Dogedog had always been very lazy, and now that his father and mother were dead and he had no one to care for him, he lived very poorly. He had little to eat. His house was old and small and so poor that it had not even a floor. Still he would rather sit all day and idle away his time than to work and have more things.
One day, however, when the rainy season was near at hand, Dogedog began thinking how cold he would be when the storms came, and he felt so sorry for himself that he decided to make a floor in his house.
Wrapping some rice in a banana leaf for his dinner, he took his long knife and went to the forest to cut some bamboo. He hung the bundle of rice in a tree until he should need it; but while he was working a cat came and ate it. When the hungry man came for his dinner, there was none left. Dogedog went back to his miserable little house which looked forlorn to him even, now that he had decided to have a floor.
The next day he went again to the forest and hung his rice in the tree as he did before, but again the cat came and ate it. So the man had to go home without any dinner.
The third day he took the rice, but this time he fixed a trap in the tree, and when the cat came it was caught. [92]
“Now I have you!” cried the man when he found the cat; “and I shall kill you for stealing my rice.”
“Oh, do not kill me,” pleaded the cat, “and I will be of some use to you.”
So Dogedog decided to spare the cat’s life, and he took it home and tied it near the door to guard the house.
Some time later when he went to look at it, he was very much surprised to find that it had become a cock.
“Now I can go to the cock-fight at Magsingal,” cried the man. And he was very happy, for he had much rather do that than work.
Thinking no more of getting wood for his floor, he started out at once for Magsingal with the cock under his arm. As he was crossing a river he met an alligator which called out to him:
“Where are you going, Dogedog?”
“To the cock-fight at Magsingal,” replied the man as he fondly stroked the rooster.
“Wait, and I will go with you,” said the alligator; and he drew himself out of the water.
The two walking along together soon entered a forest where they met a deer and it asked:
“Where are you going, Dogedog?”
“To the cock-fight at Magsingal,” said the man.
“Wait and I will go with you,” said the deer; and he also joined them.
By and by they met a mound of earth that had been raised by the ants, and they would have passed without noticing it had it not inquired:
“Where are you going, Dogedog?” [93]
“To the cock-fight at Magsingal,” said the man once more; and the mound of earth joined them.
The company then hurried on, and just as they were leaving the forest, they passed a big tree in which was a monkey.
“Where are you going, Dogedog?” shrieked the monkey. And without waiting for an answer he scrambled down the tree and followed them.
As the party walked along they talked together, and the alligator said to Dogedog:
“If any man wants to dive into the water, I can stay under longer than he.”
Then the deer, not to be outdone, said:
“If any man wants to run, I can run faster.”
The mound of earth, anxious to show its strength, said:
“If any man wants to wrestle, I can beat him.”
And the monkey said:
“If any man wants to climb, I can go higher.”
They reached Magsingal in good time and the people were ready for the fight to begin. When Dogedog put his rooster, which had been a cat, into the pit, it killed the other cock at once, for it used its claws like a cat.
The people brought more roosters and wagered much money, but Dogedog’s cock killed all the others until there was not one left in Magsingal, and Dogedog won much money. Then they went outside the town and brought all the cocks they could find, but not one could win over that of Dogedog.
When the cocks were all dead, the people wanted [94]some other sport, so they brought a man who could stay under water for a long time, and Dogedog made him compete with the alligator. But after a while the man had to come up first Then they brought a swift runner and he raced with the deer, but the man was left far behind. Next they looked around until they found a very large man who was willing to contend with the mound of earth, but after a hard struggle the man was thrown.
Finally they brought a man who could climb higher than anyone else, but the monkey went far above him, and he had to give up.
All these contests had brought much money to Dogedog, and now he had to buy two horses to carry his sacks of silver. As soon as he reached home, he bought the house of a very rich man and went to live in it. And he was very happy, for he did not have to work any more.92 [95]
1 This incident is strikingly similar to the story in North American folk-lore of the maiden captured and carried upward by a vine. Several other points of likeness appear in the lore of Malaysia, Polynesia, and America.
2 See Preface, p. vii.
3 This incident is unique so far as American or European folk-lore is concerned, yet it is common in Tinguian tales, while similar stories are found among the neighboring Ilocano and Igorot tribes of the Philippines, as well as in Borneo, Java, and India.
