Which treats of the belief held by the natives of the Pintados islands concerning the creation

Which treats of the belief held by the natives of the Pintados islands concerning the creation

There are two kinds of people in this land, who, although of the same race, differ somewhat in their customs and are almost always on mutually unfriendly terms. One class includes those who live along the coast, the other class those who live in the mountains; and if peace seems to reign among them, it is because they depend upon each other for the necessities of life. The inhabitants of the mountains cannot live without the fish, salt, and other articles of food, and the jars and dishes, of other districts; nor, on the other hand, can those of the coast live without the rice and cotton of the mountaineers. In like manner they have two different beliefs concerning the beginning of the world; and since these natives are not acquainted with the art of writing, they preserve their ancient lore through songs, which they sing in a very pleasing manner—commonly while plying their oars, as they are island-dwellers.

Also, during their revelries, the singers who have good voices recite the exploits of olden times; thus they always possess a knowledge of past events. The people of the coast, who are called the Yligueynes, believe that heaven and earth had no beginning, and that there were two gods, one called Captan and the other Maguayen. They believe that the land breeze and the sea breeze were married; and that the land breeze brought forth a reed, which was planted by the god Captan. When the reed grew, it broke into two sections, which became a man and a woman. To the man they gave the name of Sicalac, and that is the reason why men from that time on have been called lalac; the woman they called Sicavay, and thenceforth women have been called babayes. One day the man asked the woman to marry him, for there were no other people in the world; but she refused, saying that they were brother and sister, born of the same reed, with only one knot between them; and that she would not marry him, since he was her brother. Finally they agreed to ask advice from the tunnies of the sea, and from the doves of the air; they also went to the earthquake, who said that it was necessary for them to marry, so that the world might be peopled. They married, and called their first son Sibo; then a daughter was born to them, and they gave her the name of Samar. This brother and sister also had a daughter, called Lupluban. She married Pandaguan, a son of the first pair, and had a son called Anoranor. Pandaguan was the first to invent a net for fishing at sea; and, the first time when he used it, he caught a shark and brought it on shore, thinking that it would not die. But the shark died when brought ashore; and Pandaguan, when he saw this, began to mourn and weep over it—complaining against the gods for having allowed the shark to die, when no one had died before that time. It is said that the god Captan, on hearing this, sent the flies to ascertain who the dead one was; but, as the flies did not dare to go, Captan sent the weevil, who brought back the news of the shark’s death. The god Captan was displeased at these obsequies to a fish. He and Maguayen made a thunderbolt, with which they killed Pandaguan; he remained thirty days in the infernal regions, at the end of which time the gods took pity upon him, brought him back to life, and returned him to the world. While Pandaguan was dead, his wife Lubluban became the concubine of a man called Maracoyrun; and these people say that at that time concubinage began in the world. When Pandaguan returned, he did not find his wife at home, because she had been invited by her friend to feast upon a pig that he had stolen; and the natives say that this was the first theft committed in the world. Pandaguan sent his son for Lubluban, but she refused to go home, saying that the dead do not return to the world. At this answer Pandaguan became angry, and returned to the infernal regions. The people believe that, if his wife had obeyed his summons, and he had not gone back at that time, all the dead would return to life.

-Miguel de Loarca, Relacion de las Islas Filipinas