Philippine Folk Tales Part 28

[76] A typical Malay house presents the appearance of a pile-dwelling, the floor being raised several feet above the ground, and tied to the heavy upright timbers which run to the roof and form the framework of the house.

[77] Short trousers of hemp, usually embroidered and beaded.

[78] Short jacket of hemp (ka, "of;" mama, "man," "boy," the specific term for "man").

[79] Bra.s.s-smith.

[80] A t.i.tle of respect, which is best rendered by "lady" or "senora."

[81] Bra.s.s toe-rings, corresponding to the paninsing ("finger-rings").

[82] See footnote 1, p. 29.

[83] Rock-terrace (-an, plural ending; ka, "of;" karamag. "wind") of the Wind.

[84] Terraces (walu, "eight;" lapit, "folded;" dukilum, "night,"

"darkness") of Eight-fold Darkness.

[85] Udan ("rain").

[86] A large carrying-bag worn by Bagobo men on the back, by means of straps over the shoulders. It is woven of hemp, often heavily beaded, and contains the betel-box, the lime-tube, and a tight case of woven rattan for flint, steel, medicine, and other necessaries.

[87] The leaf of a vine that is chewed with betel-nut.

[88] Dulama ("soft rock"). This rock formation appears to be a cuesta structure.

[89] An embroidery done by old women in former days, but now almost a lost art. Tambayang was used for the uppers of sleeves for fiesta, and it formed the scarf worn by mothers to carry the baby. There is a taboo on young women doing this special sort of needlework.

[90] The "small boy" of the ancient tales (ulit), who in some magical manner becomes great.

[91] See footnote 4, p, 26.

[92] See footnote 2, p. 20.

[93] Bia, "lady;" inelu, "orphan,"--the orphan lady Itanawa.

[94] When a Bagobo makes an expedition over the mountains to attend a fiesta, he wears his old clothes, and carries his elaborately ornamented garments in the bag on his back. On nearing the end of the journey, he goes behind a tree, or into the jungle, and puts on his fine clothes.

[95] A box with three compartments,--for betel-nut, buyo-leaf, and calcined sh.e.l.l,--cast in bra.s.s or bell-metal from a wax mould. This type has rectangular surfaces, and is to be distinguished from the kapulan, a type marked by its circular, or elliptical, or polygonal top and base.

[96] It is the custom of the natives to wait for the host to say, "Come up," before mounting the ladder or notched log leading to the door.

[97] The reference here is a little ambiguous. It is suggested that a transposition of clauses may throw light on the meaning. Transposed and expanded, the invitation would read thus: "Come up into the house for shelter, since there are many showers in my town. Come up, provided you can keep from bringing on a fight."

[98] The good man [of the] Folded Mountains (taglapida, "folded;"

pabungan, "mountains").

[99] Lindig, "border;" ramut, "root;" ka, preposition "of;" langit, "sky."

[100] A low-growing tree yielding a black dye, which for a very long time has been used by women to color hemp.

[101] A bead necklace, the most highly valued of all Bagobo ornaments. One section is a gold or silver cord, several inches long. made of small over-lapping scales of the precious metal. The necklace is thought to be of Moro manufacture, and is valued by the Bagobo at from one to four agongs.

[102] See footnote 4, p. 32.

[103] A trial-marriage before the Bagobo ceremony is not uncommon.

[104] The tree that bears betel-nuts, and is commonly called "betel-nut tree."

[105] Possibly a form of kambin ("goat"); diluk ("little"); i.e., "little goat," a name that would be selected readily by a Bagobo for a fleet horse.

[106] See footnote 2, p. 15.

[107] One of the Agamidae.

[109] The same word is used for the reflection in the water and for the shadow cast on the ground, since both phenomena are regarded as manifestations of the same spirit (gimokud).

[110] The Mona were aged people, without s.e.xual pa.s.sions; hence this episode presents a situation out of the ordinary.

[111] A small bird that steals grain from the growing corn and rice. A clapper of split bamboo is sometimes made to scare away the maya.

[112] One of the thick-branching trees haunted by demons.

[113] A native sweet-potato. The Bagobo name is kasila.

[114] See footnote 2, p. 39.

[115] Buso is saying a charm to make the stem of the bagkang-plant grow tall enough to form a handle for the betel-nut tree, so that the children may be dragged down (tubu, "grow;" baba, "rattan strap forming the basket-handle;" mamaa'n, "betel-nut"). The children, for their part, say other magic words to make the tree grow at an equally rapid rate, so that its branches may swing above the bagkang as a handle for it. The Buso's formula appears to have been the more effective of the two charms in producing a magically rapid growth.

[116] See footnote 1, p. 18.

[117] See footnote 2, p. 30.

[118] See footnote 1, p. 30.

[119] See footnote, p. 25.

[120] The S'iring are said to appear in the likeness of some near relative of the wanderer in the forest (s-, prefix widely used by mountain Bagobo before an initial vowel of a proper name; iring, "like" or "similar to").

[121] The family altar seen in many Bagobo houses. It consists of two slim rods of bamboo (attached to the wall, and standing upright), split at the upper ends so as to support each a bowl of white crockery, in which offerings of betel-nut, bra.s.s bracelets, and other objects, are placed. Similar shrines are sometimes put up under trees or by a mountain-stream.

[122] Red peppers and a piece or two of lemon laid under the house are effective in keeping Buso away from that vicinity; and the use of the same charm here against the S'iring suggests that the S'iring may not be separated by a very sharp line from the Buso who crowd the forests.

[123] Tadu ("wax"), ka (preposition "of"), petiukan ("bees").

[124] This bird, often called a "hornbill" by foreigners in the Philippines, is probably the halcyon kingfisher (Ceyx euerythra) of the islands. The ground hornbill is confined to Africa; and the tree hornbill of the Philippines does not make its nest at the foot of trees, as in this story.

[125] A mountain-plant whose stem has a thin, glossy, black sheath, that is stripped off and used in twisting the decorative leglet called tikus.