The story of Lumawig

King of the sky had three sons. The oldest and the youngest c happy working in their father's fields. But the second son, Lumawig, did not want to work as a farmer.

"What do you want to do?" his father asked him.

"I want to go down to earth and live with human beings.

"If you must go down to earth," his father said, "please take all your things with you."

Lumawig then came down to earth. While he was resting the side of a hill, he saw two girls working in the fields. He rated to find out who worked the hardest. "Shine brightly!" ordered the sun.

It soon became very hot.

Lumawig saw that the older of the two girls began to work e slowly. But the younger one continued to work as hard as before.

Lumawig called out to the younger one. "What's your name?"

"Fucan," the girl answered.

"Please give me a bean. "'

Lumawig touched the top of the basket Fucan was carrying It it. The basket immediately became filled with beans. "Who are you?" asked Fucan. "And where do you come from?”

"I am Lumawig, son of the king of the sky. From now on, your name will be Cayapon."

"Why?" Fucan wanted to know. "Who asked you to change my name?"

"Oh, I can do that," said Lumawig. " I'am going to be your husband."

"My husband?" Fucan asked. She was surprised to hear him say that.

"Yes. Please go home and tell your father."

Fucan returned home with her elder sister. She quickly told her father, Batanga, what had happened.

"But do you love this Lumawig?" her father asked. "Yes, father."

"Fetch him here then," Batanga said.

And so the two sisters went back to fetch Lumawig. He was very pleased to hear the news. He picked up a stone which was as large as a house and carried it by himself all the way to the village.

Lumawig sat down by the side of the road. "I'll stay here until your father asks me to meet him."

The girls went home and told their father. He put down the ladder of their house as a sign that Lumawig was welcome.

He liked Lumawig because Lumawig asked for some water as soon as he entered the house. This was a sign of good man­ners among Batanga's people.

Batanga was surprised when he heard that Lumawig could do so many wonderful things.

He had only one pig. But when Lumawig fed it, suddenly it changed into twenty pigs. When Lumawig fed his chickens, they doubled in number.

Not long afterwards, Lumawig and Fucan were married. Fucan's name was changed to Cayapon. They soon became rich because of Lumawig's magic and Cayapon's hard work.

Soon Cayapon's relatives became jealous of Lumawig. "You are a miser," they said. "You have so many pigs but you don't give even one to us."

"Be patient!" said Lumawig. "In a few days, I'll invite you to a big dinner."

When the guests came to the dinner, there was no food or drink. But Lumawig had ordered ten fires and large saucepans to be made ready.

"Is Lumawig joking with us?" they asked one another.

But Lumawig only wanted to show them what he could do.

He clapped his hands. "Let's have some rice!" he said. Five of the saucepans became filled with rice. "Let's have some pigs! " Immediately some animals ran out of the forest towards him. But they were not pigs; they were deer.

"I asked for pigs," Lumawig said. "Go back to where you came from! "

Then Lumawig repeated, "Let's have some pigs!" This time some pigs ran out of the forest towards him. Lumawig smiled. "Since there are so many pigs, each guest may have one for himself."

Everyone ran after the pigs. Before long, each guest had a pig except Cayapon's relatives. "As you were not happy with me," Lumawig told them, "I made it impossible for you to catch a pig."

But later he felt sorry for them. He allowed each of them to catch a pig for himself.

Soon the other five saucepans were full of pig's meat.

After dinner, the women, children and the younger men went home. But the older men remained. They prayed for Lumawig. When they had finished, Lumawig gave them a pig.

After Lumawig had been living in the village for some time, he taught the villagers many things so that they could live bet­ter lives. He showed them how to fish, hunt, and plant rice. He taught them how to make baskets and cloth.

He advised them not to fight but to live in peace with each other and work together.

Finally, Lumawig decided that he had taught them enough. It was time for him to return home.

He told his wife and she agreed to go with him. All the vil­lagers tried to stop them but he said, "My father is waiting for me. He wants to meet my wife. I have now taught you every­thing I know. We must go."