n8 Traditions of the Tinguian 



though they did not want them to go. As soon as they reached Nag- 

 botobotan the old woman Alokotan asked them where they had been, 

 and she was very angry with them. " Do not be angry with us, mother, 

 for we want to take a walk; we were not lost." "Where did you go, 

 then?" "We went to Kaodanan to see the pretty girls who never go 

 out doors, but we did not find any. We found some young girls spin- 

 ning at night, but they were not as pretty as we wished, and we talked 

 with them until morning, for we wanted to see where they lived, but we 

 could not wait for them to go back home." 



Not long after the old woman Alokotan went to cook. As soon as 

 she finished cooking they ate. Not long after they finished eating and 

 they agreed to go at once to Kadalayapan. The old woman Alokotan 

 would not let them go, so when they finished eating at night they went 

 to Kadalayapan without her consent. As soon as they arrived at the 

 place where the young girls were spinning they said, "Good evening, 

 young girls." "Good evening," the girls answered. "How are you? 

 What do you want here?" " 'What do you want here,' you say, and we 

 came to watch you spin and we want to talk with you." So they talked 

 until morning, but the young boys could not wait until the girls went to 

 their homes. 



Ayo was still searching for the pigs who had become boys. She 

 heard somebody say that three young boys were talking with the girls 

 last night and they said to her that they were pretty young boys. Ayo 

 said, "Those were my sons. I think they have become men." So she 

 went around the town looking for them. Not long after she met them 

 and she saw that they were no longer little pigs. "Where did you come 

 from, my dear sons?" "We came from Nagbotobotan, Aunt," they 

 answered. "Do not call me aunt, call me mother," said Apombolina- 

 yen. The young boys would not call her mother. So Aponlbolinayen 

 pressed her breasts and the milk from her breasts went into Kanag's 

 mouth, and when she pressed again the milk went into the mouth of 

 Dumalawl, and when she pressed her breasts the third time the milk 

 went to the mouth of Ogoglbeng. So Aponlbolinayen was sure that 

 they were her sons. The little boys asked her why it was that the milk 

 from her breasts went into their mouths. ' ' I pressed my breasts to make 

 sure that you are my sons. I am surprised that you have become men, 

 for you were little pigs. That is why you must call me mother, not 

 aunt. For a long time I have searched for you, and when I heard that 

 you were talking with the young girls last night, I came to look for you." 

 So the boys believed that she was their mother. "Why did we grow 

 up in Nagbotobotan with our mother Alokotan, if you are truly our 

 mother?" "I think she found you and took you away, for she is a good 



