COMPILATION OF LEGENDS AND MYTHS

Why Does a Rainbow Appear After a Drizzle?

One day, a woodsman found a beautiful star fairy lying unconscious near the river bend.
He discovered that her wings were broken and readily surmised that she must have
fallen unconscious upon hitting the ground. The woodsman brought her home and did
everything he could to nurse her back to life. The star fairy finally regained
consciousness and thanked the woodsman for saving her life.
However, she was still weak and her wings were still broken, although the woodcutter
improvised some form of brace to help the wings heal properly. Months passed and the
inevitable happened, the woodsman and the star fairy fell in love with each other. The
lovers decided to get married so they could raise a family and have children.
But alas, the day came when the fairy’s wings started fluttering on its own, so the
woodsman had to remove the improvised braces. As soon as the wings became free,
the star fairy was carried off to high heavens and the woodsman never saw his beloved
star fairy again. He was so devastated that each day he went to the river bend, hoping
that his wife would be there with her wings once again broken.
The star fairy was back at the star kingdom and could see her beloved husband pining
every day for her at the river bend. However, the king had taken away her wings as her
punishment for straying too far away from the kingdom. She can only have them back if
she learns how to behave like a real star fairy.
One day, the king chanced upon the beautiful fairy crying and looking forlorn as she
watched the river bend below. Looking down, he also saw the woodsman near the river
bend who was also looking equally forlorn and with tears streaming down his face. Now
the star king couldn’t stand the sight of the lovers' hopeless situation but the union
between an Earth creature and a star fairy is strictly forbidden and impossible.
The king finally came up with a bright idea; he stretched out the tails of his multi-colored
g-string (this is not the risqué version) so that it would hang down until it formed an arch
that would reach the river bend. He told the star fairy that she could go down via the
multi-colored arch to visit her beloved woodsman but only for a few minutes. Otherwise,
the arch would disappear and she could never go back. If she stayed too long on Earth
she will become a mortal and will soon die. It turned out that the fairy is already more
than a thousand years old, basing on Earth’s life period.
Therefore, if you see a rainbow after a brief rain shower, it means the star king took pity
on the lovers again and had let down the tails of his colorful g-string. The drizzle is
actually the star fairy’s tears, while the woodsman called the multi-colored arch “bahag
hari" or the king’s g-strings.
Why Does the Philippines Have 7,000 Islands?

At a time when there was only a single great mass of land between the great sky and an
equally great water, a large prehistoric bird got bored of circling around the same area
for millions of years. It had made several attempts to fly as far as it could, to discover
what lies beyond the far horizons. However, the big bird was always forced to go back,
because there was no other land on where he could rest his tired wings.
One day, the bird came up with a clever idea. The scheming bird told the water that the
sky was irritated by the way the water keeps on copying the sky’s hue. If it decides to
don a blue color, then water also becomes blue, if the sky is clear and white, the water
becomes clear and neutral too. The sky hates it the most that the water imitates even
the former’s dark mood, because the water also turns gray and somewhat murky. Water
of course became indignant upon hearing this; and it heaved a deep breath to which
great amounts of water rose up in the form of gigantic waves, high enough to reach the
sky and fill its clouds with water.
The sky was puzzled at the water’s behavior because it seemed that it was intentionally
pelting the sky. The scheming bird approached the sky and told the latter that the water
was resenting the fact that the sky often made the decisions on what color they had to
have. Even if water wants to try other colors, the sky keeps on reflecting itself on the
water’s surface.
Sky, of course, was furious upon hearing this that it let out loud roars of thunder and
flashes of lightning that hit not only water but also the large mass of land. It drained out
all the waters carried in its clouds while water continued to pelt huge waves against the
sky. All these affected the great mass of land because it slowly softened and weakened
as sky and water fought against each other’s might.
Soon enough, the great mass of land started to break into little pieces much to the
delight of the big bird. Sky and water saw what had happened, and as a result stopped
fighting and tried with all their might to bring back the pieces of land together. It was too
late because there were about 7,000 pieces of land that were too far away from the
main land. The bird of course finally fulfilled his wish of travelling far and wide, beyond
the horizons.
Why Do Pineapple Fruits Have Many Eyes?

