “surprisingly” knows everything about you even before you guys met. There are too many coincidences to count.
Do you know why people stay away from the Punta de Diablo?! Every few years a girl drowns herself by that bridge. The girls say that they have to join their husband. That bridge is unfinished because the legend goes the Devil fell in love with a girl and the only way she would accept her hand in marriage was to build a bridge to Talim island, he was about to finish but a fisherman saw it and rang the church bells to stop the bridge!”
“You sound crazy, I’m leaving.”
“I know you think that you’re in love with him but you can’t keep doing this. You fell in love and he’s not going to be there to catch you. He made you trust him, made you think that he wasn’t like all the other guys, and he was right. He’s worse.
He knows what he’s doing and he knows he’s going to hurt you. Please. Don’t let it happen.”
“Goodbye. If you can’t be happy for me then I’ll go somewhere I’ll be loved!”
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*The Cebuano language, alternatively called Cebuan and also often colloquially albeit informally referred to by most of its speakers simply as Bisaya (“Visayan”, not to be confused with other Visayan languages nor Brunei Bisaya language), is an Austronesian regional language spoken in the Philippines by about 21 million people, mostly in Central Visayas, western parts of Eastern Visayas and most parts of Mindanao, most of whom belong to various Visayan ethnolingusitic groups, mainly the Cebuanos. It is the by far the most widely spoken of the Visayan languages, which are in turn part of wider the Philippine languages. The reference to the language as Bisaya is not encouraged anymore by linguists due to the many languages within the Visayan language group that may be confused with the term. The Komisyon ng Wikang Filipino, the official regulating body of Philippine languages, spells the name of the language as Sebwano.
Written by Karl Gaverza
Cebuano Translation by Esperanza Bonifacio
Copyright © Karl Gaverza
Translation Copyright © Esperanza Bonifacio
Inspired by ‘Punta de Diablo’ in Philippine Folk Literature: The Legends. Eugenio. 2002.
The Devil (The Handsome Stranger) Illustration and Watercolor by Marc Magpantay
Tumblr: Glassy-draws.tumblr.com
