THE LIFE OF LAM-ANG
Because his mother conceived him that
month.
She did not abstain from any edible fruit:
Tamarind fruits tender and thin as bamboo
strings,
Kamias, daldaligan,
Oranges and pomelos;
Butcher fish, stripped bass, fishes of all sorts;
Clams and bivalves big as plates,
Maratangtang and sea urchins;
Sea algae, aragan and arosip;
Shucked oysters, crayfish caught with net;
Blue crabs baited with salelem,
Deer tracked down and killed, boar trapped.
All of these she tasted on her eating binge.
Until Namungan, the woman Unnayan,
Wife of Don Juan Panganiban,
Was done conceiving.
And when they had made whole
A new soul,
Her womb grew bigger.
Listen, my husband Don Juan,
Go check on our bamboo groves
In the mountain of Capariaan.
Then make me my reclining bed
The bed I shall use
Right after giving birth.
Being God-given, my husband Don Juan,
The custom cannot be gainsaid.
So go cut me some mature bamboo shoots.
He prepared to leave and once there
Went around the grove.
Then he hailed the strong winds.
As well as the torrential rains
And cavernous clouds.
Lightning and thunder came in waves,
Hitting the groves again and again
Till it looked like the choicest shoots
Had been cut down by a trained bamboo
cutter.
It is unseemly, such a shame
For me to carry you, bamboos.
They thus went ahead, Don Juan behind them.
Having reached the home he came down
from,
In the town of Nalbuan,
The bamboos arranged themselves in the
yard.
My husband Don Juan,
Let my reclining bed be of hardwood:
This part of molave and gastan;
That part of dangla and guava,
Whose barks have been skinned,
Then buy me a pot, husband Don Juan,
And a stove to heat my bath-water. go,
And a one-man pot too For I would seek Father whom I came from.
For our child’s umbilical cord. Ah, son, brave-man Lam-ang,
Please don’t go.
And having procured all these, he trekked
For your legs are like bamboo string.
To the blackest mountain, upstream
And your hands are like needles.
To fight the Igorots there.
And you were born, my son,
Even before your ninth month inside me.
And when her time came
To deliver the blood made whole,
All the more brave-man Lam-ang still
There was not one who was not called:
persisted.
He left for the forest, the place of Igorots.
The masseuse-midwife, the fish-hooker,
For he wanted to see the father he sprang
Alisot;
from.
The diver Marcos; Pasho the rich man.
Since none of them could induce delivery
For he had with him the stone of sagang,
The stone of tangraban, of lao-laoigan,
They remembered the woman
A wild carabao’s amulet.
Shrivelled with age,
When he passed by a grove of caña vernal,
For she was known for her strong fingers.
The shoots bent down
The baby started to talk as soon as the For he also had the amulet of the centipede.
old woman delivered him.
And having reached the river’s ford,
Namungan, my mother,
He spied the tallest tree around, a rancheria,
Let my name be Lam-ang when you
A landmark of tattooed Igorot country.
have me baptized.
And let old man Guibuan be my godfather.
He cast his eyes around
Mother, I must also ask you if I have a father;
And saw this root shaped like a stove
Whether or not I arose like water vapor.
And went to wash his one-man pot.

My son, Lam-ang; if it’s your father you

And placed his food inside it,
speak of,
The pot of mound-dwelling dwarves,
You were still in my womb when he left,
That cannot suffice for more than one
Left for the forest, the place of Igorot.
traveller.

Lam-ang then said:
Having eaten his fill,
My mother Namungan, please let your son
The man Lam-ang gratefully rested,
Amiable host to the food, the filling grace.
He rested his shield against his body; You Bumacas so-named,
Stuck his spear into the ground by his feet; Communicate (thru a letter) with every single
Unsheathed his trustworthy campilan from its one,
sheath; (The members of your tribe):

Then fell into a light sleep. At Dardarat and Padang,

Then came the ghost of his father, saying:
My friends Lam-ang, go quickly instead;
Right now, they feast around you father’s
skull.
Lam-ang was jolted out of his slumber
And at once collected his weapons and started
to go,
There in houses at Nueva, Dagodong and
Topaan,
There in Mamo-ocan and Caoayan,
There in Tupinao and Baodan,
Sumbanggue and Luya, Bacong and Sosoba.
There in Tebteb and Caocaoayan.

