, and when they looked out doors,
there stood a fine coconut tree close to the house; so they knew that
she had changed to the tree.

75

In the old times there were two flying snakes in the gap of the Abra
river. [376] Many men had been killed by them. So the head man of
Abra invited Malona and Biwag, two very brave men from Cagayan, to
come and help him kill the snakes. They came at once with big bolos,
shields, and the trunk of the banana tree, which they used to fight
with. When they arrived, they were taken to the gap, and the snakes
attacked them. The men fought with the trunk of the banana tree,
and the wings of the snakes stuck to the trunk; so they killed them
easily. When they had killed them, they came back to the leader and
showed him, and he asked what should be their pay. They did not ask
any reward, but the leader gave them gold in the form of deer and
horses. Then they went home, and after that the people of Abra could
pass through the gap.

76

Hundreds of years ago there were two people who were husband and
wife. Their names were Tagapen and Giaben, and they had only one
son whose name was Soliben. Those people came from Ilocos Norte;
they came down to Vigan to pass a while, then came into the Abra
river. When they were in Banoang, they sailed on a raft in the
Abra river to come up to Langiden. When they reached that town,
they stopped there to stay a short time, because Tagapen went to
the town to give thoughts to the people there and to give a nice
face to the girls. When Tagapen was in the town, in Langiden, his
son Soliben was weeping on the raft by his mother. "Sleep, sleep,
sleep, my dear son, because your father is not here yet; it-to-tes,
it-to-tes, so sleep my son, do not weep," said his mother, whose name
is Giaben. When Tagapen came back from the town of Langiden, they began
to sail again until they came to Pidigan. When they reached the town
of Pidigan, they stopped there because Tagapen went to the town to
give a nice face to the ladies and girls. Then his son wept again,
"Oh, dear son, sleep, sleep, sleep; oh, dear son, sleep, sleep,
sleep, for your father is not here yet. When he comes back, he will
get bananas for you to eat. It-to-tes, it-to-tes, it-to-tes, sleep,
Soliben, sleep, my son; do not weep; your father will give you to eat,"
said the mother. In a short time Tagapen came back from the town and
they sailed to come up. When they reached the mouth of the Sinalang
r