Академический Документы
Профессиональный Документы
Культура Документы
of literature. They are trading with the neighboring countries of Japan, China, Indonesia,
Malaysia, India, and Arabia. In short, they are not savages nor uncivilized as maliciously
declared by some friars during the Spanish colonization.
Our many language are related to the Malaya-Polynesian Family of Languages spoken in
vast areas covering mainland Southeast Asia, East Timor, Polynesia, Micronesia and
South Pacific Islands. We have our own system of writing called Baybayin consisting
of 3 vowels and 14 consonants. Baybayin came from the word baybay which
means spelling. The image below shows the Baybayin characters and the
corresponding sound represented.
The three vowels are a, e-i, and o-u. The first character has only one
pronunciation, while the second and third, has two, depending on the thought and
meaning presented. The fourteen consonants include [b, k, d, g, h, l, m, n, ng, p, s, t, w,
y]. The pronunciation of these is varied too. Add vowels and you will change some
scripts. Remove vowels and add crosses below. You can use it freely. I prepared an
activity for you to do in order to learn and master the use of it. We will do it on your
classroom. You may click here to know the details about it.
Now, going back to our Philippine literary pieces during the Pre-Spanish period. Majority
of these are in oral traditions. Our ancestors love to communicate as evidenced by a
great deal of surviving records. Their written accounts are not inferior too. They used
leaves, barks of trees, bamboo cylinders, dried muds and jars as stationery. Their pen
would be any pointed metal, stick, knife and others used to engrave and imprint their
message. However, the exposure to elements destroyed a great majority of these
works. The invading Spaniards destroyed and burned them too, thinking that these
were works of the devil. One interesting artifact that endured the test of longevity is the
Laguna Copperplate Inscription. Use the net to do some research about it.
Pre-Spanish Prose
1.Legends. Pre-Spanish legends are fictitious narratives which explain the origin of
things, places, or names. The early Filipino customs are also depicted in them as it
entertains the people during gatherings and occasions.
2.Folktales. Folktales are stories made up about life, adventures, love, horror and
humor where one can derive lessons about life.
Pre-Spanish Poetry
1.Epics. Epics are long narrative poems in which a series of heroic achievements or
events usually of a hero involving supernatural forces/phenomena. Listed below are
some of the epics celebrated among the various groups in the country.
11.Kumintang Tagalog
12.Bernardo Carpio Tagalog
13.Parang Sabir Moro
14.Darangan Moro
15.Indarapatra at Sulayman Moro
16.Dagoy Tagbanua
17.Sudsod Tagnbanua
18.Tatuaang Bagobo
Folksongs. Folksongs are the oldest forms of Philippine Literature that emerged which
are composed mostly of 12 syllables per line of four in a verse. These songs mirrored
the culture of each group singing specific song per occasion/celebration/activities.
Listed below are some of these songs and the corresponding
occasion/celebration/activities.
1.Among the Visayans: Ikaw na nagnakaw ng mais ko, lumuwa sana ang mga
mata mo, mamaga sana ang kamay mo, parusahan ka ng mga anito.
5.Sayings. Sayings are more commonly called Sawikain. They are used to
emphasize lessons for the youth and these lessons are explicitly stated. Examples
are:
You are all good and kind and it is difficult for me to choose one among you. Let me
decide with a test.
Ill marry the first man who can bring me a big, live, and strong serpent, Maria said
in jest.
The young men were dumbfounded. After a while, the voice of Ilog broke the silence.
I promise to bring you one, Maria. Even if I have to risk my life, Ill bring you what you
wish.
Ilog was a man known for his bravery. He left immediately to fulfill his promise. The
men whispered among themselves. They were sure that Ilog would never be able to
return. They waited for a long while but Ilog had not returned. Even Maria was
saddened because she also grieved the loss of a man as brave and accommodating as
Ilog. After many hours, Ilog returned. They crowded to see how Ilog would prove his
bravery. Ilog held a big snake by its nape and tail. While the men were thus occupied,
two Spaniards passed by. Their attention was caught not by what Ilog held but by the
beauty of Maria.
Maria, heroically called Ilog. Ive brought you the serpent you wished for. What else
do you want me to do to make you happy?
that is how they were able to bring salt back to their villages, in order to prepare tastier
meals.
One time, however, the ocean was quite rough and they could not sail out to gather
salt. They eventually ran out of salt and the villagers no longer enjoyed their tasteless
meals. They wondered how they could get salt again, when a child suggested they ask
the giant to stretch out his legs over the ocean so that they could walk to his island
instead.
The kind giant agreed, and villagers with empty salt sacks walked along the giants leg.
Unfortunately, the giants foot landed on an anthill, and the ferocious red ants started
biting the enormous leg.
Hurry! pleaded the giant, who strained to keep his itchy legs still.
As soon as the people reached the giants island, he immediately withdrew his foot and
scratched the itchy bites. The villages just smiled at how a giant could be bothered by
tiny ants.
Anyway, the people got their salt and the giant again stretched his leg over the ocean.
Immediately, the ants began biting his swollen foot. Once again, the giant asked the
people to hurry up, but the heavy salt sacks slowed them down.
Besides, the people didnt believe that the tiny ants could really affect the giant, so
they idly chatted away, and walked rather slowly.
Before the villagers could cross the ocean, the giant cried out and thrust his ant-bitten
foot into the ocean. All the packed salt fell into the plain-water sea and melted.
The giant saved the people from drowning, but no one was able to recover the spilled
salt. From that day on-wards, the sea became salty.