4 The belief that beauty is capable of radiating great light is not peculiar to Tinguian tales, for it is also found in the Malay legends and in those of India. It is not impossible that they had a common origin.
5 The betel-nut is the nut of the areca palm. It is prepared for chewing by being cut into quarters, each piece being wrapped in betel-leaf spread with lime. It produces a blood-red spittle which greatly discolors the teeth and lips, and it is used extensively throughout the Philippines. While it appears to have been in common use among the Tinguian at the time these stories originated, it has now been displaced by tobacco, except at ceremonies when it is prepared for chewing; it is also placed on the animals offered for sacrifice to the spirits. Throughout the tales great significance is given to the chewing of betel-nuts before names are told or introductions given, while from the quids and spittle it appears to have been possible to foretell events and establish relationships.
6 Compare with the story of Ph?ton in Bulfinch, The Age of Fable, p. 50.
7 The Tinguian have no calendar, but reckon time by the recurrence of the moon.
8 It is the present custom of the Tinguian to make numerous ceremonies for the spirits. These vary in length from a few hours to seventeen days. During this period animals are slaughtered, small houses are built, mediums deliver messages from the spirits, and there is much feasting and dancing.
9 When ripe, the betel-nut is covered with a golden husk, and it is possibly because of this that they were said to be covered with gold. The present-day Tinguian, in place of sending the betel-nut, sends a small piece of gold to any relative or friend whom he specially wishes to induce to attend a ceremony.
10 This seems to be peculiar to Tinguian folk-lore.
11 Except when she is in mourning a Tinguian woman’s arms are always covered with beads placed strand above strand.
12 The parents of a boy choose his bride when the children are very young. A great celebration is then held, and relatives and friends of both parties decide on the price to be paid for the girl. Partial payment is made at once, and the remainder goes over until the marriage proper takes place, when the boy and girl are about twelve or fourteen years of age. In this instance Ini-init makes the customary payment for his bride, though the marriage had already taken place.
13 The friends and retainers pound rice and prepare food for all the guests who attend the ceremony.
14 A spirit house is one of the small houses built during a ceremony.
15 reference is probably to ancient Chinese jars.
16 The custom, which still exists to a certain degree, was to offer food to a guest before any matter was discussed. In ancient times this was considered very necessary, as it still is among the Apayao who live north of the Tinguian. With them to refuse food is to refuse friendship.
17 A drink made of fermented sugar-cane.
18 The old jars possessed by the Tinguian today have notches broken in the rim, one for each generation through whose hands it has passed.
19 When the first negotiations are made the boy’s parents offer some gift, nowadays usually a small bead. If this is accepted it signifies the willingness of the girl’s parents to consider the match.
20 See note 1, p. 15.
21 The music for the dances is made by beating on drums and copper gongs. A man and a woman enter the circle, each carrying a large square of cloth on outstretched arms. Keeping time to the music with their hands and feet, they move about, coming near to each other and then drawing farther apart The woman follows the movements of the man and finally places her cloth on his outstretched arms, thus ending the dance; another couple then takes their place.
22 An interesting parallel to this is found in the Dayak legend of Limbang, where a tree springs from the head of a dead giant; its flowers are beads; its leaves, cloth; and the fruit, jars. See Roth, The Natives of Sarawak and British North Borneo, Vol. I, p. 372.
23 Throughout the Tinguian tales the characters are frequently described as changing themselves into oil, centipedes, birds, and other forms. This power is also found among the heroes of Dayak and Malay tales. See Roth, op. cit., Vol. I, p. 312; Perham, Journal Straits Branch R., Asiatic Society, No. 16, 1886; Wilkinson, Malay Beliefs, pp. 32, 59 (London, 1906).
24 The Tinguian place a tame rooster in an open spot in the forest and surround him with a line to which slip nooses are attached. The crowing of this bird attracts wild ones which come to fight him and are caught in the nooses.
25 The water buffalo now used as the beast of burden throughout the Philippines.
26 The ordinary dress of the Tinguian man is a clout and a striped belt, in which he carries his tobacco and small articles. Some of them also possess striped cotton coats, which they wear on special occasions.
27 See note 2, p. 12.
28 See note 1, p. 13.
29 This pec............