 The precolonial literature includes

all literature produced before the

Spanish colonization like chants,
proverbs, songs, and folk
narratives. These were all passed
down from generation to
generation by word of mouth.
 Folktale – This is a characteristically
anonymous, timeless, and placeless tale
circulated orally among a people.
 Fable – This features animal characters or
inanimate objects that behave like people.
 Legend – This is presented as history but is
unlikely to be true.
 Myth – This is told to explain a belief, a
practice, or a natural phenomenon.
 Epic – This narrative poem celebrates the
adventures and achievements of a hero.
Folktales

Folktales about Juan are very

popular. Some emphasize
certain virtues, and some
serve as warning about
behavior. Also, some are for
the reader’s amusement.
 Juan Gathers Guavas (A Tagalog Folktale)
One day several neighbors came to Juan’s home
to visit. His father wanted to give the guests
something to eat, so he sent Juan to get some ripe
guavas for them.
Full of mischief, Juan decided to play a joke on
his father’s guests. He went to get the guavas and
ate all of them while thinking of a good joke. Then
he saw a wasp’s nest hung nearby. With some
difficulty he managed to take it down and put it
into a tight basket. He hastened home and gave
the basket to his father. Quickly he left the room
where the guests were and closed the door and
fastened it.
 As soon as Juan’s father opened the basket, the
wasps flew over the room. With the door locked,
the people fought to get out of the windows. After
a while Juan opened the door. When he saw the
swollen faces of the people, he cried.
“What fine, rich guavas you must have had!
They have made you all so fat!”
Example 2:
Juan Pusong and His Father’s Cows (A Visayan
Folktale)
One day Juan Pusong's father put his cows out
to pasture. Juan slipped away from home and took
the cows into the forest and tied them there. When
his father found out that the cows were missing, he
looked around for them. While looking, he ran into
his son.
“Where did you come from?” he asked.
“I just came from school, Father. How about you,
where are you going?”
“I am looking for our cows.”
“You don’t say!" said Juan.
 By that time, everybody knew about Juan’s
power as a seer. So, he took a little book from his
pocket and looked into it. He said, “Our cows are
tied together in the forest.” So, his father went to
the forest and found the cows.
Later on, people would discover that Juan could
not read even his own name. Consequently, his
father beat him for the trick he had played on him.
Fable
The monkey is a common animal character in
Philippine fables. It is often depicted as a
cunning animal.
Example:
The Monkey and the Crocodile (A Tagalog Fable)

One day, a monkey saw a tall macopa tree laden

with ripe fruits, which stood by a wide river. It was
hungry, so it climbed the tree and ate all of the
fruits. When it climbed down, it could find no
means by which to cross the river. Then it saw a
young crocodile who had just woken up from its
siesta. It said to the crocodile in a friendly way, “My
dear crocodile, will you do me a favor?”
 The crocodile was greatly surprised by the
monkey’s amicable salutation. So, it answered
humbly, “Oh, yes! If there is anything I can do
for you, I shall be glad to do it.” The monkey
then told the crocodile that it wanted to get
to the other side of the river. Then the
crocodile said, “I’ll take you there with all my
heart. Just sit on my back, and we’ll go at
once.”
 The monkey sat firmly on the crocodile’s
back, and they began to move. In a short
while they reached the middle of the stream.
Then the crocodile began to laugh aloud.
“You foolish monkey!” it said, “I’ll eat your
liver and kidneys, for I’m very hungry.” The
monkey became nervous. Trying to conceal
its anxiety, it said, “I’m very glad that you
mentioned the matter. I thought myself that
you might be hungry, so I have prepared my
liver and kidneys for your dinner.
Unfortunately, in our haste to depart, I left
them hanging on the macopa tree. Let us
return, and I’ll get them for you.”
 Convinced that the monkey was telling the
truth, the crocodile turned around and swam
back to the direction of the macopa tree.
When they got near the riverbank, the
monkey nimbly jumped up onto the land and
scampered up the tree. The crocodile came to
realize what happened and said, “I am a fool.”
Legend
There are different Filipino legends of the
great flood. The story of Bukidnon, for
instance, tells that a huge crab caused the
water to rise by going into the sea. On the
other hand, the Igorot story tells that the
sons of Lumawig the Great Spirit caused the
flood.
Example 1:
The Flood Story (A Legend of Bukidnon)
A long time ago there was a very big crab
which crawled into the sea. When it went in, it
crowded the water out so that it ran all over the
earth and covered all the land.
Now about one moon before the flood
happened, a wise man had told the people that
they must build a large raft. They did as he
commanded and cut many large trees until they
had enough to make three layers. These they
bound tightly together; when it was done, they
fastened the raft with a long rattan cord to a big
pole in the earth.
 Soon after the raft was done, the flood
came. White water poured out of the hills,
and the sea rose and covered even the
highest mountains. The people and animals
on the raft were safe, but all the others
drowned.
Soon the waters went down, and the raft
was again on the ground. It was near their old
home, for the rattan cord had held.
The people on the raft together with the
animals were the only ones left on the whole
earth.
Example 2:
The Flood Story (A Legend of the Igorot)
Once upon a time, the world was flat, and
there were no mountains. There lived two
sons of Lumawig, the Great Spirit. The
brothers were fond of hunting; since no
mountains had formed, there was no good
place to catch wild pig and deer. The older
brother said, “Let us cause water to flow over
all the world and cover it, and then
mountains will rise up.”
 So, the brothers caused water to flow over
all the earth. When it was covered, they took
the head-basket of the town and set it for a
trap. They were very much pleased when they
went to look at their trap, for they had caught
not only many wild pigs and deer but also
many people.
Lumawig looked down from his place in
the sky and saw that his sons had flooded the
earth. However, there was just one spot which
was not covered. All the people in the world
had been drowned except a brother and a
sister who lived in Pokis.
 Then Lumawig descended, and he called to
the boy and girl, saying, “Oh, you are still alive.”
“Yes,” answered the boy, “we are still alive, but we
are very cold.”
So, Lumawig commanded his dog and deer to
get fire for the boy and girl. The dog and the
deer swam quickly away. Lumawig waited a long
time, but the dog and the deer did not return. All
the time the boy and girl were growing colder.
Finally, Lumawig himself went after the dog
and the deer. When he reached them, he said,
“Why are you so long in bringing the fire to
Pokis? Get ready and come quickly while I watch
you, for the boy and girl are very cold.”
 Then the dog and the deer took the fire and
started to swim through the flood. When they
had gone only a little way, the fire was put out.
Lumawig commanded the dog and the deer to
get more fire, and they did so. However, they
swam only a little way again when that of the
deer went out. That of the dog would have been
extinguished also had not Lumawig gone quickly
to him and taken it.
As soon as Lumawig reached Pokis, he built a
big fire which warmed the brother and sister. The
water evaporated so that the world was as it was
before, except that now there were mountains.
The brother and sister married and had children,
and thus there came to be many people on the
earth.