1 68 Traditions of the Tinguian 



30 



"Ala! my wife Iwanen who loves me every afternoon, make cakes of 

 rice which shall be my provisions when I go to the southern place San 

 Fernando and Baknotan, which is a part of Pangasinan. 1 I am going 

 to investigate the report concerning the beautiful women, who are like 

 the rift in the clouds — the escaping place of the moon — ; who are like 

 the bright stems of good betel-nuts." 



"Ala! my soldiers who are many, catch my horse which is a pinto, 

 which paces, which walks fast, which goes, which gallops, which has 

 sore sides." "It is here already, the horse which is a pinto, the saddle 

 is already placed." 



"Ala! now my wife Iwanen, I am going to leave you here. Keep 

 your honor as a person of wealth. Perhaps some one will entice you 

 and we two will be ashamed before the people of our town." 



After that he went and started — Tolagan who went toward the 

 south. He whipped the pinto, he ran, he walked. 



When he was in the town of Kaodanan his body was thirsty. "I 

 go to the place of betel-nuts, where I shall drink the water which is white 

 like coconut oil." He arrived at the place of the betel-nuts. He met 

 a maiden who was like the place of a large fire. There was no other 

 such maiden. 



"Good morning, maiden who takes water in the shady place of the 

 leaves which grow, which are stripped off in the middle of the place of 

 betel-nuts, which bear fruit which anyone gathers. I come to drink 

 with you the water which looks like oil," said Tolagan. " If you are the 

 old raider cut me only once so that I have less to heal," (she said). 

 "No, I am not the old raider, for I live in Baliwanan and I go to the 

 south to Pangasinan." "Do not continue the journey, for you have 

 a bad sign. The birds skimmed past in front of you, also in the rear and 

 the sides. 2 Go back to Baliwanan." "If that is what you say pretty 

 one, I shall turn back because of this sign." 



He arrived at Baliwanan, but his wife was not there, for she had run 

 away with Kaboniyan 3 to the town of the sky. 



There was not a place he did not search for her. He went to the 

 head man. "Ala, presidente of our town, I come to ask for companions 

 while I search for my wife, who vanished last night." He gave (the 

 searchers), but when they did not find her, he went to another town. 

 He went to the place of Balngan in the town of the north. "Good 

 morning, I came to ask companions to search for her who was absent 

 last night." "If that is still your trouble" said Balngan, "you go and 



1 Pangasinan is a province midway between Abra and Manila. 



2 See p. 19, note 1. 

 s A spirit. 



