Monki, Makil, at ang mga Unggoy

Credits to : "Mindanao Folklore." Seasite. N.p., n.d.

Retold By: C.S. Luiz -- Pen name
Picture from : Ayattousa
Isang araw, may mga unggoy na nagnakaw sa mga anihin ng isang magsasaka.“Mga halimaw,
umalis nga kayo o papatayin ko kayo lahat!” sabi ni Tatay. ”Tay bakit mo tinatakot ang mga
unggoy?” sabi ni anak, “Ikukuwento ko sa iyo ang isang matandang kuwentong-bayan.” sabi ni
Tatay.
‘May isang mag-asawa na si Monki at si Makil na nakatira sa lugar ng Agamaniyog. Ang mag-
asawa ay mga magsasaka sa kagubatan. Sila ay nagtagumpay sa buhay sa pagtatanim ng mga
palay, mangga, lanzones, bayabas, at mga matataas na tubong asukal. Tuwing nahihinog ang
mga palay, prutas at tubong asukal, ang mga unggoy ay dumadalaw sa sakahan upang kainin ang
mga anihin. Sa dalaw ng mga unggoy, nasira ang mga sakahan nila. Ang mag-asawa ay takot na
humarap sa pinuno ng mga unggoy na si Amomantaragaga. Sa ugali ng mga unggoy, ang mga
tao ng Agamaniyog ay takot na takot sa mga unggoy at nagsimulang maghirap ang mag-asawa.
Dahil sawang-sawa na ang mag-asawa sa mga kaasalan ng mga unggoy sila ay nagplano.
Kunwaring namatay si Makil at itinakpan siya ng puting tela habang umiiyak, sumisigaw si
Monki na “matapat po siya na tao, bakit po siya namatay ? Nagtatanim po siya ng mga palay,
prutas at tubong asukal para sa lahat. Nang marinig ito ng mga unggoy, dali-daling ibinalita nila
ito kay Amomantaragaga at napagtanto ni Amomantaragaga na katotohanan ang sinasabi ni
Monki. Biglang pumasok ang mga unggoy sa bahay ni Monki upang patuparin ang mga hangarin
niya.
“Paano po kami makakatulong sa iyo?” Sabi ng mga unggoy.
“Mga kaibigan, hindi siya mamamatay kung tutulungan niyo po siyang umupo,” Sabi ni Monki.
Tinulungan nila si Makil para umupo ng maayos. “Ano pa ba ang iyong kailagan?” Tanong ng
pinuno.
“Masyadong matulungin po kayo mga kaibigan” sabi ni Monki. “hindi po siya mamamatay kung
tutulungan niyo siyang tumayo”. Ipinatayo ng mga unggoy si Makil.
“Paano pa kaming makakatulong sa iyo?” sabi ng mga pinuno ng unggoy.
“Mga kaibigang unggoy, bigyan niyo siya ng kampilan(Long Combat Sword) at pangako ko na
dadami ang mga tubong asukal. Nang makita ni Amomantaragaga, nagtaka at lumabas siya sa
bahay ng mag-asawa. Dahan-dahan nang sinira ni Monki ang pinto at lahat ng mga unggoy sa
bahay ay ipinatay ni Makil. Si Amomantaragaga lang ang nakatakas.
Muling nagplano ang mag-asawa kung paano nila hulihin si Amomantaragaga. Gumawa sila ng
litag(bamboo trap) upang hulihin si Amomantaragaga. Kinabukasan may nahuli ang litag nila,
nang buksan nila ang litag, punong-puno ng galit ang mag-asawa dahil ang nahuli nila ay isang
Tatalaonga
“Bakit ka nandito Tatalaonga?” sabi ni Makil. “Papatayin kita dahil ikaw ang dahilan na hindi
nahuli si Amomantaragaga.
“Huwag mo po akong patayin Ginoo.” Nagpapaawa na Tataloanga “Palayain mo ako at ako
mismo ang papatay ni Amomantaragaga.”
Ipinalaya ni Makil ang Tatalaonga. Namungkahi ang Tatalaonga na gumawa si Makil ng isang
balsa gamit ang tubong asukal. Dinala ni Makil ang balsa sa ilog at bumalsa ang Tatalaonga.
Nadaanan niya si Amomantaragaga at inanyayahan niya si unggoy sa pagbabalsa. Sumakay ang
unggoy at nagpatuloy sila sa kanilang paglalakbay. Kumuha ang Tatalaonga ng isang tubong
asukal sa balsa upang gumalaw, nagkuha ulit siya ng isang tubong asukal sa balsa at ibinigay
niya kay Amomantaragaga. Isa-isa niyang kinain ang mga tubo hanggang sa nalunod sila. Mula
noon ang mag-asawa at ang mga tao ng Agamaniyog ay masayang namuhay.’
Sabi ni Tatay “Sa anumang kalagayan, gagawin natin ang anumang bagay upang matulungan
natin ang ating sarili.”
See Translation

