Note 6 — Tales of the Mythical Period

The principal actors live in Kadalayapan and Kaodanan,6 towns which our chief story teller—when trying to explain the desire of Kanag to go down and get fruit—assures us were somewhere in the air, Page 8above the earth (p. 141).7 At other times these places are referred to as Sudīpan—the term by which spirits are supposed to call the present earth—while the actors are referred to as Īpogau—the spirit name for Tinguian. Whatever its location it was a place much like the present home of this people. The sky, the chief abode of spirits and celestial bodies, was above the land, and the heroes of the tales are pictured as ascending to visit the upper realms. The trees, plants, and animals were for the most part those known to-day. The ocean appears to have been well known, while mention is made of some places in Luzon, such as Dagopan and San Fernando in Pangasinan with which the people of to-day are not at all familiar (p. 89, 168).