At the end of the lesson, you must be able to:

a. analyze the material viewed,

b. draw comparison and similarities from creation
stories, and
c. appreciate literature as a means of connecting to
the past.
Tungkung Langit
and Alunsina
(A Panayan Story of
Creation)
Once upon a time, the earth was but a shapeless,
formless void.
 Then, from the depth of
this formless void,
there appeared
the God,
Tungkung Langit.
and the Goddess,
Alunsina.
a. How did the speaker describe the earth?

b. Who are the characters mentioned in the

story?

c. Who is Tungkung Langit? How about

Alunsina?
 The old Visayan folklore states that
Tungkung Langit fell in love with Alunsina.
 After he had courted her for
many years, they married and
made their home in the
highest part of heaven.
 There the water was always warm and the breeze
was forever cool, not a bad weather was in sight, and
the couple was happy.
In this place in the heavens, order and regularity
began.
a. Based on the Visayan folklore, how did
Tungkung Langit and Alunsina meet?

b. How can you describe their marriage?

Tungkung Langit was a loving, hard-working god.
 He wanted to impose order
over the confused world. He
decided to arrange the world so
that the heavenly bodies would
move regularly.
 On the other hand,
Alunsina was a lazy, jealous,
selfish goddess.
 She sat at the window of their
home all day doing nothing but
brush her long beautiful hair.
Sometimes she would leave
her home, sit down by a pool
near the door, and comb her
long, jet-black hair all day long.
a. How will you describe Tungkung Langit as a
God?

b. How about the characteristics of Alunsina?

c. What are the things she used to do all day?

 One day, Tungkung Langit told
his wife that he would be away for
some time.
He said he must make time go on
smoothly and arrange everything in
the world and will not return for a
long time.
 Alunsina thought he was off to
see a lover, so she summoned the
breeze to spy on Tungkung
Langit.
Tungkung Langit caught the
spying breeze and he became
very angry with Alunsina.
 After he returned home, he told
her that it was ungodly of her to be
jealous since there were no other
gods in the world except the two of
them.
a. Why Tungkung Langit would be away for
some time?
b. Why did Alunsina summon the breeze to spy
on Tungkung Langit?

c. What was the reaction of Tungkung Langit

upon knowing that Alunsina ordered the
breeze to spy on him?
 Alunsina resented this reproach,
and they quarreled all day. In his
anger, Tungkung Langit drove his
wife away.
 And with that, Alunsina
suddenly disappeared, without a
word or a trace to where she
went.
 A few days passed, Tungkung Langit felt very lonely and
longed for his wife. He realized that he should not have lost his
temper. But it was too late, Alunsina is gone. Their home which
was once vibrant with Alunsina's sweet voice, his home became
cold and desolate.
 In the morning when he woke up, he would find himself alone. In
the afternoon when he came home, he would feel loneliness
creeping deep within him.
a. What did Tungkung Langit do to punish
Alunsina for spying on him?

b.What did Tungkung Langit realize after he

drove away his wife?
 For months Tungkung Langit lived in
utter desolation. Try as he did he could
not find Alunsina.
And so in his desperation, he decided
to do something to forget his sorrow and
win back his wife’s favor.
So he came down to earth and planted
trees and flowers that she may notice it,
but she still didn’t come home.
 Then in desperation, he took his
wife's jewels and scattered them in
the sky. He hoped that when
Alunsina should see them she might
be induced to return home.
a.How did Tungkung Langit live his life after
Alunsina disappears?

b.In his desperation to make Alunsina return

home, what did he do?
 Alunsina's necklace became the
stars, her comb the moon, and her
crown the sun.
 But in spite of all his efforts, Alunsina did not return home.
Until now, as the story goes, Tungkung Langit lives alone in his
palace in the skies and sometimes, he would cry out for
Alunsina and his tears would fall down upon the earth as rain
and his loud voice, calling out for his wife, was believed to be
the thunder during storms, begging for her to come back to
their heavenly palace once more.
a. What happened to the jewelries that Tungkung
Langit scattered in the sky? Did it make
Alunsina return home?

b.How does the folktale end? Did the ending

change your perception of rain and thunder?