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http://www.seasite.niu.edu/Tagalog/Mindanao_Culture/mindanao_folktales.htm

Maranao folktales, fables, myths, and legends have real as well as imaginary

settings.  The real ones--Egypt, Medina, Baghdad, Johore, Sumatra,
Bandiarmasin, etc.--might be places voyaging ancestors have either visited or
heard of and then told to generations of storytellers and listeners.  The
imaginary settings, on the other hand, are characteristic of the poetic fancies
of a people who live in a time similar to the Homeric Age of oral stories,
songs, and poems.

AGAMANIYOG FOLKTALES

The Agamaniyog Folktales is a collection of popular stories in the oral tradition around

the Lanao region.   Agamaniyog is the most frequent imaginary setting of the popular
Maranao folktales and fables.  Loaned to both Malay and Maranao languages, agama is
originally a Sanskrit word for "religion." The Maranao extended  the meaning of the
word to include a town or village which had land, people, a mosque, wealth, and power
distinct from those of its neighbors.  Niyog is the Philippine word for "coconut," and
so agamaniyog means "land of coconuts."   In many folktales, agamaniyog is a land of
splendor and glory, and a variety of plots and characters are woven into its fabric in
stories that either merely entertain or teach lessons about good and evil. 
Many of the Agamaniyog tales and fables combine pathos, humor, and moral lessons. 
The three selections that are presented here are typical of the story-telling tradition in
the region.

(Source: The Agamaniyog Folktales. Mindanao Art and Culture, Number One, 1979.   Marawi City:
University Research Center, Mindanao State University)

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A Lesson for the Sultan

Long ago in Agamaniyog, the best-known, wealthy

couple were Solotan sa Agamaniyog and his wife, Ba'i sa
Agamaniyog.  They were so wealthy that they owned
almost half of the land in Agamaniyog.  They had large
herds of cows, carabaos, and horses.  One morning, when
the couple went down to the lakeshore to pray, they
happened to pass by the small hut of a poor couple, Lokes
a Mama and Lokes a Babay, who were quarreling and
shouting at each other.

The quarreling couple blamed each other for their misfortune in life.  Lokes a Babay
blamed Lokes a Mama for being lazy and not knowing how to raise a family and to
make a good living.  On the other hand, Lokes a Mama put the blame on his wife who,
he said, did not know how to be thrifty.

Overhearing the quarrel, the Sultan and Ba'i of Agamaniyog stepped in and
admonished Lokes a Mama and Lokes a Babay.  When they got home, the Sultan and
Ba'i of Agamaniyog talked about the quarrel between the poor couple until they
themselves began to argue.  Solotan sa Agamaniyog blamed Lokes a Mama for being
incapable of making life prosperous for his family.  Ba'i sa Agamaniyog put the blame
on Lokes a Babay.  She said, "If Lokes a Mama were well managed by a good wife, he
could be a good husband who could make a good living."
The Sultan and Ba'i could not keep from arguing, each one insisting at being right, until
their argument resulted in a serious quarrel.  Each swore that he/she could reform the
poor couple by managing one of them.  In the heat of their argument, the Sultan and the
Ba'i of Agamaniyog agreed to part ways.

The Sultan brought Lokes a Babay to live with him and Ba'i sa Agamaniyog in turn
went to live with Lokes a Mama.  Before she left the torogan (royal house), she said,
"Someday Solotan sa Agamaniyog will pick up the leftovers of Lokes a Mama."  The
sultan smiled and swore that, as long as he had the strength and the means, such an
event would not happen.

The Sultan offered his new companion everything she wanted.  Lokes a Babay
demanded to have livers of a cow and carabao to eat every day at every meal, and these
were given her.