They came, having received these notes (from

Walking on and on.
Bumacas),
Upon reaching the blackest mountain
In a rush, the tattooed Igorots,
At Maculili and Dagman,
From the neighboring towns nearby,
He went directly to the assembled revelers.
Like chicken attracted to grains thrown to the
For he had seen his father’s skull facing the
ground.
East,
Oh, their number indeed was remarkable
Caged in the woven end of a bamboo pole.
For one cannot keep count of their number.
Tattooed Igorots, just tell me
He then caressed his stone of lao-laoigan,
What foul thing my father I came from did.
And jumped but once to an open field,
It is only right that it be paid.
The man Lam-ang.
Our friend Lam-ang,
And the man Lam-ang made thunderclaps
It is only right; too,
With his armpits and thighs
That you go back to the house
As well as with both his arms.
You stepped down from.
Soon they had crowded around him…
Or else, You’ll be the next (to die)
As a moving river (of bobbing heads), so to
After the man who was your father.
speak…
You tattooed Igorots… The man Lam-ang.
I cannot be satisfied (with your number),
You Igorot captain,
And having completely surrounded him, They were mowed down in an instant.
They cut loose on him with all their arms, Only one tattooed Igorot was left unharmed,
On the man Lam-ang. Whom he mocked at, then pinned down.

Like a torrential rain at dusk, Now comes your end.

The spears fell (thickly) on him, He slashed at his mouth, his eyes;
The man Lam-ang. Cut off his ears, arms and legs.

He embraced these crisscrossing spears He then let him loose, the tattooed Igorot,
As one would accept Who received no mercy at his hands.
Betel nuts passed on to him. That your relatives and tribe may all see you.

And when the tattooed Igorots had run out And you carabao’s amulet (help me)
Of sharpened bamboo poles, spears, lances, For I now bind the lances and spears,
But could not hit him even just once, My booty and trophy from the Igorot.

The man Lam-ang said to them: And now I leave you battleground.

Now comes my turn, The blood flowed from the dead Igorots
I unsheath you, campilan, trustworthy Like the Vigan river.
weapon.
He prepared to leave, the man
He struck the ground with this.
Lam-ang, and return,
And the earth with stuck to the blade of the
To his mother Namungan.
campilan,
And having reached the town of Nalbuan:
This he ate—

Mother Namungan, if I may ask,

A stick of rice cake
What foulness he perpetrated,
So long and large—
The father I sprang from?
So their incantations would not affect him

My son Lam-ang,
Tattooed Igorots, watch me closely now,
If it is your father your speak of,
He beckoned to the south wind
We never quarrelled, not even once.
And with it lunged at once at them.

Mother Namungan, strike the longgan

As though felling down banana trunks,
That my younger sisters
His bolo bit into flesh two ways, swung left or
May all come to my aid,
right,
The man Lam-ang.
The maidens numbering twice nine, And pick some embers with it.
Nine times nine. And younger sisters, please,
That they may shampoo my curly locks Return the charcoal later,

At the Amburayan River. For it is of paticalang wood.

For it had become quite dusty, At the Amburayan River we shall bathe.
During the day-long battle yesterday. At the riverbank,

Mother Namungan, He cast his eyes around and soon saw

Do let us pay a visit The bubbles made by the crocodile.
To the old barn with molave posts, My young sisters burn the rice straw.

