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TALES OF ANCIENT IBAL:  
The Deluge and the Visit of the Celestial Siblings, p.2

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2
From the Verses of Kadunung

When Halíya and Búlan, the Celestial Siblings,

Ascended back to the firmament of Kamurawayan,

Just beyond the jagged summits of Isarog,

They left the land in care of the Tawong Lipód,

The Translucent Beings 

                                           Who always stood behind

The people, and  whispered in their ears 

The inspirations for their inventions: 

The syllabary and pen for Sural,

Engraver of the Stone of Libong,

The loom and bobbin for Hablon, 

The pot and trivet for Dinahon, 

The plow, sail, and other tools for Kimantong.

 

Ever the Translucent Beings stood 

Behind the heroes of Aslong

In taming the wilderness 

In the taming of beasts, in the calming of breasts.

 

Baltóg was the first mentioned in the verses

Of Kadunung, recalling the ancient land 

Among the mountains of Asog, Masaraga,

And the abode of the Gugurang in Isarog.

 

Fair-haired Baltóg blazed the trails of old

As he ruled Tondol. His famous adversary

Was the Tandayag boar that wrought havoc

On the people’s linsa plants. In bone-breaking combat,

 

Baltóg engaged the snorting Tandayag

And after a long grapple the boar expired.

Baltóg vanishes in the haze of the legend

And is never mentioned again.

​

3
Handyóng

Handyóng the name in legend

Arrived with his brave and loyal 

Henchman Bantóng.

 

Handyong the name in legend 

Keeper of the Moog

The shelter above the floods

Writer of laws 

Who taught the people 

The cultivation of rice

The cultivation of manners

 

But first he had to purge the land

Of more of its brutes and ogres:

 

The cyclopean beasts on the banks of Ponong

The colossal crocodiles with their gaping maws

The swift sharks of the deep later called tiboron

The rampaging buffaloes of Lingyon

The saber-tooth sarimao growling on the Kulasi cliffs

In ten full moons he had to quell their ranks

In ten full moons Handyóng sought out

What eluded him most

She of the Golden Voice & Sweetest Song

The Serpent Sorceress Oryol

​

In the caverns of Hantik, 

Among the trunks of kamagong,

Handyóng heard his name uttered

In the most mellifluous manner

 

       Mari na, magsarô kita, O maisogon, madunungun na Handyóng

       Ipupundar ta an mahiwas na siyudad kan Aslong

       Duman gabos na lalaki, babayi, buda mga akì

 

       Magdadanay sa ginhawa buda daing pagkatakot

       Buhay na matalobo sa pagkamoot asin paggalang sa kada sarô

       Mari na, magsarô kita, O maisogon, madunungun na Handyóng

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