Ibong Adarna (English Summary)

Once upon a time there ruled in the Kingdom of Berbania King Ferdinand and his Queen-wife
Valeriana. These monarchs had three sons: Don Pedro, Don Diego and Don Juan. The king
loved Don Juan so much that when one night he dreamed that his son was strangulated by two
men and then thrown into a deep pit, he became ill of a malady which no physician in the
whole kingdom could cure. After some time, however, a learned physician came and told the
King that there was but one remedy to his illness and that was a certain bird called Adarna.
This bird, according to this medicine-man, possessed many colors and sang so sweetly that its
songs would easily cure the king's malady. But catching this bird was not only difficult and
tedious but also deadly dangerous and long. It might mean the death of the ones catching it.
Besides, the bird could be found only at night and only at a certain tree, known as Piedras
Platas, in Mount Tabor (Asia Minor).

Since no physician could prescribe an easier and less dangerous cure, the king, who was
gradually sinking in health, determined to follow this "prescription". He sent his eldest son,
Don Pedro, on that dangerous mission. In obedience to his father, Don Pedro travelled to the
East, crossing mountains, rivers, valleys, plains and other topographical features that separated
Berbania from Mount Tabor. At last, after several months of travel, he reached the place of his
destination. He saw the tree, the Piedras Platas, which, because of its singular beauty, he could
easily distinguish from others. At the end of the day he beheld with his own eyes a multitude
of birds of varying species, from the smallest to the biggest, from the most beautiful to the
most ugly; these flew over his head, alighted at the branches of the many trees near the Piedras
Platas, sang their songs and then went to sleep. But wonder of all wonders! Why was it that in
spite of the beauty of the Piedras Platas and the thousands, of birds that came, not one of them
alighted and rested at that beautiful tree? This was the question that vexed him most. He
waited; still no bird came. He remembered very well that his father's physician had said that
the adarna alighted and rested only in the Piedras Platas. Impatience crept into his heart. He
was tired because of his long journey. He thought that he must have been mistaken. That tree
was not the Piedras Platas. He thought of continuing his journey the following morning. So,
underneath that tree he reclined and was soon fast asleep.

Not much later a bird of wondrous beauty came and alighted at the very tree beneath which
lay Don Pedro in perfect repose. This bird was the adarna itself. It fluttered its wings and tail,
and each time the fluttering was done, its colors changed for the better. Then it sang its
melodious songs in sweet succession, and at the end of the seventh and last song, as was its
wont, it. Unfortunately that defecation fell on the sleeping prince and turned him into stone.

For one whole year the king waited for the return of his son, but of course that son could not
return. Then the king commanded Don Diego to undertake the same mission. This prince
reached the same place, after much hardship and privations. Like his elder brother, he noticed
that tree of singular brilliance. Underneath that tree he awaited the coming of the bird. Being
more patient than Don Pedro, he was able to see the coming of the adarna. In this case he was
more successful than his brother. But did he succeed in catching the bird? No! For while he
was there watching the bird sleep, it began to sing its sweet songs, and these songs were so
sweet indeed that they lulled him to sleep. And when, later, the bird threw his defecation, that
fell unfortunately on the body of Don Diego, who like his elder brother, was turned into stone.
Meanwhile, the king and the entire court waited for the return of the envoys. Days rolled into
weeks; weeks, into months; and months, into years, but neither Don Pedro nor Don Diego
came. The king's ailment was getting worse. Despite this, however, he did not want to send
Don Juan, his dearest son, away on that mission of catching the bird adarna. For the departure
itself alone would cause his death. He would rather live a sick man throughout his life than to
part from his youngest son.

But Don Juan always looked to the day when his father would send him on that errand. And
when three years after the departure of Don Pedro, his father had not called him yet to
undertake the same mission, he came to ask his father to bless him, signifying his intention of
getting the bird himself. King Fernando hesitated, but Don Juan was earnest and
uncompromising. He even threatened to leave the kingdom unnoticed to get that bird, if his
father would not give him the benediction he was asking. Under these circumstances, the king
was forced to send away Don Juan.