One day the Sultan of Balantankairan came to visit.  Solotan sa Agamaniyog was very
embarrassed at the dry welcome that Lokes a Babay showed his royal visitor.  She
served neither his visitor nor him.  It was at this time that he became convinced that
Lokes a Babay was lazy and capricious.  He also realized that his wealth had gradually
vanished.

Meanwhile, Ba'i sa Agamaniyog could not even climb up the small hut of Lokes a
Mama because it had no ladder.  When she told him to make one, Lokes a Mama
answered that he had no tools.  She said, "You're really silly. Why don't you have any?"
She gave him her knife and told him to use twigs if that were what it would take to
make a ladder.  Once inside the hut, Ba'i sa Agamaniyog told Lokes a Mama not to
come near her, because in reality she was not yet divorced from her husband but had
only a temporary arrangement with him.  She asked him for food, but Lokes a Mama
could not offer any.   She told him to gather ferns from the forest for dinner.

Ba'i sa Agamaniyog would often send Lokes a Mama to the forest to gather plenty of
firewood.  Sitting by the window one day, she saw a huge tree that stood out from the
others.  She asked Lokes a Mama about it and learned that it was kaya-o
sandana (sandalwood), a very useful tree.  She told him to cut down the tree, chop it to
pieces, separate the branches from the trunk, and store all the pieces under their hut.
The Sultan of Balantankairan was looking for sandalwood.  Lokes sa Mama told him
about the sandana stored in his hut.  He said that in Agamaniyog no one would find
such a tree except the one he had.  The Sultan, very much interested, said he was
willing to pay any price provided there was enough sandalwood to fill his boat.   He
said he was willing to leave behind all that he had in the boat, including his seven
maids and seven servants.  Lokes a Mama immediately led the Sultan to his stored
sandalwood and the Sultan took all aboard his boat, paid Lokes a Mama generously
and left.
Ba'i sa Agamaniyog and Lokes a Mama became rich. A beautiful torogan was soon
erected, and Ba'i sa Agamaniyog ordered two kanter (beds).  She bought a
sultan's tobao (headdress) for Lokes a Mama and changed his name to Maradiya Dinda.
She was always surrounded by her seven maids, and Lokes a Mama, now Maradiya
Dinda, was always escorted by his seven male servants.

One morning Solotan sa Agamaniyog found a tobao and was told that it was Maradiya
Dinda's.  Taking it with him, he went up the torogan of Maradiya and saw him lying in
bed like a sultan, while on the side was his former wife, whose demeanor teasingly
reminded him of the good fortune they had before they were separated.   Upon seeing
him she said, "My dear Solotan, do you remember when I said that someday you will
pick up leftovers from Lokes sa Mama?"

Blinded with tears, the Sultan hardly found his way out and went home. He then
became sickly and nearly died from all his heartaches.

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Monki, Makil, and the Monkeys

There once lived in the sultanate of Agamaniyog a couple

named Monki and Makil.  Their house was built near the
forest.  Monki and Makil were hard workers.  They planted
rice, mango, lanzones, guava, sugarcane, and many kinds of
fruits and vegetables.  Whenever the fruits and rice were ripe
and the sugarcane had grown tall, a large number of monkeys
would come.  They would eat all the rice, sugarcane, and
fruits, and destroy the remaining plants.  One of the monkeys'
leaders was Amomantaragaga.  He was a very big monkey,
and Makil feared him.  The monkeys became a problem of
Monki and Makil as well as of the people of Agamaniyog.

One day Monki and Makil carried out a plan.  Makil let his wife place a piece of white
cloth over his body, cry a kandidiagao (a cry of grief), and say, "Why did Makil die? He
was very good to all the people! He planted sweet fruits and plenty of sugarcane."

When the monkeys heard Monki's cry, they decided to help her.  The leader of the
monkeys said, "We shall help Monki, because it is really true that Makil was a good
man.  He always planted fruits for us."  So all the monkeys went to the house of Monki. 
The leader of the monkeys asked her, "What can we do? Can we help you? Please tell us
how we can help you!"

Monki replied, "Oh, my friends, Makil will not die if you help him sit up."
So they helped Makil sit up.  The leader asked, "Can you tell us what else we can do to
help you?"

"Oh, my friend monkeys, you are very good to me!" continued Monki. "Makil will not
die if you help him stand up."  So they helped him stand up.

"What else can we do, Monki?" asked the leader of the monkeys.

