34 



Traditions of the Tinguian 



When afternoon came, Ini-init went home to his house after he fin- 

 ished fishing. He saw his house, which appeared as if it was burning, not 

 slowly. He went home because it appeared as if his house was burning. 

 When he arrived at his house, it was not burning, and he was surprised 

 because it appeared as if there was a flame at the place of his bed. When 

 he was in his house, he saw that which was like the flame of the fire, at the 

 place of his bed, was a very pretty lady. 



Soon he cooked, and when he had finished to cook he scaled the fish, 

 and when he had finished scaling he cut it into many pieces, and he made 

 a noise on the bamboo floor when he cut the fish. The woman awoke, 

 who was asleep on his bed. She saw that the man who cut the fish was a 

 handsome man, and that he dragged his hair. 1 The pot she had used to 

 cook in looked like the egg of a rooster 2 and he was surprised because 

 it looked like the egg of a rooster; and the rice which she cooked was one 

 grain of broken rice. 3 Because of all this Ini-init was surprised, for the 

 pot was very small with which she cooked. After Ini-init cooked, the 

 woman vanished and she went to the leaves of the betel-nut, where she 



went to hide. 



After Ini-init finished cooking the fish, he saw the bed, the place 

 where the woman was sleeping, was empty. He was looking continually, 

 but he did not find her. When he could not find her, he ate alone, and 

 when he finished eating he washed, and when he finished washing the 

 dishes he put away, and when he had finished putting away he went to 

 the yard to get a fresh breath. 



Not long afterwards he went to take a walk in the place of his betel- 

 nuts. When he had finished to take a walk in the place of his betel-nuts, 



he went to sleep. 



When it began to be early morning, he left his house, he who went 

 up, because it was his business to make the sun. And Aponibolinayen 

 went again into the house. 



When it became afternoon, Ini-init went to his home, and Aponiboli- 

 nayen had cooked, after which she went out to the betel-nut trees. When 

 Ini-init arrived, he was surprised because his food was cooked, for there 

 was no person in his house. As soon as he saw the cooked rice and cooked 

 fish in the dish, he took the fish and the rice and began to eat. When he 



1 It was so long that it dragged. 



■ i.e., it was so small. The idea that roosters produce unusually small eggs ; is 

 still held The same conception is found in Javanese folk-lore. Here the rooster ^s 

 m"< ^ its suSstitute-thefcmn nut-is placed in the Senary to cause an mcrease 

 in the supply of rice. Bezmer, Volksdichtung aus Indonesien, p. 29, (Haag, 1904). 



* See p. 17, note 3, for similiar incidents in other Philippine tales, also from Borneo 

 and India. 