In the course of his travel, Don Juan met a leper, who, impressed by the youth's character and
demeanor, gave him help to get what he desired. This same leper appeared to have been the
hermit who was certainly responsible for the success of Don Juan's mission. This hermit lived
in a cottage not very far away from the tree of Piedras Platas. As told by the leper, Don Juan
went to this cottage. This hermit gave the young prince instructions in how to get the bird.
These instructions included the cutting of some parts of the body of the prince and distilling
into these wounds the juice of the seven lemons which the hermit gave to the young man to
prevent the possible drowsiness that might be caused by the melodies of the bird. He was also
told by the old man to evade the defecation which the bird would make after it had sung its
sweet melodies. Then he also provided the young man with the chain of gold by which the
bird would be tied.

Following the instructions of the hermit, Don Juan successfully caught the bird. This hermit
gave him also a golden cage to house the bird. Likewise, it was through the good offices of
this man that Don Juan brought back his two brothers, Don Pedro and Don Diego, to life.
Happily the three brothers journeyed home, bringing with them the bird that would spell the
only cure to the malady of their father.

But what a frailty of the human heart! While the three were on their way home, envious that
Juan was able to do what they had not done, Don Pedro and Don Diego conspired between
them to do away with Don Juan. Don Pedro suggested that they should put Juan to death, but
the other, being of the soberer heart, merely wanted to disable him. This latter suggestion was
the one carried out. So they beat Juan to unconsciousness, and carrying with them the adarna,
they left Juan on the middle of the road, and proceeded on their way home. Arriving home, the
two brothers presented the bird to their father, but it did no appreciable good to the father in as
much as the bird would not sing.

Meanwhile, Don Juan came to his own self. But he was too weak to walk. His prayers to God,
which he presently said, seemed to have been answered by the fortunate passing of an old man
who upon being informed of what had happened cured Don Juan. Then this young man went
back to his country, Berbania. When he arrived at the palace, the bird adarna entirely changed
its aspect. This time it became happy and beautiful. It sang its sweet songs, changed its colors,
and told the story of the three brothers.
In furious anger, the king decreed the death of Don Pedro and Don Diego, but again, Don Juan
saved them. The latter was able to ask pardon for their acts. The king was now rapidly
recovering from his failing health. Meanwhile, these three sons were ordered to watch the bird
at night, by turns. And so envious were the two elder brothers of the favors lavished by the
king on Don Juan that again they conspired against him. One night, during his turn in
watching the adarna, the two brothers came stealthily and let the bird loose. Upon discovering
its loss, and bethinking of the wrath of his father, Juan hurriedly went away.

When King Fernando learned of the loss of the bird and of the disappearance of his favorite
son, he sent the two elder brothers to look for them. They met Don Juan in Armenia, and
because they could not find the bird, they planned to stay there.

One day, while they were thus living in that far away country, they saw an interesting pit and a
long rope near its mouth. So curious were they, that in unison they showed their intention of
finding out what was in it. But common agreement Don Pedro was first lowered by the aid of
the rope, but hardly was he a meter or so below the surface when he ordered his brothers to
pull him up. The same was true with Don Diego. But Juan had a very different story.

His courage and determination enabled him to be lowered to the very bottom of that pit, where
he saw two enchanted palaces wherein dwelt two lovely princesses, whose names were Doña
Juana and Doña Leonora. Love-lorn and discontented with their lives there, these maidens
easily succumbed to Don Juan's offer of love. So they decided to go with him. But before that
could be done, it was necessary for Don Juan to wage two terrific fights victoriously; the first
against a giant who was taking care of Doña Juana, and the second against a seven-headed
serpent who was taking care of the other. Then the three came to the surface of the earth. But
no sooner had they arrived there than Leonora remembered that she had forgotten her diamond
ring in her palace, and asked Juan to get it.