A few years after the creation of the world there lived a tall giant by the name of Angngalo, the only son of the god of building. Ang-ngalo was a wanderer, and a lover of
work. He lived in the mountains, where he dug many caves. These caves he protected
from the continual anger of Angin, the goddess of the wind, by precipices and sturdy
trees.
One bright morning, while Ang-ngalo was climbing to his loftiest cave, he spied
someone across the ocean. The ocean at the time was pure, its water being the
accumulated tears of a disappointed goddess namedBaybay. Ang-ngalo waved at the
beautiful maid. She beckoned to him, and waved her black handkerchief: so Ang-ngalo
waded across to her through the water. The deep caverns in the ocean are his
footprints.
This beautiful maid was Sipnget, the goddess of the dark. She said to Ang-ngalo, I am
tired of my dark palace in heaven. You are a great builder. What I want you to do for me
is to erect a great mansion on this spot. This mansion must be built of bricks as white
as snow.
Ang-ngalo could not find any bricks as white as snow: the only white thing there was
then was salt. So he went for help to Asin, the ruler of the Kingdom of Salt. Asin gave
him pure bricks of salt, as white as snow. Then Ang-ngalo built hundreds of bamboo
bridges across the ocean. Millions of men were employed day and night transporting
the white bricks from one side of the ocean to the other.
At last the patience of Baybay came to an end: she could not bear to have her deep
and quiet slumber disturbed. One day, while the men were busy carrying the salt bricks
across the bridges, she sent forth big waves and destroyed them. The brick-carriers and
their burden were buried in her deep bosom. In time the salt dissolved, and today the
ocean is salty.
Note:
The hero of the tale, Ang-ngalo, is the same as the Aolo (Angalo) mentioned in the
notes to No. 3 (p. 27, footnote). Blumentritt (s.v.) writes, Ang-ngalo is the name of the
Adam of the Ilokanos. He was a giant who created the world at the order of the
supreme god, Lumawig.
Pre-Spanish Poetry
Indarapatra at Sulayman
(A summary of the Moro epic)
(From the compilation of Mabel Cook Cole)
A long, long time ago Mindanao was covered with water, and the sea extended over all
the lowlands so that nothing could be seen but mountains. Then there were many
people living in the country, and all the highlands were dotted with villages and
settlements. For many years the people prospered, living in peace and contentment.
Suddenly there appeared in the land four horrible monsters which, in a short time, had
devoured every human being they could find.
Kurita, a terrible creature with many limbs, lived partly on land and partly in the sea,
but its favorite haunt was the mountain where the rattan grew; and here it brought
utter destruction on every living thing. The second monster, Tarabusaw, an ugly
creature in the form of a man, lived on Mt. Matutun, and far and wide from that place
he devoured the people, laying waste the land. The third, an enormous bird
called Pah, was so large that when on the wing it covered the sun and brought
darkness to the earth. Its egg was as large as a house. Mt. Bita was its haunt, and there
the only people who escaped its voracity were those who hid in caves in the mountains.
The fourth monster was a dreadful bird also, having seven heads and the power to
see in all directions at the same time. Mt. Gurayan was its home and like the others it
wrought havoc in its region.
So great was the death and destruction caused by these terrible monsters that at
length the news spread even to the most distant lands, and all nations were grieved to
hear of the sad fate of Mindanao.
Now far across the sea in the land of the golden sunset was a city so great that to look
at its many people would injure the eyes of man. When tidings of these great disasters
reached this distant city, the heart of the king Indarapatra was filled with compassion,
and he called his brother, Sulayman, begging him to save the land of Mindanao from
the monsters.
Sulayman listened to the story, and as he heard he was moved with pity.
I will go, said he, zeal and enthusiasm adding to his strength, and the land shall be
avenged.
King Indarapatra, proud of his brothers courage, gave him a ring and a sword as he
wished him success and safety. Then he placed a young sapling by his window and said
to Sulayman:
By this tree I shall know your fate from the time you depart from here, for if you live, it
will live; but if you die, it will die also.
So Sulayman departed for Mindanao, and he neither walked nor used a boat, but he
went through the air and landed on the mountain where the rattan grew. There he
stood on the summit and gazed about on all sides. He looked on the land and the
villages, but he could see no living thing. And he was very sorrowful and cried out:
never dared leave until after Sulayman killed the voracious bird, Pah.
At Indarapatras earnest request, the old woman led him to the cave where he found
the headman with his family and some of his people. They all gathered about the
stranger, asking many questions, for this was the first they had heard about the death
of the monsters. When they found what Indarapatra had done for them, they were filled
with gratitude, and to show their appreciation the headman gave his daughter to him in
marriage, and she proved to be the beautiful girl whom Indarapatra had seen at the
mouth of the cave.
Then the people all came out of their hiding-place and returned to their homes where
they lived in peace and happiness. And the sea withdrew from the land and gave the
lowlands to the people.
References
Soriano-Baldonado, Rizza. (2013). Readings from World Literatures: Understanding
Peoples Culture, Traditions and Beliefs: A Task-Based Approach. Quezon City: Great
Books Publishing.
Vinuya, Remedios V. (2012). Philippine Literature:
A statement of ourselves.
Mabel
C.
(2008).
Philippine
Folk
Tales.
(e-book).
Accessed
at
http://www.gutenberg.org/files/12814/12814-h/12814-h.htm
Baybayin
courtesy
of
http://www.christusrex.org/www1/pater/JPN-tagalog-
baybayin.html
Pre-Spanish Scene Image courtesy of http://mandirigma.org