LAM-ANG AND THE
TALKING ROOSTER
In the days when the world was still covered with virgin forests, there lived in the northernmost part of the Philippines
a couple: Juan Panganiban and his wife Namungan. Namungan was about to deliver a child when Juan went up the mountains to visit a troublesome native tribe called the Igorots. The Igorots are similar to the North American Indians.
While her husband was away, Namungan gave birth to a baby boy. The baby was extraordinary, for he spoke immediately after his birth.
"Where is my father, ?" were the first words of the newlyborn
baby. Namungan said: "He went up the mountains to bring peace to a troublesome tribe of Igorots. That is his job. Your father is a peacemaker."
"Hmmm," said the baby. "Okay, I would like you to call me Lam-ang, and I want to be baptized on the third fall moon. Please get all the elders of this village as my sponsors."
For nine months, Lam-ang waited for his father to arrive.
Seeing no sign of his return, he decided to go after him. After
traveling some distance, he stopped, rested under a tree and fell
asleep.
It was then he dreamt that his father died a terrible death
at the hands of the Igorots. Lam-ang woke up very angry believing that his dream was real. He resumed his journey in haste, and a few days later he reached the Igorot camp.
Indeed, his dream was true. All the natives were still
rejoicing at the death of Juan. Lam-ang swooped down on the Igorots and because he was unusually strong, killed all of them with his bare hands. Then he rushed back to his mother to tell her the sad news.
Upon his return, he went to the river near his house to take
a bath. .He did not take one for weeks because he found no river in the mountains. Lam-ang was so dirty that the water became muddy and all the fish in it died as soon as he dove in.
At home that night, he learned about a very beautiful and rich
woman named Dona Inez living somewhere in the northeast. Lam-ang decided to visit and woo her, much against the will of his mother. His mother reminded him that he was only ten months old.
"Yes but I look, feel and think like I am already twenty years
old. And right now, I feel like going out and getting married." And who could stop somebody who had just killed one thousand Igorots? So out he went bringing with him his white rooster and his dog.
Upon arriving at the house of Dona Inez, he found it wall to
wall with suitors. To get attention to himself, Lam-ang put his rooster on the ground near an empty hut. Then he let the rooster crow. The rooster's crow was so loud that the empty hut collapsed. Next he called his dog and asked him to bark. The barking was so violent that the collapsed hut was erected again!
Dona Inez heard the commotion and she went down to see what was going on. It was the rooster who could also talk, that told Dona Inez about Lam-ang's marital intention.
"My master is the strongest, the richest and the wisest man in
the land, " the rooster boasted. "When he was born, he could already speak. After three days, he could already walk. At nine months, he killed one thousand trouble-making Igorots."
In response, Dona Inez and her parents requested from Lam-ang some land and gold as dowries. Lam-ang left, and after a few days, he came back riding in a boat laden with gold. Lam-ang's treasure was more valuable than all the land of Dona Inez's family. Consequently, marriage was arranged.
The wedding was pompous. There was a week of eating and dancing. Guests ate all they could and each one left with a gold piece as a parting gift.
Weeks later, Lam-ang went to the river to fish. On the way, he
had a premonition that something was going to happen. Nevertheless, he continued.
He set sail on the river with a small fishing boat. Minutes later, a giant fish surfaced, bit one of his arms and dragged him underwater. Beneath the water, Lam-ang lost all his strength. After a useless struggle, he died and his body was left entangled in the dense water weeds at the bottom of the river.
For so many days, his wife cried in sorrow . After three months, Lam-ang's rooster approached the widow.
"Gather up his bones and pile them on the river bank, " the
rooster said. "He advised me before what to do if this happens. "
"Why did he tell you, and he never told me." said Dona Inez.
"In this part of the world," answered the bird, " a rooster is
man's best friend, especially if it could talk like me."
Anyway, with the help of a local diver named Marcos, Lam-ang's bones were recovered and arranged into a pile on the river bank. The rooster approached the heap, uttered some strange words and behold, Lam-ang appeared again, alive as before!
Lam-ang and Dona Inez rejoiced immensely. They had more adventures, many children, and a lot of grandchildren, which brought them joy to the end of their lives.---#
Adapted by VICTORIO COSTES
from the Epic of Lam-ang
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