ved on Mt. Matutun, and far and wide from that place he
devoured the people, laying waste the land. The third, an enormous
bird called Pah, [142] was so large that when on the wing it covered
the sun and brought darkness to the earth. Its egg was as large as a
house. Mt. Bita was its haunt, and there the only people who escaped
its voracity were those who hid in caves in the mountains. The fourth
monster was a dreadful bird also, having seven heads and the power
to see in all directions at the same time. Mt. Gurayn was its home
and like the others it wrought havoc in its region.

So great was the death and destruction caused by these terrible animals
that at length the news spread even to the most distant lands, and
all nations were grieved to hear of the sad fate of Mindanao.

Now far across the sea in the land of the golden sunset was a city
so great that to look at its many people would injure the eyes of
man. When tidings of these great disasters reached this distant city,
the heart of the king Indarapatra [143] was filled with compassion,
and he called his brother, Sulayman, [144] begging him to save the
land of Mindanao from the monsters.

Sulayman listened to the story, and as he heard he was moved with pity.

"I will go," said he, zeal and enthusiasm adding to his strength,
"and the land shall be avenged."

King Indarapatra, proud of his brother's courage, gave him a ring and
a sword as he wished him success and safety. Then he placed a young
sapling by his window [145] and said to Sulayman:

"By this tree I shall know your fate from the time you depart from
here, for if you live, it will live; but if you die, it will die also."

So Sulayman departed for Mindanao, and he neither walked nor used a
boat, but he went through the air and landed on the mountain where
the rattan grew. There he stood on the summit and gazed about on all
sides. He looked on the land and the villages, but he could see no
living thing. And he was very sorrowful and cried out:

"Alas, how pitiful and dreadful is this devastation!"

No sooner had Sulayman uttered these words than the whole mountain
began to move, and then shook. Suddenly out of the ground came the
horrible creature, Kurita. It sprang at the man and sank its claws
into his flesh. But Sulayman, knowing at once that this was the
scourge of the land, drew his sword and cut the Kurita to pieces.

Encouraged by his first success, Sulayman went on to Mt. Matutun
where c