Why Bamboos Sigh
(Blaan)
"Once upon a time there lived a princess. She was a very
tall, lovely girl, with dar eyes and dark hair. She had all the clothes
and jewels her heart could wish for. Many suitors wanted to marry her but
she was never happy.
"Every day she sat along the river bank crying and sighing as if
her heart was breaking. Her mother asked her about her situation. However,
she only shook her head mournfully. One day, she sat weeping by the river.
A fairy appeared before her asking, "Who are you? Why do you sit day after
day beside my river house and weep and weep salt tears into it?" Now the
hair of the fairy is tangled up. Still the princess never said a word.
The fairy asked her again and again but the princess shook heread mournfully
and began to sigh and weep again. The fairy became very angry. She raised
her hand over the princess' head and said, "May you sigh and sigh until
the seas run dry!" As she said this, the princess turned into a leafy bamboo
tree, tall and
slender. It stood by the river side. Its leaves hang over the cool
water sighing when the wind passes by."
C.C. Lutero, "Blaan Folk Literature," p. 35. Narrated by P. Tulio
who head the story from a Blaan of Polomolok, South Cotabato. source: D.S.
Fansler, FPT, No. 70, pp.404-05. A Tagalog Story narrated by Francisco
M. Africa.
courtesy of: Fae References in Philippine Mythology [ link
]