Note 29 — Tales of the Mythical Period

These people enjoy unusual relations with inanimate things, and we find them conversing with spears and with jars.29 In one case the latter appear to be pastured like animals, and surround Aponītolau when he goes to feed them with lawed30 leaves and salt (p. 51). Weapons weep blood and oil when taken down for the purpose of injuring certain persons (p. 43). A nose flute, when played by a youth, tells him of his mother's plight (p. 152), while a bamboo Jew's harp summons the brothers of its owner (p. 162). Animals and birds are frequently in communication with them: The hawk flies away and spreads the news of the fight at Adasin31 (p. 90); at the bidding of Dalonágan a spider spins a web about the town (p. 124); and Aponītolau is enabled to fulfill the labors assigned him by the ten-headed giant only through the aid of spiders, ants, and flies (p. 101).32 During certain dances the water from the river flows over the town and fish come up and bite the feet of the dancers (p. 59). Crocodiles are left to guard the sister of Aponībalagen, and when they fail to explain their negligence they are whipped and sent away by their master (p. 87). A great bird is pleased with Aponītolau and carries him away33 to its home, where it forces him to marry a woman it had previously captured (p. 92). In one instance an animal gives birth to a human child; a frog laps up the spittle of Aponītolau, and as a result becomes pregnant34 and gives birth to a maiden who is taken away by the spirits (p. 105). Another account states that the three sons of Aponītolau and Aponībolinayen are born as pigs, but later assume human form (p. 116). Kanag becomes a snake when he tries to secure the perfume of Baliwán, but is restored to human form when he Page 17bathes in a magic well (p. 137). These and other mysterious happenings, many of which are not explained as being due to their own volition, befall them; thus Ingiwan, while walking, is confronted by an impassable hill and is compelled to cross the ocean, where he finds his future wife, but upon his return the hill has vanished (p. 86). In other instances the finger rings of people meeting for the first time exchange themselves (p. 92). The headband of Līgī flies away without his knowledge and alights on the skirt of a girl who is bathing in the river. As a result she becomes pregnant, and when the facts become known Līgī is recognized as the child's father (p. 144). It seems probable that the superior powers are responsible for these occurrences, for in at least one instance the great spirit Kabonīyan steals a maiden and turns her into a flock of birds, who talk with and assist the owner of a rice field (p. 151).