soon as he reached the other side he took a walk
and he saw the big golden house in the middle of the wide plain. He
was surprised, and he went to see it, and the crocodiles all slept
while he crossed the ocean. When he reached the spring he said,
"How pretty the well is. I think the girl who owns this well has
magical power, and that she is pretty also." So he went to the house
and said, "Good afternoon." Alama-an was cooking, and she said, "Good
afternoon." She looked at him from the window, and she saw that he
was a fine looking man. She did not tell Aponibolinayen, but she had
him go up the ladder. The old woman who took care of them asked why
she did not tell her and Aponibolinayen. Alama-an said she did not
know what she was doing when she had him go up. So the old woman went
to ask him what he came for. He said, "I just took a walk and I did
not know how to get home, for there was a very high bank in the way,
so I came across the ocean to learn the other way back home. While
I was still on the ocean I saw this big golden house. I came here,
for I was very tired, for it is more than one month since I left
Kabilabilan." "Ala, you Alama-an go and cook some food for this
young man," said the old woman, and Alama-an went truly, and when
she finished cooking, the old woman called him to eat. The young
man said he did not wish to eat unless one of the ladies who never
went outdoors [193] ate with him. "Alama-an is the girl who never
goes outdoors," said the old woman, but he did not believe her, and
so he did not go. When he would not eat she called Sinogyaman to go
and eat, but the young man said, "I do not wish to eat with anyone
except the pretty girl who never goes outdoors." So the old woman
called Indiapan. As soon as she went outdoors to the place where the
young man was, "No, that is not the girl I want. There is one prettier
still. I will not go to eat." The old woman became angry and said,
"If you are not hungry and do not wish to eat that is all right. I have
offered three young girls to eat with you, but if you do not wish to
eat with them I do not care." When the old woman and the three girls
had eaten they gave him a place to sleep, and they slept also.

While the others were talking to the young man, Aponibolinayen was
looking through a crack of the house, and she liked him very much. She
wished to go outdoors and talk to him, but she was afraid because
the old woman had said there were only the three you