[27] the places where the women set the pots while dipping water are
big plates or dishes, while similar dishes form the stepping stones
leading up to the house. Articles of gold are found in the dwellings
and valuable jars are numerous. When the true relationships of these
children are established they always go to their blood parents,
carrying with them these riches, which are a source of wonder and
comment (pp. 43, 64).
The people of Kadalayapan and Kaodanan have many dealings with
the celestial bodies. The big star Bagbagak appears as the husband
of Sinag--the moon--and father of the star maiden Gaygayoma, who,
Aponitolau assures his wife, is a spirit. When this girl comes down
to steal sugar-cane she takes off her star dress and appears as a
beautiful maiden; [28] she becomes enamored with Aponitolau and takes
him to the sky, where he lives with her. They have a child, who later
marries in Kadalayapan and thereafter stays below. Upon the occasion
when Aponitolau visits his first wife and fails to return to the sky
at the appointed time, a great company of stars are sent to fetch him,
with orders to devour him if he refuses to obey (p. 109, ff.).
In the first tale Aponitolau himself appears as "the sun," "the
man who makes the sun," as "a round stone which rolls," but when
it is established that he is the son of a couple in Kadalayapan he
apparently relinquishes his duties in the sky and goes to live in
the village of his people. With him goes his wife Aponibolinayen, who
had been carried above by a vine. While at his post in the heavens,
Aponitolau is closely associated with the big star, whose duty it is
to follow him in the sky. Again we are told that Aponitolau is taken
up by the spirit Kabkabaga-an, whom he marries and by whom he has a son
(p. 114). In some instances this hero and his son Kanag converse with
thunder and lightning, which appear at times not unlike human beings
(p. 100); but in the eighth relation the two kinds of lightning are
pictured as dogs who guard the town of Dona.
These people enjoy unusual relations with inanimate things, and we find
them conversing with spears and with jars. [29] In one case the latter
appear to be pastured like animals, and surround Aponitolau when he
goes to feed them with _lawed_ [30] leaves and salt (p. 51). Weapons
weep blood and oil when taken down for the purpose of injuring certain
persons (p. 43). A nose flute, when played by a youth, tells him of
his mo
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