A Myth on the Coconut Tree

December 30, 2018, 6:19 pm

According to this myth, once there was a kingdom in Mindanao known as Bangonansa Pulangui
(“kingdom by the river”), which was ruled by a just and kind sultan. The myth says the kingdom
was known for Putri Timbang-Namat, the sultan’s only daughter. She was a most beautiful and
charming woman. Her name meant “lady grace.”

Putri’s admirers came from the seven seas, but she did not care for any of them. According to the
myth, the kind sultan was touched by their persistence. One day, he tried to ask his daughter to
choose from among them the man she would marry, the myth adds.

”I need a son to succeed me when I die,” the father said, “and I wish that before I die, I would
see you married,” he added. The myth says the king thought of a contest for the princess’ hand.
A tournament was held to determine who among the suitors was worthy of the princess’ love, the
myth says.

In the palace garden, meanwhile, the myth says the princess met a young and handsome
gardener, Wata-Mama. The myth says Wata-Mama decided to reveal his past to her. According
to the myth he was of royal descent but had been lost when he was three. His father was killed by
his greedy uncle. The myth says that the princess said, “We love each other, that’s all that
matters. ”

The myth says a general was very jealous of Wata. So, that night, in the dark corner of the
palace, he and his aides waited for the young lovers. The myth says the general suddenly
emerged, struck Wata-Mama and beheaded him. The princess, fearless, picked up Wata’s head.

After Wata’s head was buried, the myth says, early one morning, while the princess was
watching the spot, she saw a tiny plant growing from the ground. Suddenly, the myth says, it
grew into a tree and reached the height of the window where the princess was sitting at. It
produced a round fruit the size of a man’s head.

Love’s passion and jealousy’s wretchedness can suddenly change lives disastrously. This myth
on the coconut teaches that love is best kept going on its natural course.
The Myth on Why Fireflies Have
Lights
April 2, 2018, 7:39 pm
Fireflies in the Philippines are fond of roaming around star apple trees. They can be seen
especially in summer when apple trees are in season. At first they appear like twinkling stars
around the tree, but going closer they become obviously flying insects with curious lights in their
bodies. How did they have those lights in them? A myth goes like this.

According to a local myth, fireflies were simply “flies” a longtime ago before they were called
fireflies. But they did not fly around dirt or garbage dumps like ordinary flies do. They liked
flying around star apple trees. The myth says the tree and its fruit so mesmerized them that they
frequented star apples when the day started to fade out. And they especially became a gleeful
congregation around the tree when the night became very dark. The myth says at such time, they
only had the moonlight to guide them and see everything around them.

Then one night, as they were flying around the star apple tree, the myth says they noticed the
twinkling stars above. According to the myth a story went that time that a tribe was said to have
been languished and famished by a long hunting travel and had ended up in the middle of the
forest with nothing to eat. It had been so dark, but suddenly the nocturnal clouds were parted and
revealed the silvery full moon and the stars.

The myth says that with aid from the faint light lent by the moon and stars, they were able to
make out a tree nearby. They climbed it and ate its edible and soft, apple-like fruit. It was so
sweet and fibrous, re-energizing them for the long trek the next day. The tribe, according to the
myth, had called the tree and its fruits star apple, imagining that it was a gift from the stars.

So, the myth says, the flies thought that, since they were the guardians of the tree and its fruits,
why weren’t they called starflies? So together they wished upon the stars to let them become
starflies. But since stars were really burning balls, the stars gave them fire in their bodies instead.
Since then, the myth says, they became (and were called) fireflies.

This local myth on why fireflies have light in their bodies somewhat shows that sometimes,
admirers take on the image of the thing they admire or worship.
The Myth about the Macopa Fruit
January 25, 2018, 3:21 pm
Macopa is a crunchy fruit about the size of a tomato. When unripe, it is pink in color. When ripe
it is shiny red. Most notable is its bell-shape figure that inspired this myth on how this fruit came
to be.

This myth is an action thriller that tells of how marauders from another place tried to rob a
priceless bell from a coastal town. The bell, aside from being of pure gold, was said to be one of
a kind and had been treasured by the town. The myth recounts how the heroic people of the town
were able to keep the bell from the hands of the bandits.

The coastal town had an old church. According to the myth the bell in the tower was shaped like
a giant cup. Initially the bell was fondly called the “copa” or cup. As time went by, the myth says
the bell’s name evolved into “macopa,” which really meant “shaped more like a cup.” The bell
tolled differently than most bells, the myth further says. Though alone, it often seemed to play
some kind of a merry tune.

One day, says this myth, some bandits, going by boat loads and armed to the teeth, proceeded to
the coastal town. Soon, the myth says, the town people had a quick meeting and their leaders
decided on burying the bell. The people hurriedly took the bell from the tower and buried it at
the back of the church.

