Introduction 9 



Scattered through the village are numerous small buildings known as 

 balaua (p. 43), which are erected for the spirits during the greatest of 

 the ceremonies, and still inside the enclosure are the rice drying plots and 

 granaries, the latter raised high above the ground so as to protect their 

 contents from moisture (pp. 150). 



About the town pigs and chickens roam at will, while half-starved 

 hunting dogs prowl about below the kitchens and fight for morsels which 

 drop from above (p. 99). Carabao are kept and used as food (p. 101), 

 but in the cycle proper no mention is made of using them as work 

 animals. 1 Game, especially deer and wild chickens, and fish are added 

 to the domestic supply of food (p. 80), but the staple appears to be 

 mountain rice. Beans, coconuts, oranges, sugar cane, betel-nuts, and 

 tobacco are also cultivated (pp. 33, 107, 121, 138). 



Clothing is scanty but nevertheless receives much attention. The 

 poorest of the men wear clouts of banana leaf, and the women, when in 

 danger of capture, don skirts of bark; but on most occasions we find the 

 man wearing a colored cotton clout, above which is a bright belt of the 

 same material, while for ceremonies he may add a short coat or jacket. A 

 headband, sometimes of gold, keeps his long hair in place, and for very 

 special events he may adorn each hair with a golden bead (pp. 74, 76, 

 81). 



The cotton skirts of the women reach from the waist to the knees; 

 the arms are covered with strands above strands of beads, while strings 

 of agate beads surround the neck or help to hold the hair in place. To 

 the real hair is often added a switch which appears to be valued highly 

 (p. 89). Ornaments of gold adorn the ears, and finger rings of the same 

 metal are several times mentioned (pp. 39, 43, 124). 



The tales afford us a glimpse of the daily life. In the early morning 

 the chilly mountain air drives the people from their mats to the yard, 

 where they squat about the fires (p. 132). As it becomes light, part of 

 the women begin pounding out the rice from its straw and husks (p. 144), 

 while others depart for the springs to secure water (p. 101). In planting 

 time husband and wife trudge together to the fields, where the man 

 plants the seeds or cuttings, and his wife assists by pouring on water 

 (p. 107). In midday, unless it is the busy season, the village activities 

 are practically suspended, and we see the balaua filled with men, asleep 

 or lounging, while children may be playing about with tops or disk-like 

 Upi seeds (p. 139). As it becomes cooler, the town again takes on life; 

 in the houses the women weave blankets or prepare food, the older women 



1 The only possible exception to this statement is the mention of a carabao sled 

 on p. 150, and of Aponltolau and Aponlbolinayen riding on a carabao p. 51. 



