[Cordillera Folktales - Hungduan, Ifugao] 【1】BANBANLIT, A POOR MAN

BANBANLIT, A POOR MAN

Storyteller: Darwin Tiyab

Translation: Richard Hangdaan Kinnud 

Record: August 18,2023 at Lubo-ong Elementary School, Lubo-ong, Hungduan, Ifugao Province, Philippines

 

Banbalit was a child, and you would pity him for being an orphan. He was still a child when the father died, and soon the mother followed. He was then taken care of by his grandma.

When he grew up—when he could go from one place to another, gather firewood, and climb the mountain—his grandmother died. So Banbanlit was by himself.

In their place, there is an occasion called the imbayah, a festivity hosted by the so-called rich people that goes on several days. One time, one rich family in the neighborhood held this celebration. Banbanlit, because he was lowly, could only try to sneak into the occasion especially on the days of the so-called nabah, the time when people dance.

On the first day of nabah when he sneaked in, there were a lot of people gathered, most probably the rich ones. The rich parents were with their children who sported elegant outfits.

They had good-looking g-strings and well-designed uloh, while Banbanlit pitifully was using the dull, lowest kind of g-string.

When the rich group saw him while they were dancing, they mocked this man named Banbanlit, saying, "Do not display yourself here, for you are not suited here."

Because he was embarrassed, he withdrew and went back to his house crying. He was crying in spitefulness because of the mockery he got from the rich people.

Because he could not go to the impala, he simply thought of going away to a hill. On his way, while walking and crying, he met an old woman, noticeable with her shiny hair. Those hairs were long, touching the ground, sweeping the pathway as she walked.

Then she spoke to Banbanlit, saying, "Why are you crying here, yet people are beating the gongs back in your place?"

Banbanlit replied, "Yes, because I am an orphan, I am a poor person, and so they shooed me away from the occasion during the nabah. It was because I wore this lowest kind of g-string, yet they had nice-looking outfits. They have the elegant kinds."

He did not know the old woman was a fairy. When Banbanlit spoke of why he was wandering, she knew she had to help. 

"Come with me, and let's move a little farther," she said commandingly. And when they were in the middle of the forested part, they saw a little house roofed with cogon.

Coming near it, she ordered him to just stand by the yard. She went to open the small house and pulled from inside the hut an elegant g-string. She also got an uloh that is classy, and a padang ( bronzen bracelet) and gave them to Banbanlit. There too was a pongot (headdress) and a libut (handbag.)

When the woman handed the things to him, he felt so happy. He exclaimed, "Wow! So now I have these worthy conveniences."

He then wore them right there and then at the hill. And when he showed to the woman, she admired how he looked. She said, "That is it, you are looking good after all. For you are already a young man."

He felt even happier and decided to go back home. He was halfway home when the sound of the gongs being beaten seemed to be inviting him, and so he went to imbayah. The gong was still being pounded when he reached the place and so the first thing he did was to dance. He finally danced there at the occasion of the imbayah.  

The people were surprised. They did not believe who they saw. They said to each other, "Is this really Banbanlit? Where did he get the things that he wore, which were all elegant?"

Each one was murmuring, speculating that he must haveor stolen them from somewhere. When he was leaving the dancing area, the rich folks met him, saying, "Is that you?"

He replied, "See, it is me!"

And they questioned him more, "Where have you got all those things you are using?"

He answered, "It was given by someone with great compassion."

He did not tell exactly who gave him those belongings. And they told him, "If that's the case, can we request that when they beat the gongs again so we can dance together?"

He agreed. When they beat the gongs, it was Banbanlit's outfit that stood out for even his bronze bracelets were brightly shining and produced melodious jingling with his dance movements. Others, even if they had the elegant attires, do not have the padang which Banbanlit was wearing.

When they danced for the third round, there were already ladies who were showing him admiration saying, "Wow! He looks good! We say now he has a status in life but had been hiding it!"

The ladies truly loved him, but he did not pay any attention to them.

On the third day of the imbayah, Banbanlit left to go to his house. And there, the old woman again showed up in his residence. Then she spoke saying, "Why have you come?"

He replied, "I just thought of coming home. And I plan to come to the hill later."

This old woman replied, "You don't need to come there for you see I came to see you."

