_Bilaan_ (_Mindanao_)
In the beginning there were four beings, [131] and they lived on an
island no larger than a hat. On this island there were no trees or
grass or any other living thing besides these four people and one
bird. [132] One day they sent this bird out across the waters to
see what he could find, and when he returned he brought some earth,
a piece of rattan, and some fruit.
Melu, the greatest of the four, took the soil and shaped it and beat
it with a paddle in the same manner in which a woman shapes pots of
clay, and when he finished he had made the earth. Then he planted
the seeds from the fruit, and they grew until there was much rattan
and many trees bearing fruit.
The four beings watched the growth for a long time and were well
pleased with the work, but finally Melu said:
"Of what use is this earth and all the rattan and fruit if there are
no people?"