The Legend of the First Bananas

A Filipino Folk Tale

Long ago, in the village of Seboan, there lived a beautiful maiden named Juana. Her home was
near an enchanted cave in which fairies were said to live. One morning as she was walking near the
cave, she met a young man. He was a stranger, but he stopped and said,” Good morning. May I walk
with you? “As he walked along with Juana, he began to tell her many strange and wonderful things. She
was so charmed and pleased with his manners and beautiful language that she soon forgot that they
had ever been stranger. He, too, felt that she was no longer a stranger, for he had fallen in love with her
at first sight. The next morning, they met again. The young man told Juana that he was really a fairy, a
fairy prince, who had changed himself into a man. Then he told her of the land in which he lived, the
land of make-believe. He talked of how wonderful it would be if he could take her there, but he said
sadly:” You are not a fairy. No one can live in the land of make-believe except fairies.” As he turned to
leave, he said,” Tonight I shall see you for the last time.” That night he came to say goodbye; but when it
was time for him to leave, Juana felt that she could not let him go. She clung to his hands to hold him
back. Even while she was holding them, the fairy vanished, leaving his hands in her grasp. Juana was
frightened and horrified. What should she do with the hands? “I must hide them,” she said. So she ran
and buried them in the corner of the garden and put a small stone nearby to mark the place. Early the
next morning, she went to the garden to see if anything had happened to the buried hands. Near the
stone, she saw a small green plant pushing itself up through the soil. Juana watched it daily and treated
it with the greatest of care. Soon grew in to a tall plant with big fanlike leaves. In a month’s time, some
strange looking fruit appeared on it. The fruit grew in rows like clusters of fingers on a hand. The strange
fruit was the first bunch of bananas in the world.