So the bandits arrived and, the myth says, started to attack the helpless town. Being a peaceful
and religious town, they did not have need for any police force. So the bandits quickly overcome
them without a fight. Then they looked around but found no gold bell. This angered them.

Nobody from the town wanted to talk about where the bell was, so the bandits killed all the
people. Finding nothing, the bandits left frustrated. When they have left the people of the
neighboring town came and buried them. At the back of the church, they found a small plant
growing on the spot where the golden bell was buried. It grew into a big tree and bore bell-
shaped fruits which the people from the next town called macopa because it resembled the gold
bell.

The myth on how the macopa came to be shows how religion has been ingrained in the people’s
lives, and how they are ready to die for it.
The Myth of the Guava Fruit
April 14, 2019, 4:59 pm
The guava fruit was said to be a poisonous fruit before, according to a Philippine myth on it. So
how did it end up being so nutritious and delicious? There’s only one way to find out—read.

According to this myth, the guava fruit used to be a forbidden fruit. A long time ago, in a fruit
orchard somewhere in the countryside, there lived a boy from the family of the Abas, the family
who owned the fruit orchard. The boy Abas was very friendly and kind, says this myth, and soon
the people in the place started calling him “Bay” (pronounced “buy”), the term used in the
locality for super friendly and kind people. So as time went by, the myth says, the boy was
known as Bay Abas.

Bay Abas was especially kind to the needy. So the myth says that every needy folk who came by
to ask for fruit from their orchard he gave to liberally. Various fruit-bearing trees were in their
orchard, and each one with ripe fruits he picked from and gave to anyone who asked. As he did,
the myth purports that the orchard noticeably bore more fruits than any orchard in the locality.
And more new trees also mysteriously appeared in their orchard, the myth adds.

But the myth says there was one tree in their orchard that bore inedible fruits. It was a tree of
hard wood with branches spreading wide and open instead if straight up. Other fruit trees, the
myth notes, grew straight up first and bore fruits high up there where they’re fruits were hard to
pick. But this tree bore fruits even at low levels. But nobody dared, says this myth.

One day an old woman came by the orchard and asked Bay Abas some fruits to eat.
Unfortunately, says the myth, not a tree had fruit that time, save the forbidden tree.
Nonchalantly, he whispered a wish, or something like a prayer and, according to this myth, he
thought of sampling the fruit to find out once and for all. HIs wish, says the myth, reached the
ears of the forest gods. The fruit quickly turned edible just before he took his first bite. And so
from that time on, the myth says the fruit became edible and named “Bayabas.”

This Philippine myth about the guava or “bayabas” tree compares the multi-nutritious guava fruit
with the multi-faceted kindness of a boy named Bay Abas.
The Myth about the Lanzones Fruit
June 2, 2019, 8:46 am
Lanzones are local berry-like fruits with light brown skin. The fruit itself is white inside. When
ripe enough they have a subtle sweetness that tantalizes the taste buds and make them want to
sample for more. But according to a local myth, it used to be a harmful fruit.

Before, according to the myth, the lanzones fruit was poisonous. The fruit looked edible enough,
and in fact many were tempted to sample it. The myth says, the people wondered: How could
anything that looked so good be so dangerous? Some people, despite the death toll, could not
fight off the temptation once they see the fruits abundantly display themselves in clusters
hanging invitingly on the lanzones tree. Several deaths in the village had been linked to eating its
fruits, the myth adds.

One day, the myth says, a hungry old woman came to the village begging for food. The kind
villagers gladly gave the old woman food and water and clothes to wear. They even offered her
free lodging as long as she saw the need to stay with them. According to the myth, the woman
was awed by the kindness of the villagers. One day, while staying with the people, she learned
about the lanzones fruits that could not be eaten because they were poisonous. She asked the
people where the tree was. They gladly obliged. Then, according to the myth, upon seeing the
lanzones tree and its fruits, the old woman smiled knowingly. She announced to the people that
the fruit was edible, to everyone’s wary delight.

She taught the villagers the proper way to pick, peel and eat the fruits of the lanzones tree.
According to the myth, the old woman said that peeling the fruit by pinching it lets out a small
amount of the white sticky sap from the fruit, and that served as an antidote to the poison of the
fruit. Then, the myth says, she did it with a fruit and ate it. She did the same with another fruit,
and another, and another. The myth says the villagers also discovered for themselves that the
fruits were very edible and delicious. Since then, the villagers started planting more lanzones
trees and it became a very lucrative source of income for everyone, the myth adds.

The Philippine myth on the lanzones tree and fruit reminds us that there is a proper procedure for
doing things, even things untried before, to end up with a safe outcome.