There was once a pretty little girl called Piña, who was loved dearly by her mother to the point of
spoiling her. As Piña grew older, she had become lazy, inconsiderate and self-centered. Yet the
mother didn’t mind her daughter’s behavior, because she wanted Piña to depend on her forever.
One day, the mother fell ill and could not bring herself to cook food for Piña, while the young
girl kept complaining that she was hungry. This time, Piña's mother had to stay firm for the
young gril's sake. On the other hand, Piña forced herself to go to the kitchen, grumbling and
resentful that her mother was sick. The girl half-heartedly set out to cook “lugaw" or rice
porridge the way her mother instructed her.
While in the kitchen, Piña kept asking where her mother kept the things she needed.
“Mother, where is the rice keeper?" The mother had to shout her answer several times over
because Piña took ages before she could find whatever it was she was looking for.
“Mother, where are the woods for the stove?"
“Mother, where’s the soup ladle?"
Mother, where’s the salt?"
Mother where’s the bowl?"
Note that to all of Piña’s questions, the sick mother had to shout at the top of her lungs, which
only made her feel worse. Feeling weak and exasperated with Piña’s unending questions, the
mother finally lost her temper and let out a curse: “Heaven forbid child! But I call on all the gods
to put eyes all over your face so you can see the things you’re looking for." Tired and weak
Piña’s mother fell asleep.
When the mother woke up, the house was dark and quiet. She called Piña but there was no
answer. The mother willed herself to investigate where Piña could be, but the mother only found
the unfinished cooking task. The mother was saddened by the thought that Piña decided to leave
her, because she was sick and could no longer take care of her daughter.
As she was about to leave the kitchen, she tripped on something that was lying on the floor, all
the while thinking that it was one of Piña’s many things. She picked up the strange looking
object, which was shaped like a human head with tufts of leaves atop its crown.
The mother had an uncanny feeling that the brown circles scattered all over the object reminded
her of Piña’s beautiful brown eyes. Horrified, the mother remembered that she let out a terrible
curse on her daughter before she fell asleep – in fact, she called on all the gods to put eyes all
over Piña’s face. Thus, the strange looking fruit was called “pinya" or pineapple, since Piña
simply vanished into thin air.
The Story of Maria Makiling

Travelers coming from Manila going to Southern Luzon will notice a mountainous
mound of thick rainforests looming up ahead. The shape of the mountain takes the form
of a woman lying peacefully on her back. Every home-bred Filipino can easily recognize
this as Mount Makiling and the sleeping form of the woman is that of the mountain’s
goddess Maria Makiling.
The mountain is actually an extinct volcano and it has relatively remained unharmed
through its years of existence. Thanks to Maria Makiling’s vigilance in protecting the
mountain’s ecosystem. Those who trek to the mountain are told and forewarned that
Maria’s spirit often roams the woods and is capable of doing harm to those who harm
any of the living creatures that live on her mountain. To the locals, she is known as a
“diwata" or goddess of nature. She rewards those who heed her warnings but will
severely punish those who ignore her.
A hunter tells of his experience while in pursuit of a wild boar who had tried to attack
him in the deep forest of Mt. Makiling. As he was about to strike the cornered boar, a
beautiful lady with golden-brown skin and long flowing black hair appeared and
admonished him not to kill the wild pig. She patiently explained with a kind voice that the
attack launched by the boar, was only to protect the mountain against intruders, who
may one day take away all the trees in its forest.
The beautiful lady invited him to have supper with her and a place to rest for the night.
The hunter felt humbled that despite being caught red-handed by Maria, she still found it
in her heart to be gracious. Nevertheless, the hunter made a vow to Maria that he will
no longer hunt any of the living creatures in Mt. Makiling ever again, nor take down
trees from its forest.
Pleased at what she heard, Maria gave the hunter a “salakot" or buri hat filled with
ginger, to take home as present for his wife. Upon reaching home, he immediately
opened his back pack, to unload the heavy burden off his back. The “salakot" fell off
with a heavy thud and revealed golden nuggets instead of ginger.
However, there are stories about hunters losing their way in the forest and unable to
find their way back home. Others, however, were fortunate to be chanced upon by
mountain climbers and hikers; albeit incoherent and unable to remember their names or
where they live. The only thing they can remember is a beautiful lady who gave them
food and shelter for the night.
Filipino literature is rich with myths, folklores, legends of the Philippines and the origins
of the many things that can be seen, heard, felt, smelled, and tasted. There are also
tales of heroism, love, compassion and promises that were fulfilled even after life.
Although some stories like the legend of Maria Makiling tend to scare, they had at least,
served the purpose of keeping the rainforest well-preserved with its ecology still intact.