IIQ The Philippine Journal of Science wis 



forth a certain disease of the breast. From the intestines she formed 

 a class of somewhat large animals, resembling rabbits or rats {amunin?) . 

 From the bones of the arms she made pieces of dry or rotted wood 

 that fall from trees upon passers-by who approach them. 



The Balitiik that Biigan reanimated is in the sky region of Luktag.'' 



The myth just given is an example of one of the most interest- 

 ing processes in the early development of literature. It is prob- 

 able that originally it was only a simple origin myth, but it 

 has been elaborated and developed until now it is worthy of its 

 little niche in the world's literature. 



°'I am informed by Dr, Dean S. Fansler that he obtained from an 

 Igorot of Tiiblai, Benguet, in May, 1910, a myth very similar to this 

 story of Bugan and Kiiiggauan. The details are different, but some of 

 the more important incidents are the same and I v/ill give a brief 

 summary of the myth here: A god named Dumagid, whose home is in 

 one of the lower regions of the sky, came down to the earth and lived 

 among the people. He taught the people many things, and often wenir 

 hunting with them in the forest. But one day, when he was out in the 

 woods alone, he met a beautiful girl by the name of Diigai with whom 

 he fell in love, and they were married. A son was born to them, 

 and they named him Ovug. Shortly after this Dumagid informed the 

 people that he must return to the Sky World to make report to the 

 chief deity, Kabigat, but that he would soon come down again to the 

 Earth World. But the people demanded that he take his wife with him, 

 and that they leave their son as security for their return. Dumagid 

 told Diigai that the path was so hot that she might die, but this the 

 people would not believe. So Dumagid and Dugai started out, but as 

 they approached the sun it grew so hot that Dugai died. Dumagid 

 returned her body to the earth, and went on to his home in the sky. 

 Later he came back to the earth, in company with the god BaiTgan di 

 Bai-aiig-an, and told the people that he must take his son Ovug to the 

 Sky World. This the people refused to allow him to do, so Dumagid 

 took a knife and divided his son Ovug into equal parts by cutting him 

 straight down. When he had done this, he told the people to keep one 

 half and make a new boy out of it. The other half Dumagid took 

 with him to the Sky World and reanimated it. Then he looked down to 

 the Earth World and saw that the half of his son there was becoming 

 decayed because the people had not given it new life. So he came down 

 with the boy he had made, and made another beautiful boy out of the 

 decayed half. Then he made the two boys stand before the astonished 

 people. For their greater astonishment, Dumagid asked the boy he had 

 made in the Sky World to talk. He spoke very loud like sharp thunder, 

 so that the people were frightened almost to death. Then Dumagid 

 asked the other boy to talk, and he spoke low like the rolling thunder. 

 Then the first boy went up to the Sky World whirling like fire, and 

 thundered there. And it is believed that this is the origin of the lightning 

 and the sharp thunder that comes after; and it is also believed that 

 the low thunder is the voice of the second boy, or the one made on the 

 earth. 



