Ihîk nak Wígan, in company with his brothers Kabigát and Balitúk,
went to catch fish in the canal called Amkídul at the base
of Mt. Inúde. After catching a supply of fish, they strove to
ascend to the summit of the mountain; but, ever as they went up,
Ihîk kept asking his brothers for water to satiate his devouring
thirst. They answered him: "How can we find water at such an
elevation? Water is found at the base of the mountains but not at
their summits!" But Ihîk kept on importuning them. At last, when
they were in the middle of their ascent, they came to an enormous
rock. Balitúk struck the rock with his spear, and instantly there
burst forth a large jet of water.
Ihîk desired to drink first but they deterred him, saying: "It is
not just that thou shouldst drink first, being the last born of us
brothers!" Then Kabigát drank, and afterwards Balitúk. Just as Ihîk
was about to do so, Balitúk seized him and shoved the whole of his
head under the rock, adding: "Drink! Satiate thyself once for all,
and serve henceforth as a tube for others to drink from!" And so
it came to pass that Ihîk on receiving the water through his mouth
sent it forth at the base of his trunk. He said to his brothers:
"You are bent on making me take the part of a water-spout! I shall
do so, but bear in mind that I shall also take just vengeance
on your descendants for this injury." In view of this threat,
Kabigát and Balitúk did not dare to make use of the improvised
fountain, and so they returned home.
This myth, which is very long, then relates how certain of the great
deities befriended Ihîk by setting him free and assisting him in
obtaining vengeance on his brothers and their descendants.
Another myth, showing an interesting resemblance to a Manóbo myth
already given, tells how the sky region of Manaháut, [50] which was
once very near the Earth World, was raised to its present position. The
cannibalistic and voracious appetite of Manaháut was causing the slow
extermination of the human race, [51] and the aid of the gods was
invoked. The Ifugaos have a number of powerful deities who always
remain in a sitting posture. One of these suddenly rose up, and,
with his head and shoulders, thrust the sky region of Manaháut to a
vast height above the earth, thereby preventing the extermination of
the people. [52]
As a final example of Kiángan Ifugao mythology, I give the following
story which is one of the best specimens of Ifugao literature.
THE STORY OF BÚGAN AND KINGGÁUAN, OR THE MARRIAGE OF A GODDESS
WITH A MAN [53]
The wife of the god Hinumbían is Dakáue. She has no children
except a daughter called Búgan. This Búgan was with her parents in
Luktág. Let it be noted that these divinities of the highest region
of the Sky World do not see directly that which takes place in the
lower spheres, but the first calls the second, and the second the
third, etc. According to this order, the first or principal god,
known as Bungóngol, charges or gives orders to his son Ampúal,
who in turn orders his son Balittíon, and the latter orders and
charges Líddum of the lowest sky region, or Kabúnian. This Líddum
is the one that communicates directly with the Ifugaos. The said
Búgan, daughter of Hinumbían, was at that time a maiden, while
in Luktág, and her uncle Baiyuhíbi [54] told her to go down and
amuse herself in the third sky region, Hubulán. So, according
to the wishes of her relatives, she went down to Hubulán where
Dologdógan, the brother of Balittíon, was. The said Dologdógan
had gone to Hubulán to marry another Búgan. The first Búgan,
daughter of Hinumbían, had been advised to marry in Luktág, but
she did not wish to do so, and so they told her to go off and
divert herself in Hubulán. Having settled down in this sky region,
her uncles advised her to get married there, but neither did she
wish this. In view of her attitude on this question, Dologdógan
exhorted her to descend to Kabúnian, and go to take her abode in
the house of Líddum her relative and the son of Amgalíngan. The
said Líddum wished her to marry in Kabúnian, but she also refused
to do this. Near the house, or town, of Líddum (whose wife is
called Lingan) there was a village called Habiátan, and the lord
of the village also bore this name. Such being the case, the said
Habiátan went to the house of Líddum, and, upon seeing the young
Búgan in the condition of maidenhood, he asked Líddum: "Why does
this maid not marry?" The former answered him: "We have counseled
her to it, but she does not wish to do so. I, upon seeing that she
did not wish to get married, nor to follow my advice, said to her:
'Why dost thou not get married?' She began to laugh. I replied:
'Then, if thou dost not wish to get married in Kabúnian, it were
better for thee to return to thy people and thy family of Luktág,'
but she answered: 'That is not necessary, and I should like to stay
with thee in thy house--and I shall take care to get married at
my pleasure, when I see or meet someone of my liking, and then I
shall tell thee.'" Habiátan, after hearing this story of Líddum,
said to him: "According to this, I shall take the young Búgan