In this instance, the greed of Cain once more manifested itself. While he was being lowered at
the rope by Don Pedro and Don Diego, whom he had saved once from death and resuscitated
too from the grave, Pedro cut the rope, and thus practically threw him to death. Leonor who
loved Don Juan so dearly was about to leap into the pit, but she was prevented by Don Pedro
from doing so. Unable to personally help her lover, because of the intervention of Don Pedro,
Leonora threw her lamb-talisman into the pit with the instructions to help Don Juan in his
necessities. The four – Don Pedro, Don Diego, Doña Juana and Doña Leonora – soon departed
for Berbania, where immediately Don Diego and Doña Juana were solemnly married. As for
the other two, Doña Leonora asked his Majesty, King Fernando, to give her a seven-year grave
and seclusion to enable her to do her promised penance. The truth was that she wanted to wait
for Don Juan.

Meanwhile, let us see the fate of the latter. Through the help of the lamb-talisman which Doña
Leonora threw into the well, Don Juan was cured of his ailments. His dislocations, sprains,
and wounds were cured by the talisman. It was also this talisman that brought a quantity of
water from the Jordan that restored the vigor of Don Juan. Then when the prince had already
found the diamond ring of Leonora, he went back to the surface of the earth, again with the
help of the talisman. Then, deciding to go back to Berbania, he set out for that long journey.
Day after day he set toward that kingdom of Berbania which was always dear to him.

One sultry afternoon, feeling tired, he stopped under a big shady tree to rest; and in a short
time he was soon asleep. While the prince was thus asleep, the adarna arrived, and sang its
beautiful melodies. Then it called and awakened him and told him of the existence of the most
beautiful woman in the world. This woman, whose name was Doña Maria, was the eldest
daughter of King Salermo of the kingdom of the Crystals, which was located near the place of
the rising sun. Having been told by the adarna that Doña Maria would bring honor to the
kingdom of Berbania, Don Juan forgot Doña Leonora and decided to find the Kingdom of
Crystals and win the heart of the princess.

For three full years he wandered in search of that country, but he could not locate it.
Nevertheless his determination remained unchanged. Then he met several hermits. But neither
one of them could tell him of that kingdom, although all of them tried to help him. At last one
of them called an assembly of the animals of all classes, but not one of these animals was able
to tell him of that kingdom. When all the fowls and the birds had been called, the hermit found
one who could help Don Juan. This was the eagle, the king of all the birds.

Don Juan flew with the eagle to the land of the Crystals and after thirty days of continuous
flying, they reached it. Before the eagle left the prince, it informed him of the existence of
crystal baths where the three princesses bathed every afternoon at four. In a hidden bush near
these baths the prince waited and at four in that afternoon, he saw the coming of three
beautiful princesses, who immediately took off their dresses and plunged into the pools, Don
Juan stealthily crept to the place where the most beautiful of the three had left her dress and
stole it.

When the princess – Doña Maria was the name – discovered the outrage, her anger knew no
bounds. Then, from his hiding place, Don Juan sallied forth and bent down on his knees and
begged forgiveness and poured forth with all the vehemence under his command the sincerity
of his love to her. Pleased by his words and actions, Doña Maria also fell in love with him; but
she advised him to beware of the cunning of her father lest he be turned also into stone as the
others who came to woo her and her sisters. Then she pointed the stones that surrounded the
palace, and told him that they were formerly princes, dukes, counts, knights, etc. Then she told
him what he was to do in case her father would call him. She also promised him that whatever
her father would demand of him, she was the one who would perform the task.