"Oh, my friend monkeys, if you give this kampilan (long combat sword) to Makil, I

promise you that we shall plant more sugarcane just for you," said Monki.  When
Amomantaragaga saw the kampilan he became wary and went out of the house.   As
soon as Makil received the kampilan, Monki closed the door and Makil killed all the
monkeys in the house.  Only Amomantaragaga escaped.

One day Makil and Monki had another good idea.  They made a litag (bamboo trap) in
order to catch Amomantaragaga.  Early in the morning, they went out to see if the trap
had caught the monkey.  In fact it had caught an animal, but it did not look like a
monkey.  They were annoyed when they came near and found out that the animal was
a heron.  This heron was called Tatalaonga.

"Why are you here, Tatalaonga?" asked Makil. "I'll kill you because you are the reason
why I did not catch Amomantaragaga."

"Oh, datu, please don't kill me," pleaded the heron. "If you set me free, I'll go and kill
Amomantaragaga myself!"

So Makil set the heron free.  Tatalaonga asked Makil to make a raft from pieces of
sugarcane.  When the raft was finished, Makil brought it to the river, and Tatalaonga
perched on it.  Drifting along, Tatalaonga passed Amomantaragaga by the banks of the
river and invited the monkey to go rafting with him.  The two continued down the river
on the raft.

Tatalaonga took a piece of sugarcane to use as a pole to move the raft, and then he took
another one and gave it to Amomantaragaga, who greedily ate the pole.  The monkey
ate one cane after another, until only one piece was left.  At that instance, Tatalaonga
flew away and left Amomantaragaga to drown in the river.

Monki and Makil and the sultan of Agamaniyog and his people were happy to be rid of
the pestering monkeys.

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Tiny Bird
 Long ago in the land of Agamaniyog, there lived a couple who
made a living by hunting wild animals and birds with the use of
traps.  It was their habit to set their traps late in the afternoon and
visit them early the next morning.  The husband's name was Lokes
a Mama;  the wife's name, Lokes a Babay.

One night, while Lokes a Babay was fast asleep, Lokes a Mama went out alone to visit
the traps.  He found that his trap, which was set up on a tree, had caught a tiny bird,
while Lokes a Babay's trap, which was set on the ground, had caught a fat deer.   Lokes
a Mama thought of cheating his wife.  He took the fat deer and tied it on the branch
where his trap was set, and he took the bird and tied it on his wife's trap.   Then he went
home to bed.

He woke his wife up very early in the morning and told her that it was time to inspect
their traps.  So together they went.  Lokes a Babay was surprised to see a big fat deer in
the trap up the tree, while her trap on the ground had caught a very small bird. 
Without saying a word she brought home her catch and built a cage for it.   Lokes a
Mama, on the other hand, brought home his catch and cooked it.  He enjoyed his meals
of deer meat for three days without offering anything to his wife.

After three days, Lokes a Mama invited his wife to set their traps again.  So they went to
the same place and set their traps on the same spots.  The wife could not climb a tree, so
her trap was again set on the ground.  That night Lokes a Babay pretended to fall
asleep.  At midnight she heard her husband go down the stairs.   She had an idea about
his purpose but did not bother to follow him; instead, she forced herself to go to sleep. 
In her sleep, she dreamed that her pet bird would lay montias (precious stones) if she
would feed it palay (rice) every day.

The next morning she was again awakened by her husband and invited to see their
traps.   She told him to go alone, pretending she had a headache.  When her husband
had left, she fed her pet bird some palay, and--wonder of wonders!--she saw a shining
little diamond laid by her pet bird.  "I'm rich! I'm rich! I'm rich!" she kept on saying. 
Then she hid her precious stone and went back to bed.

From then on, she would feed her pet bird regularly so that every day she could pick up
a tiny stone from the cage, and her husband would not know about it.

One day she told her husband, "I can no longer stand the way you treat me as a wife.  I
know you have been cheating on me.  For this reason, I agree to a divorce.  From now
on, we will live separately and not disturb each other's lives."
Lokes a Mama felt guilty but only for a moment because he had been wanting to
divorce his wife.  Lokes a Babay bade him goodbye and left to lead a new life while
Lokes a Mama continued his game hunting.

Lokes a Babay built a torogan (royal house) in a nearby settlement.  She had guards and
slaves to serve her.  When Lokes a Mama heard of her good fortune, he wanted to
reconcile with her, but every time he went to see her, the guards would stop him at the
gate.