to my rancheria and house in Habiátan to see if she wishes to
marry my son Bagílat." [55] To which Líddum rejoined: "If Búgan
so desire, it goes without saying that she can accompany thee at
once." The maiden having been consulted, assented, and went off
with Habiátan to his house and village. Having arrived at the said
place, and after Búgan had observed somewhat the young Bagílat,
as if Habiátan had asked her whether she desired to marry him,
she answered: "How am I to wish to marry him (Bagílat), grim
and fierce as he is, and making use of such an extraordinary
spear! Moreover, he never stops--but is always running around
in all parts of the Sky World, through the north and the south,
through the east and the west;" and she told Habiátan that she
did not wish to marry his son Bagílat, the Lightning, because
that through his effects he harmed plants, fruits, and possibly
might injure even herself. Then said Habiátan: "Thou art somewhat
fastidious, and I see that thou couldst with great difficulty get
married in these regions; it would be better that thou return once
more to thy land." She answered that she did not desire to return
any more to her people, and that accordingly she would betake
herself to some other point more to her liking. This dialogue
being completed, she went down from the house of Habiátan, and,
casting a glance at the four cardinal points, she saw that the
weather was clear and calm, and descried on the Earth a place
called Pangagáuan, over (or on) Umbuk, where there was an Ifugao
called Kinggáuan--a young man, unmarried, naked, and without a
clout (which he had thrown away because of its age), because he
was engaged in making pits, or wells, for catching deer with a trap
(according to the custom)--and there he had a hut. Upon seeing him
Búgan exclaimed: "Oh! the poor man! and how unfortunate!" And,
hiding the occurrence from Habiátan, she determined to return
to her sky region of Luktág in order to manifest to her father,
Hinumbían, that it was her desire to descend to the Earth World
in order to get married with that poor Ifugao.
The paternal permission having been obtained, she made ready
the necessary provisions--consisting of a vessel of cooked
rice and a clout (or bahág). In this fashion she proceeded to
Kinggáuan's hut and entered it, saying: "Who is the owner of this
hut?" "I," answered Kinggáuan, "but I am ashamed to approach thee,
because thou art a woman and I am naked." To which she replied:
"Never mind! because here I have a clout for thee." But he did
not approach for shame; and so she threw him the clout from afar,
in order that he might cover himself. The surprised man expressed
to her his astonishment, saying: "Why dost thou approach here,
knowing that the appearance of a woman, when men are engaged
in such an occupation, is of evil omen for the hunt?" [56] And
she replied to him: "By no means shall it come to pass as thou
thinkest, but, on the contrary, thou shalt be extremely lucky in
it. For the present let us eat together, and let us sleep this
night in thy hut. To-morrow thou shalt see how lucky we are in
the hunt." The following day, upon going to visit the pits, they
actually found them full. Kinggáuan killed the quarry and spent
the rest of the day in carrying the carcasses to his hut. He
kept alive only two little pigs, a male and a female, which he
delivered to Búgan that she might tie them in the dwelling-place
while he was bringing in the rest of the dead game. On the second
day Búgan asked the solitary one: "Why dost thou dwell in such
evil places?" Kinggáuan answered her: "Because my parents are so
parsimonious in giving me what I need." Then said Búgan to him:
"Let us go to Kiángan," and he consented. Leaving, then, the
dead game in the hut, they carried with them only the two live
"piglets." Kinggáuan carried the male one, and Búgan the female
one--arriving at the above-mentioned place on the nightfall of
the second day.
Having arrived at Kiángan, they took up their lodging in the
house of Kinggáuan's mother--the man entering first and then
Búgan. The mother of the former was surprised, and asked him:
"Who is this woman?" The son answered: "I was at the hunting place
and she presented herself to me there and I do not know whence
she comes." The aged mother after having looked at them a little
while--when seated--addressed herself to Búgan and asked: "Who art
thou? How dost thou call thyself? From whence dost thou come?" The
maiden replied that her name was Búgan, that she was the daughter
of Hinumbían and Dakáue, and that she belonged to the sky region of
Luktág. But the reason of her descent to that terraqueous region,
and of accompanying her son, was her having seen him so poor and
deserted * * * "for which reason I took pity on him and came down
to visit him and to furnish him with an abundance of game" * *
* and she added that on the following day the mother should send
many people to collect the dead game which they had left in the
lonely hut of her son. By a coincidence, the mother of the young
man was also called Búgan, with the addition of na kantaláo.