And then she asked what happened on the occasion he attended. Banbanlit said, "Since I have all these effects, hoorah, the people who had status, the so-called rich, like me because my wearing of this classy attire made them think I am someone of status. It was unlike when I was in dull attire, and they did not pay attention to me."

The woman replied, "That is good if it is that way."

Then she ordered him, saying, "Go to the hill where we met and look for a rope that I shaped like a necklace and place it around your neck!"

Banbanlit did not feel any reservations and was even more than happy to go. When he reached the hut, the old woman was again there. He was sure he had left her at his house, but when he came upon the hut, it was also her that he had seen there.

The old woman said, "Here is the one I told you to come get and wear."

What Banbanlit saw was an ordinary rope from the root of a vine. But when he received it, he put it around his neck – hurrah! – it transformed into a pang-o made of shining gold. The ordinary rope from the vine has turned into pure gold.

And the old woman said, "You see, you have a nice collar."

Seeing it, he could only agree and say, "Yes." Beholding the gold over his neck, he said, "So, I will now be going home. I will again attend the occasion."

She said, "Yes!"

When he was going down the hill, it was already getting dark. And because it was already late, he postponed going to the celebrations. It was when morning broke when he went to the imbayah. That was already the fifth day. And as soon as Banbanlit was there, people were gazing at him. People even squinted, looking at him for the entrance to the yard, which was incidentally facing the sun, so his necklace was struck by the rays. When people looked at him, his body was bright with gold, even if it was only that thing on his neck that was dazzling, for it was so pure that it reflected all over him. 

When they drummed the gong, and he went dancing, the daughter of the rich man who hosted the imbayah showed that he admired Banbanlit. She went to pair off with him dancing. And when people saw this, they could not accept nor believe that he was the one favored by her. There were other men from rich families in the neighborhood, but they were not liked by the daughter of the rich man who hosted the imbayah. After their dance, the lady never left the side of the young man.

The lady's father told them, "Come here under the roof." When they were at the shed, the lady said to her father, "I'd like to marry him!"

His father said, "I do not object if you like him. For I see that you are equal when it comes to status." He said this upon seeing the garbs of Banbanlit, which were for the rich.

On the sixth day of the nabah, the lady, the daughter of the rich man, wanted to go home with Banbanlit, but he replied, "No, do not come, anyway, I will return. And the lady said, "Okay!"

When Banbanlit got home, the old woman was again in his house. She asked, "How was it in that imbayah where you came from?"

He replied, "It was okay because the daughter of the rich man now liked me."

She said, "If that's the case that she likes you, and if you like her too, then you marry her."

Banbalit replied, "I love her, but where would I get provisions to do things, especially since they are rich?"

The advice of the old woman was, "If they ask for anything, just come at the hill and there would be."

So Banbanlit said, "If that is what you say, then I say yes!"

The old woman then ordered him, "Go then and get your walking stick at the hut on the hill, and come back to the village and talk with them about the date of your marriage."

Banbanlit said, "Yes." So he went again to the hill, leaving the old woman at his home. But when he reached the hill, the old woman was again ahead of him. And there was a straight stick wedged on one end to the ground. The old woman said, "Get that stick and use it as a cane going home."  

When Banbanlit took hold of the stick, it became a spear. He became very joyful, saying, "I have a spear now!'

He headed home, looking back for a moment to bid goodbye to her, "I will now go home, my grandma!"

She said, "Yes! Go!"

Banbanlit then went on, and it was not yet nighttime when he reached the place of the occasion. He was very noticeable to people as he came by with his spear. And they said, "Oh! So this man has something in life, yet it seems he had hidden all of it before!"

When he finally arrived in the yard, the lady's father invited him, "Come under our shed!" When he went into where they were, he continued, "My daughter greatly loves you; you marry her!"

He replied, "Yes because I also love her."

Then, they talked about the day when they would come together as one. And what they agreed on was after the imbayah. The father said, "On the seventh day after, you come so you will be together and will marry."

Banbanlit said, "Okay if that is what you say, I will go for now and come on that seventh day."

The rich man said, "Yes."

Banbanlit asked, "What will I bring?"

The rich man replied, "Bring a pig, the greatest of pigs!"

While on his way home, he was troubled thinking to himself where he would get the pig, the greatest of pigs. What he understood of the greatest of pigs is when its teeth reached the utmost maturity, the one with long fangs.