Floored with derraan and polished bellaang. Since the straw would not burn,
And please ask them to sweep off the barn’s Lam-ang beckoned to the strongest wind—
door, And the straw burst into flames.
The dead cockroaches, spiders, and their
The people of San Juan were alarmed
mess.
By the sparks that reached them;
For nine years have passed The people of Bacnotan ran
Since we last visited
Thinking there was a conflagration.
Our palay called samusam,
And when they could not control the fire,
Buan and laguingan, He beckoned to the torrential rain
Lumanus and lampadan,
And the cloud shaped like a precipice.
Maratectec and macan, gaygaynet and
Lightning and thunder came in waves
balasang.
And only then was the fire extinguished.
And having looked over the barn.
Younger sisters, please do not worry while
Young maidens, pull out the panicles
waiting
From each name (of rice variety).
For I’ll just swim awhile
And thresh these. And play with the largest crocodile.
And what grains one accumulates thus
Lam-ang dived into the river
Is already hers to keep.
Unaware that the crocodile
And this was done. Had gone downstream,
Young sisters, bind the straws.
Get also the coconut shell tong
While he went upstream. Whose heat is intense enough to sting one’s
And when he went downstream, heel.
The crocodile went upstream,
I am going to tie my white rooster,
They soon spotted each other Yellow-legged hen,
And began to fight. And my hairy dog.
Lam-ang became angry
For I am going to play at Calanutian
And in one thrust subdued it. Where Doña Ines Cannoyan lives
Then, he carried it on his back, As news has it…
And beached it,
A clean-living maiden
Younger sisters, take its teeth for a necklace Who can spin nine spools overnight.
For they can be amulets when one travels; My son, brave-man Lam-ang,
Younger sisters we must now return
Please don’t go yet
To the house we came down from.
For you don’t look like one
Mother Namungan please pay Whom Doña Ines Cannoyan
The wages of these, my younger sisters,
Can fall in love with.
A peso for each step, coming from and going
For her suitors are many
back to the house.
Including a number of Spaniards.
And this having been done:
Yet she has not favored any of them
Mother Namungan, please open the second
With even just a glance.
room.
And look at you…
And therefrom get my most valuable clothes.

Can you be the one to win her love?

I must change my clothes…
Mother Namungan, I must go.
Into my striped trousers, embroidered shirt
I must enter the competition.
And ornate handkerchief.

At the town of Calanutian,

This done:
Who knows, Doña Ines Cannoyan
Please open also the third room
May look on me with favor,
And take from there the gold.

My son Lam-ang, if it’s a spouse you seek,

Bulaoan of nine coils which breaks
This town is full of nubile maidens.
When exposed to the sun
And you can take your pick from them.
This is what the man Lam-ang said in turn: rooster.
Mother Namungan, of those you allude to, May God remain with you.
I cannot choose anyone,
My son Lam-ang, God go with you;
Not one of the maidens you speak of.
Be careful, especially on your way there
So please don’t detain me
Which you know to be more dangerous,
For I must, will go.

Having heard out the advice,

My son Lam-ang, by God,
Lam-ang went his way
Please tarry longer.
To Calanutian, the town of Doña Ines
For they may drench you.
Cannoyan.
With foul-smelling urine…
He walked untiringly
Spare yourself the embarrassment.
And midway to his destination,
The white rooster then said,
Encountered the man Sumarang.
As well as the yellow-legged hen:
Whose eyes were big as plates
Our mistress Namungan, we dreamt last night
And whose nose was wide as two wheels.
That Doña Ines Cannoyan
This is what he at once said:
Cannot help becoming your daughter-in-law. My friend, brave-man Lam-ang,
Mother, please take out the oil Where are you headed for?
Just heated yesterday Which forest do you intend to trap in?

So I may anoint my yellow-legged hen
And we may both look our best
When we go to the town of Calanutian.
Mother, please hand me
The nine coils of gold bulaoan.
And having received the gold coils,
He tied his white rooster
And his hairy dog as well.
And the task completed,
He prepared to leave.
He carried his cock, the yellow-legged
Which mountain do you intend to hunt in?
My friend Lam-ang?
Replied Lam-ang:
My friend Sumarang, may I also ask
Where you came from—
The town, the locality you visited?
Said Sumarang:
Since you ask me, I came from the north,
The town of Calanutian.
I went there to compete
For the hand of Doña Ines Cannoyan.
Lam-ang said:
Where you came from
There I also intend to go,
With the same purpose, my friend Sumarang.