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(by Panayan)
A long time ago, everything was amorphous and
diffluent -- all elements of our world is mixed together.
(Tagalog)
(Iloko)
In the olden days, the only people on earth were
a man and a woman. One day, they ate venison which
the man had brought home from hunting. But because
the bones were very big and they wanted to eat the
marrow, they thought of pounding the bones. The
woman removed her comb and necklace and hung them
on the low sky. But whenever she pounded, she would
hit the sky. So she requested the sky to rise higher. It
thundered and the sky rose higher. Still the pestle hit the
sky. So the woman again asked the sky to go higher. It
thundered and the sky rose higher. Still the pestle hit the
sky. So the woman again asked the sky to go higher.
Again it thundered and the sky rose as high as could be.
When the woman remembered what she had hung, it was
too late. They became the moon and the stars.
Why the Sky is High
(Hiligaynon)
In the olden days the sky was so lowso low
that it could be reached by a stick of ordinary length.
The people in those days said that God had created the
sky in such a way that he could hear his people when
they called to him. In turn, God could send his blessings
to earth as soon as men needed them. Because of this
close connection between God and his subjects, the
people were provided for, and they did not need to work.
Whenever they wanted to eat, they could simply call
God. Before their request was made, almost, the food
would be on the table; but after the expulsion of Adam
and Eve, God made men work for their own living. With
this change in their condition came the custom of
holding feasts, when the men would rest from their
labors.
One day one of the chiefs, Abing by name, held a feast.
Many people came to enjoy it. A sayao, or native war-
dance, was given in honor of the men belonging to the
chief, and it was acted by men brandishing spears. While
acting, one of the actors, who was drunk, tried to show
his skill, but he forgot that the sky was so low. When he
darted his spear, he happened to pierce the sky, and one
of the gods was wounded. This angered God the Father:
so he raised the sky as we have it today far from the
earth.