*Note this story is in Tagalog
Isang araw nang dapuan ng sakit ang matanda at hindi makapanhik sa bundok upang mag-ani.
Kaya naman, isang walong taong gulang na babae at isa sa pinakabata sa kanilang pamilya ang nagkusang sumama sa kanyang ate at tiyuhin sa matarik na paglalakbay tungo sa dalisdis kung saan sila naggagapas ng mga pananim.
Buo ang kanyang puso’t kaluluwa sa pakikipagsapalaran subalit napipigilan ng tungkulin sa pamilya. Mula nang pumanaw ang kanyang ama at kuya, sa murang edad ay kinailangan na niyang alalayan ang ina. Ngunit hindi pa rin nito nahadlangan ang kanyang matinding pagnanais para sa pambihirang karanasan.
Tomboy ang tukso sa kanya ng mga taganayon. Kaiba sa ikinikilos ng mga ka edad na batang babae. Habang abala sila sa paglalaro ng manika at bahay-bahayan, siya naman ay lumulundag nang patiwarik sa malalalim na ilog, umaakyat sa kabundukan nang mag-isa, at hinahamon sa mga larong pisikalan at pustahan ang mga batang lalaki.
Hanggang sa dumating ang araw, kinailangan na niyang tumulong sa pamilya. Bumuhos ang malakas na ulan sa bubong ng kanilang payag (bahay-kubo) maraming oras ang inantay niya kasama ang ate at tiyuhin para magpatila. Hapon na nang huminahon ang mga ulap kaya nagmadaling tumungo ang tatlo sa lupang taniman na nasa itaas ng bundok, ayaw nilang palampasin ang huling sinag ng araw.
Sumilip na ang liwanag ng buwan sa kalangitan nang matapos ang pag-aani, mapanganib kung tatawid pa sa ilog na nasa paanan ng bundok kaya’t napagpasyahan nilang magpalipas ng gabi sa payag hanggang sa sila’y nahimbing sa daigdig ng panaginip.
Sa ilang sandali’y biglang nagising ang batang babae dahil ito sa kakaibang tunog galing sa labas ng payag. Akala niya’y bumuhos na naman ang ulan ngunit maaliwalas naman ang kalangitan. Natunugan niya ang matamis na himig ay musikang naglalakbay mula sa mga dahon at sanga ng kagubatan.
“Wala namang mga taong nakatira rito!” wika niya sa sarili. Tinangay siya ng kaniyang pagkamausisa at sinundan ang musika hanggang makarating sa pampang ng Talon ng La Mesa. Batay sa mga kuwento ang talon ay tahanan ng mga engkanto. Inisip dati ng batang babae na kathang-isip lamang ang mga ito, subalit ngayon ay hindi na siya sigurado.
May isang patag na bato sa ibaba ng talon kung saan hinango ang pangalan nito. Naglaho na ito sa halip ay isang tuyong liwasan na puno ng mga taong may magagarang kasuotan, lalaki, babae, mga bata, at mga kabayo.
Umalingawngaw ang musika sa hangin at ang mga tao’y nagsasayawan sa saliw ng matamis na himig. Puno ng pagkain ang hapag sa handaan. Labis na nabighani ang batang babae sa tagpong iyon at nalimutang siya ay nasa kagubatan.
Hindi na maalis sa isipan ng batang babae ang gabing iyon, sapagkat ito ang pinakamagandang tanawin na kanyang nasaksihan. Ang kanilang makikinis na balat, matatangos na ilong at mapupungay na mga mata ang bumabalik sa kanyang haraya tuwing iniisip ang kagandahan.
Pinanood niya ang mga ito hanggang sa oras na para bumalik sa payag. Iningatan ng batang babae sa kanyang sarili ang mga lihim hanggang sa makarating sa malayong hinaharap nang maikuwento na niya sa kanyang mga anak ang tungkol sa mga engkanto na naninirahan sa Talon ng La Mesa.
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English Version
It was a day just like any other when lola got sick and could not go up the mountain to harvest crops. One of the youngest, a girl of eight volunteered to go with her uncle and eldest sister up the steep trek to the slopes where they gathered crops.
The girl had a soul for adventure, but that was tempered by filial duty. Her father and eldest brother had passed on and at that young age she knew that she had to assist her mother. That didn’t stop her curiosity or her love of exploration.
The villagers called her a tomboy. She behaved unlike the other girls her age. While they were preoccupied with dolls and playing “bahay bahayan” the girl would jump headfirst into deep streams, hike the mountains alone and challenge the boys to games of skill and chance.
Today she had to do her duty for her family. The hard rains struck the roof of their payag (nipa hut) and the girl and her older sister and uncle were waiting for hours. It was late in the afternoon when the clouds broke and the three rushed to their plots high up in the mountains, they did not want to let the last lights of the day slip away.
The harvest was finished when the moon was bright in the sky and the three agreed that it would be too dangerous to cross the river at the foot of the mountain at night. They decided to spend the night in the payag and the three drifted into the land of dreams.
That is, until something awoke the little girl. It was a strange sound coming from outside the payag. She thought it might be the rain coming back for another shower, but the night sky was dry. She realized that the sweet sound was music making its way through the leaves and branches of the forest.
“There aren’t any people that live here!” She thought to herself. Curiosity overtook the young girl and she followed the music to the banks of Lamesa falls. There were stories that the falls were the home of enchanted beings. The girl used to think that those stories were just make believe, but now she wasn’t so sure.
In the waterfall there was a flat rock at the bottom from where the falls derived there name. It was gone then and in its place was a dry plaza filled with expensively dressed men, women, children and horses. Music was thick in the air and the people were moving to the sweet sounds. There was a banquet filled with food and the whole scene enthralled the girl so much that she forgot she was in a forest.
The girl would never forget that night, for it was the most beautiful sight that she had ever seen. Their fair skin, aquiline noses and expressive eyes would flash into her mind whenever she thought of beauty.
She watched them until it was time for her to return to the payag. The girl kept their secrets to herself until sometime in the far future when she would tell her own children about the engkanto that lived in Lamesa falls.
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Adapted from a Story told by Grace Collantes
The Engkanto of Lamesa Falls Illustration by Ysa Peñas
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