On being informed of the presence of the bold prince, the king sent for him. Unhesitating, Don
Juan presented himself and did what was bidden, but he was always careful and conscious of
the advice given him by Doña Maria. As was his wont, the king demanded of the young prince
to perform a series of tests both gigantic and impossible of accomplishment to ordinary
mortals. The first was to plant two basketfuls of wheat-grains on the top of a nearby mountain
after the same had been leveled and to produce of these sown wheat-grains bread sufficient to
be taken in the breakfast by the king and his court the following morning. The second was to
gather in one night a dozen negroes and negreses let loose by the king in the sea and place
them in a big bottle. The third humanly impossible task was to remove in one night a distant
mountain to a place just outside the king's palace so that the following morning when the king
looked at the window he would feel and cool breeze blowing from that mountain. The fourth
task demanded of Don Juan was to transfer that mountain to the midst of the sea and in it
construct a magnificent castle, fortified by bastions, buttresses and mounted cannons, and
fortifies by a number of soldiers. The fifth ordeal given to the prince was the recovery in one
night of a ring which the king would drop into the sea. To all these tests, Don Juan submitted
himself and emerged successful. But his success was of course really due to Doña Maria who
personally performed the humanly impossible tasks, with the aid of her superb-talisman, the
white magic. The last test proved to be the extraordinarily difficult, for in order to look for the
royal ring in the depths of the sea, it was necessary to cut the body of Doña Maria into
innumerable pieces and then throw them into the sea as the only means of recovering the
jewel.

At this instance, however, when her body was being cut into pieces, one of her fingers was
dropped from the aggregate of her flesh, and on that account it was no longer recovered. In
spite of the marvelous performance by the prince of the tasks imposed by the king, the latter
was not pleased. This was due to two reasons. One was his unwillingness to marry off his
daughter, and the second was his hurt pride for having been outdone by the prince in the
supernatural powers shown by the young man. For these reasons, he still imposed another
arduous task, which Doña Maria considered the most dangerous and most delicate. This was
the taming of a horse, which was supposed to be no other than the king himself transformed.

But Doña Maria, who was possessed of a talisman superior to that of her father, was still able
to tame that horse and save her dear prince from veritable death. The following day, as a result
of his terrible adventure, the king was completely tired and exhausted. Calling the prince to his
bedside, he allowed him to choose one of his three daughters as wife, without, however
permitting him to see them in person. He merely told his daughters to insert one of their
fingers into the holes provided in their respective chambers, and from these fingers Don Juan
was to choose his bride. Doña Maria was easily identified, however, by the prince because she
inserted her finger that was cut while they had their adventures in the sea.

The monarch appeared to have been satisfied, but he was still thinking of things to deceive the
price. He was even planning to send the prince to England either to marry him to one of his
(the king's) sisters or to put him to death there. But Doña Maria, through her talisman, knew
this. So she decided to elope with her suitor. She ordered him to direct himself to the royal
stables and take the seventh horse, counting from the left, and prepare the horse for their
elopement that same evening. Unfortunately, in his haste, the prince took the eighth horse.

However, no sooner were they outside the kingdom, than the king knew of their flight. So he
mounted the seventh charger which was the fastest of the king's steeds. Then followed a close
race. The seventh horse proved really the faster of the two in that race. The princess knew that
if they would be overtaken that would also be the undoing of her own life. So, she harnessed
all her supernatural prowess. When they were about to be overtaken, she dropped one of her
needles, which on touching the ground, was converted into an extensive pile of thorns that
necessitated the tenacious king to go a long way round. When later he came in sight of the
fugitives, the princess dropped a cake of soap which became a high filthy mountain, causing
again a long delay on the part of the pursuers. The third time he came close, Doña Maria
dropped a hair pin which converted the distance the fugitive lovers and the pursuing king king
into a wide and deep body of water, which proved too much for the king's horse to pass. Thus
ended the race with the romantic pair as the hero and heroine. Full of remorse and hatred, the
king cursed his daughter so that she might be forgotten by her lover.

At last Doña Maria and Don Juan arrived at the kingdom of Berbania. Here, in a village just at
the outskirt of the kingdom, they halted for a little rest. Don Juan thought that it was not
proper for them to enter the kingdom unheralded much less was it befitting to have Doña
Maria come without the royal and sumptuous welcome. Hence he prevailed upon the princess
to tarry in the village for a while, and in the meantime he went to the kingdom alone with the
intention of informing his father and the royal court of the presence of the illustrious and
learned princess.