During all this, the young couple had already been united in the
bond of matrimony--without any of the prescribed formalities--at
the place called Pangagáuan, and Búgan gave birth to a vigorous
son to whom she gave the name Balitúk. The little pigs, also,
which they had brought, gave forth their fruit. The child grew
a little, but he did not yet know how to walk. His mother,
Búgan, as a being from the Sky World, did not eat like the
rest of the people of Kiángan, but desired only boiled rice,
birds, and meat of game. Those of that region bore her much envy
because of her being a stranger; and, because they knew she did
not like certain vegetables of theirs, they strove to make her
depart from their town and to betake herself to her birthplace
of Luktág in the sky. Their envy toward her increased upon their
seeing the abundance of her fowls and pigs. With the object,
then, of disgusting her, and of driving her away, they attempted
to surround her house with certain garden stuffs, greens, and
fish. With these they succeeded effectively in making Búgan fall
sick with an intense itch and fever; for which reason she abandoned
that house and went to another place, while her husband moved to
a rice granary. But they persecuted her again in her new place
of lodging, surrounding it with the vegetables and other things
spoken of above, and causing her nausea in a stomach accustomed to
other food. In view of such wearisome tricks, Búgan proposed to
Kinggáuan her desire to return to her land with the new blossom
of spring, their child. Her husband answered her: "I should
well like to accompany thee, but I am afraid of ascending to so
high a place." "There is no reason to be afraid," replied Búgan,
"I myself shall take thee up in the áyud (a kind of hammock)." She
accordingly strove to persuade him, but Kinggáuan did not lay aside
his fear; then she attempted to take him up bound to a rope, but
neither did she effect this. During these labors, she soared aloft
with the child to the heights of Luktág, but upon perceiving that
her husband had not followed her she went down again, with her
son in the band which the Ifugaos use for that purpose. (Plate
III, fig. 2.) After conferring with Kinggáuan, she said to him:
"Thou seest the situation. I cannot continue among thy countrymen,
because they hate me unto death. Neither dost thou dare to ascend
unto Luktág. What we can do is to divide our son," * * * and,
seizing a knife, Búgan divided her son Balitúk in the middle,
or just above the waist, and made the following division: The
head and the rest of the upper trunk she left to Kinggáuan--that
it might be easier for him to give a new living being to those
upper parts--and she retained for herself the lower part of the
trunk unto the feet; and as for the entrails, intestines, heart,
liver, and even the very excrement, she divided them--leaving
the half for her husband. The partition having been completed,
Búgan mounted to her heavenly mansion, taking with her the part of
her son which fell to her lot, and, giving it a breath of life,
she converted it into a new celestial being retaining the very
name of Balitúk. On the other hand, the part which she had left
to her husband, on the earth, began to be corrupted and decayed,
because he, Kinggáuan, had not been able, or did not know how,
to reanimate it. The foul odor of the putrified flesh reached unto
the dwelling place of Búgan in Luktág, and, having been perceived
by her, she descended to Kabúnian in order to better acquaint
herself with the happening. From Kabúnian she saw that the evil
odor issued from the decomposition of the part of the entrails
which she had left on the earth in charge of her husband, and which
he had not reanimated. Then she broke forth in cries of grief,
pity, and compassion--and, descending to Kiángan, she severely
accused Kinggáuan, saying unto him: "Why hast thou allowed our son
to rot? And why hast thou not quickened him to life?" Upon which
he answered that he did not understand the art of reanimation.
Búgan endeavored to remove the greatest possible portion of the
corrupted part of her son. Consequently, she changed the head
of Balitúk into an owl [57]--a nocturnal bird called akúp by the
Ifugaos--whence the origin of the Kiángan custom of auguring evil
from this bird, and the offering of sacrifices of fowls to Búgan,
in order that no harm should come to them, and that the said owl
should not return to them.
The ears she threw into the forest, and for that reason there come
forth on the trees certain growths, like chalk, half spherical
(certain species of fungi). The nose she threw away and changed
it also into a certain species of shell which attaches itself
to trees. Of the half of the excrement she made the bill of a
small bird called ido, from which the Ifugaos augur well or ill,
according to certain variations of its song. [58]
From the putrified tongue she produced a malady, or swelling,
of the tongue in men, which is cured with a hot egg, or with a
chicken, which they offer to their mother, Búgan.
From the bones of the breast she created a venomous serpent. From
the heart she made the rainbow. From the fingers she made certain
very long shells, after the form of fingers. From the hair, thrown
into the water, she created certain little worms or maggots. From
the skin she drew forth a bird of red color, called kúkuk. From
the half of the blood she created the small bats (litálît). From
the liver she drew forth a certain disease of the breast. From
the intestines she formed a class of somewhat large animals,
resembling rabbits or rats (amúnîn?). From the bones of the arms
she made pieces of dry or rotted wood that fall from trees upon
passers-by who approach them.
The Balitúk that Búgan reanimated is in the sky region of
Luktág. [59]
The myth just given is an example of one of the most interesting
processes in the early development of literature. It is probable
that originally it was only a simple origin myth, but it has been
elaborated and developed until now it is worthy of its little niche
in the world's literature.