194 PEOPLES OF THE PHILIPPINES 
civilized people, whether they fight or love much or 
little, almost invariably concern themselves but slightly 
with these subjects in their traditions. 
A further indication of the blended quality of the 
Tinggian romances is afforded by the nature of the 
personages. These are distinctly human—glorified 
human beings indeed—but clearly neither gods placed 
high and serene above the affairs of men, nor on the 
other hand the indeterminately animal or half animal 
characters that characteristically populate the myth- 
ology of wholly uncivilized peoples. 
There is a perceptible although simple literary style 
in these stories. The plot moves swiftly and yet with 
frequent touches of the fuller treatment which culti- 
vated literary narration demands. Stock expressions 
abound as freely as stock sentiments and incidents. 
Characterization, in the modern sense, remains ex- 
tremely rudimentary, but some success is evinced in 
portraying or suggesting emotions. 
Formulas. The second type of narratives are 
called diam by the Tinggian and are formulas recited as 
part of ceremonies. Possessing therefore a distinctly 
practical purpose, they are much less imaginative than 
the romances as well as briefer; and as a rule they con- 
fine themselves pretty strictly to the business in hand. 
Thus the formula recited in the sayang tells how the 
people formerly celebrated this rite erroneously, until 
instructed by the deity Kadaklan to watch a correct 
performance. After this the spirits came in greater 
numbers and the rite resulted more efficaciously. 
Some tribes do not differentiate these two classes of 
narratives as sharply as do the Tinggian. The Nabaloi 
and Ifugao, for instance, possess a much less developed 
cycle of romances, but embroider their ritualistic formu- 
las with many of the episodes of adventure and interest 