But no sooner was he in the midst of the court when he forgot everything about Doña Maria, a
fact which was in accordance with the curse of her father. Princess Leonora, meanwhile, came
out of her seclusion and made known to the Berbanian king her readiness to marry, not Don
Pedro, however, but Don Juan, the newly arrived prince. A little surprised at first but
agreeable later to this proposal for it would not greatly affect the royal line, the king ordered
the big preparation for the wedding – the royal wedding of Don Juan and Doña Leonora.

Outside the kingdom, Princess Maria waited for the return of Don Juan. But the latter did not
come. Through her talisman, she knew of what were taking place in the royal palace. At the
day of the marriage, she therefore ordered her talisman to provide her with the most beautiful
and most dignified royal garments, a royal coach drawn by eight big colored horses, with four
palfreys and other paraphernalia befitting an empress of the first rank. Then she presented
herself at the door of the Berbanian palace, practically inviting herself at the wedding
ceremony of Don Juan and Doña Leonora.

Out of respect to that majestically-looking empress who they believed came from a far-away
land, the ceremony was stopped and gave her a royal reception. Once in, the guest suggested
that a game be played in honor of the betrothed, and that she signified her willingness of offer
a number. The number which she offered consisted of a dance and drama between a negrito
and a negrita contained in a flask which she created from her talisman. In the dance, the
negrita carried a whip by which at certain intervals she flogged her partner whom she called
Don Juan. Dancing and conversation followed alternately, the dance accompanied by sweet
music that came from no where.

In the conversation, the negrita continually reminded the fictitious Don Juan (the negrito) of
the incidents of the adventures of the true Don Juan in the kingdom of the Crystals: the scene
in the baths, the different tests given by the king to Don Juan, and their escape from the
kingdom of Crystals to the kingdom of Berbania. And each time the negrito denied cognizance
of these incidents and of Doña Maria, the negrita mercilessly flogged the negrito. But what
was most strange was the fact that every time, the negrito was whipped the pain was actually
felt by the true Don Juan. When still the negrito denied knowledge of even the scene at the
village just at the outskirts of the Berbanian kingdom, and the true Don Juan kept his silence,
the guest determined to directly punish Don Juan. At this instance, the negrito and the negrita
as well as the music disappeared. Then the guest directly addressed Don Juan with the remarks
that in as much as he had not recognized her, it was time for him to die because of his perfidy.
She at once grabbed the flask and was about to throw the whole kingdom, when Prince Don
Juan, truly repentant, began to recognize the presence of Doña Maria. Then publicly the prince
announced his determination to wed the guest and not Doña Leonora.

Commotion of thought immediately reigned in the king's mind as well as those of the other.
For allowing the prince to marry Doña Maria would be an outrage on Doña Leonora. Then a
battle of wits ensued. Leonora explained how her lamb-talisman saved the life of the price so
that for that reason alone he should marry her. Doña Maria argued her case as forcefully as did
the former. Really both of them saved the life of Don Juan. What was to be done? To marry
both would be un-Christian. But to marry one would prejudice the other. And to marry none
would be an injustice. Besides, the prince was willing to marry one of them. In the midst of
this confusion, the archbishop's advice was finally sought. He voted in favor of Doña Leonora,
invoking the right of priority.

But Doña Maria was determined to fight to the last to save herself. She therefore took
advantage of the power of her talisman by sending all over the Berbanian kingdom an
inundation that would kill all her people. Under these circumstances King Fernando and all his
subjects trembled to their knees and supplicated Princess Leonora to be content with marrying
Don Pedro, the eldest son of the king, a fact which this princess did for the good of all. The
affair ended in a double wedding, those of Doña Maria and Don Juan, and Doña Leonora and
Don Pedro. At the behest of Doña Maria heself, the Berbanian crown was given to Don Pedro
and Doña Leonora. Soon Doña Maria, the heroine, and Don Juan, the hero, returned to the
kingdom of Crystals where they lived and ruled gloriously.