He said to himself, "Where would I get that? How would I be able to buy it ?"

While he was thinking of it, the old woman appeared all of a sudden.

She said, "Why, it seems you have a troubled mind?"

Banbanlit answered, "Yes, because of what the lady's father I am to marry said. He asked me to look for a pig, the greatest of pigs, and bring them on the seventh day after their occasion so we can solemnize and marry."

And the woman said, "Go to the hill, and you will find something I placed there, a trunk of the giant fern. Carry it on your shoulder and bring it here. But note only when the seventh day is near before you go get it."

Banbanlit replied, "Okay!"

On the eve of the seventh day, his mind was full of his biggest appointment, that on the next day, he would be visiting again the home of the one he would marry. Early in the morning of that seventh day, he went to the hill. He went to see what the old woman whom he now considers grandmother told him. As he reached the hill, he found the trunk of the giant fern.

The old woman suddenly again was there, and Banbanlit said to her, "Why is this log, yet this is not the one they asked me to bring?"

The grandmother replied, "Just carry it on your shoulder and bring it to them, for that is what it is!"

Because Banbanlit was obedient, he simply said "yes" and went down the hill to the rich man's home. When he was on his way, the trunk, which is actually the base of the giant fern's stem, turned into a pig, the pig with a long tusk, which is referred to as the greatest of pigs.

And he said to himself, "Yes, this! This is the one they were asking from me!"

When he brought what he carried to the yard of the rich man, the people, including the elders present, were surprised, saying to each other, "This was so good. He brought what their father asked for, but where did he get it?"

And so those present when he arrived asked him, "Where did you get that?"

He answered, "It was given to me by someone compassionate."

When they butchered the pig, the lady and he became a married couple. They soon lived together in an abode and soon had a child.

He told his wife and child, "Just stay here. I will go to the hills and come back soon."

The wife replied, "Yes, but do come back immediately."

He assured her, "I'll be right back!"

When he was on the hill, the old woman met him along a path and asked, "What do you need?"

He replied, "I need something for us to eat. Where would I get them?"

The old woman told him, "Just go there! Come, and I will show you where you would get something to it."

Banbanlit and the old woman went to where she was leading him. Then she pointed to a cave at the rocks, which, from their view, was very dark inside.

She told him, "Here is the place you would always come in time. When you need something, you come by the mouth of this cave and ask, and it will give you something."

He said, "Yes!" But by the time she spoke, she suddenly disappeared.

He looked around but could not see the old woman.  

Then he remembered what she said to him, "Everything that I need, I will just ask and it (this cave) will give."

So Banbanlit spoke, saying, "Hand me something we could eat."

And when he looked upon the entrance of the cave, rice grains were coming out. A lot of rice grains. He got them, used a stilt to carry the bundled grains, and carried them home for his family to eat.

Banbanlit did that every time. Whenever he needed something, he went to that hill on that spot where the old woman led him. He would ask, and the cave would produce it. That he did until they had more and more children and even had grandchildren, and their life has become good after that.

That is the story of Banbanlit, one who was poor, but whose life was favored by God. He was also favored by events. He received well circumstances that came upon him that he was able to marry someone who was from a rich family in his time.

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[Glossary]

・Imbayah, derived from the term "bayah" meaning rice wine, is a celebration that symbolizes nobility and abundance. During this event, it is believed that wine overflows from heirloom jars, and a lavish feast is prepared for both mortals and gods.
This age-old ceremony and festivity among the Ifugao people are held when elevating an individual and their family to noble status known as "kadangyan." The extravagant ritual is a communal gathering organized by the bumoyah/bumayah.
Beyond showcasing one's wealth or prestige, Imbayah serves as a way to strengthen the connection with the community, secure their acceptance, actively engage in customs and traditions, and rejoice in good health or the golden years.

・Bumoyah/Bumayah refers to the individual undergoing the rite of passage to nobility and serving as the host of the feast, where both mortals and gods can partake.

・Nabah is a nine-night period within "Imbayah" where the Ifugao people engage in revelry, involving singing, dancing accompanied by the beating of gongs, and storytelling through the chanting of epics.

・Pahur is an Ifugao spear traditionally utilized for hunting and, in ancient times, during warfare.