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Together
with legends and folktales, they constitute the large group of folk narratives
in prose. A myth is "a sacred narrative explaining how the world and man
came to be in their present form" ( Dundes, 1984: 1).
The readings in this collection are classified under the following headings:
The introductory text on this page was taken from Damiana Eugenio (ed). The MYTHS:
Philippine Folk Literature. Quezon City: University of the Philippine Press (1993).
Origin of Man:
The creation of man in myths follows immediately after the creation of the
world. Philippine myths explain the origin of the first people on earth in
three ways: (1) man came to earth from heaven/skyworld; (2) the first man
Monte, Quincy C.
BSE Eng3A
and woman emerged fully formed from two nodes of a piece of bamboo, from
two stumps of banana plant, hatched from two eggs of a bird; and (3) they
were created by a god and his helpers out of earth or some other material.
giant who lived in it pulled it out from its foundations and carried it and
moved it to a different place to show its strength.
Origin of Animals:
Animal legends present an interesting array of Philippine fauna, especially of
the smaller specie--birds, fishes, and insects. Of beasts, legends deal mostly
with monkey, rarely with cats and rats. There seem to be legends of the
origin of monkeys in every region of the Philippines. Motifs varied from one
place to another. One motif is that that those who became monkeys are
hungry children who are denied of proper food by their mothers and
stepmothers. In lowland Filipino legends, it is usually a lazy boy who is
transformed into a monkey. In these motifs, the transformation into a
monkey happened as a form of punishment for laziness and selfishness. In
some stories, irreverence in children may also change them into monkeys.
Legends about other small animals like birds vary from one place to another.
Common motif includes girl or boy cruelly treated by their parents or stepparent. They run away and become a bird, oftentimes by merely wishing to
escape the cruelty of the parent. Some birds that make peculiar noises are
also subject of legends. The owl was said to be an old woman who kept
weeping and crying for her dead son Juan to come back to her. An
interesting legend about the bat says that it is once a rat on which the wings
of a bird got stuck. He was however, rejected by both the birds and the rats,
and so in shame he hides during the daytime and flies only at night.
Origin of Plants:
Plant myths and legends abound in Philippine Folklore. They give highly
fanciful accounts of the origin of various kinds of plants, flowers, and fruits.
Among the most widely known of these are those about rice, the staple food
of the Philippines. Legends believed that rice was only known by the gods
until they gave people the detailed instruction on how to plant, have a good
harvest, and cook it. Other motifs include, lovers eloping, a child hiding and
running away, and a lover who died in behalf of his/her love.
Monte, Quincy C.
BSE Eng3A