196 Traditions of the Tinguian 



that. Do you not see that my back is almost black from burning." 

 "Ay-ay," said the monkeys, "let us tie a stone to his waist and drown 

 him in the lake." The turtle cried and begged them to spare him, but 

 the monkeys did not know that the water was the cause of his living, 

 for it was his home. They threw him in the lake and when they had 

 watched a long time, they saw him float on the water and he was holding 

 a large fish. Then all the monkeys tied stones to their waists and dived 

 in the lake to catch fish. They did not float in the lake, but they died. 

 Only a pregnant monkey was left, but the turtle came and drowned her 

 also. 1 



78 



A turtle and a big lizard went to the field of Gotgotapa to steal 

 ginger. When they got there the turtle told the lizard he must be 

 very still; but when the lizard tasted the ginger, he exclaimed, "The 

 ginger of Gotgotapa is very good." "Be still," said the turtle; but 

 again the lizard shouted louder than before. Then the man heard 

 and came out of his house to catch the robbers. The turtle could 

 not run fast, so he lay very still, and the man did not see him; but 

 the lizard ran and the man chased him. When they were very far, 

 the turtle went into the house. Now, the man had a coconut shell 

 which he used to sit on, and the turtle hid under it. 



The man could not catch the lizard, so in a while he came back to 

 his house and sat on the shell. Bye and bye, the turtle called " Kook." 

 Then the man jumped up and looked all around to find where the 

 noise came from, but he could not find. The turtle called "Kook" 

 again and the man tried very hard to find what made the noise. The 

 turtle called a third time more loudly and then the man thought it was 

 his testicles which made the noise, so he took a stone and hit them; then 

 he died and the turtle ran away. 



When the turtle got a long way, he met the lizard again and they 

 saw some honey on the branch of a tree. "I run first to get," said the 

 turtle; but the big lizard ran fast and seized the honey; then the bees 

 stung him and he ran back to the turtle. On their road they saw a 

 bird snare. The turtle said, "That is the paliget 1 of my grandfather." 

 Then the lizard ran very fast to get it, but it caught his neck and held 

 him until the man who owned it came and killed him. Then the turtle 

 went away. 



1 A variant of this tale is told by the Bagobo of southern Mindanao. See Bene- 

 dict, Journal of American Folklore, Vol. XXVI, 1913, p. 59. 



2 The gold or silver wire worn by women or men about their necks. 



