THE LEGEND OF MARIA MAKILING

A. BRIEF BACKGROUND OF THE STORY

A legend is a genre of folklore that consists of a narrative featuring human actions

perceived or believed both by teller and listeners to have taken place within human history.
Maria Makiling is the guardian spirit of the mountain, responsible for protecting its bounty and
thus is also a benefactor for the townspeople who depend on the mountain's resources. In
addition to being a guardian of the mountain, some legends also identify Laguna de Bay-and the
fish caught from it-as part of her domain. She was sent by Bathala to aid the people of the area in
their everyday life.

B. BRIEF BACKGROUND ON THE LIFE AND WORKS OF THE AUTHOR

Did you know that our National Hero Jose Rizal wrote about Maria Makiling too? Rizal
wrote a short story titled ‘Maria Makiling’ and is one of the popular stories surrounding Maria’s
legend.

C. SUMMARY OF THE STORY

Long ago,in Mount Makiling,there lived a beautiful goddess name Mariang Makiling.
She is beautiful,kindhearted and loving. She had a long shiny black hair and she often wear black
pearls and gold jewelry. She often shows off herself to people living at the foot of the mountain
as a human. Many times,people would climb up to the mountain and pick some fruits but when
they came down,fruits changed into gold. People thanked her for it.
But one day,some people robbed her jewelry. Some hunters climb up the mountain and hunted
for wild animals,cut down trees and left the forest at the top of the mountain denuded. At that
time,one of those hunters is a mortal which Mariang Makiling fell in love with. She discovered
that that hunter already have a mortal as his wife. After those things happened,Mariang Makiling
was very angry that it thundered and rained hard that night and her voice was heard by all people
leaving at the foot of the mountain saying "I have provided you food,treasures and shelter but it
wasn't enough for you!I have given you everything you want but still you aren't contented. I
loved you more than myself but still you searched for mortal love. Now,feel my anger! And wait
for my revenge! From now on,you shall stand on your own feet and you will never see me again.
I swear!" And she laughed so hard that it brought an earthquake. After her large voice was heard,
she never showed herself again to those mortals who abused her kindness. Today,it is still
believed that MAriang Makiling is still living there.

D. ANALYSIS OF THE STORY

The moral lessons that we can get from the story of Maria Makiling are we have to wait for
the right time, we should not be in a hurry in our decisions in life especially if it has undesirable
outcomes,we should accept failures in life without complaining or even blaming others, we
should not envy or jealous of what others have in life, don't do unto to others what you don't
want others do unto you,  what you sow you will harvest, if we sow good things then we will
reap good things but if we sow bad things then we will reap bad things and we should avoid
anger, grudge against others.