The Life of Lam-ang

A long time ago there lived in the lush valley of Malbuan along the
bank of Naguilian river in La Union a couple named Juan Panganiban and
Namongan. They were the riches residents in the whole countryside. But
despite their wealth, they remained kind and accommodating. A few
months after their marriage, Namongan conceived. She asked her husband
to look for her some ripe tamarinds, guavas, oranges, coconuts, and many
others which were out of reason. For food she insisted that Juan gather
river snails for her.
On the seventh month of pregnancy, Namongan felt the baby
moving inside her belly. She knew she would soon be giving birth. So she
had Juan prepare the balitang or bamboo bed. Obligingly, Juan set out for
Mt. Kaparian to cut some bamboos. Upon reaching the foot of the
mountain he saw an ideal clump – a crowd of tall, green bamboo trees. He
circled this clump several times and asked the permission of the spirits of
the hillsides to allow him to cut several long bamboos for the balitang of
his wife. Then he called upon the north wind to help him. The wind
responded to his call. It tore the clouds for rain and blew the bamboo trees.
The rain loosened the earth and the bamboos fell. Juan cleaned these and
again commanded the wind to carry them to Malbuan. Accordingly, the
wind blew the bamboo poles and these flew through the air, landing in
files in front of Juan’s house.
Arriving home, Juan prepared the needed things for delivery. He
constructed the bed, gathered sweet smelling shrubs, and secured a jar for
rice wine. Then he built a stove. This done he looked for a pot in which to
put the kadkaddua or placenta of the new born child.
At about this time, the tattooed Igorots came and attacked the village
of Malbuan. These hill people killed all the men and brought home all the
women they encountered. The news reached Juan. He immediately left
his about-to-deliver wife and went after the Igorots. He pursued these
marauding highlanders even to the deepest part of the mountains. That
was the last time the people saw him; he never returned.
Back in Malbuan, Namongan labored in pain. All the midwives in
the village were called to assist. Old Marcos, the diver Alistom and the
rich man Pasyo were there. Namongan moaned from paon. She had a hard
time giving birth and this worried everyone in the house. At last they
called an old woman, indeed a very weak woman, to assist in the delivery.
Without much trouble, the old woman was able to help Namongan deliver.
Upon seeing the light of the world, the baby spoke. Everyone was
surprised. They could hardly believe what they heard. The infant told
them that he desired to be named Lam-ang should he be baptized. He
further directed his mother to have old Guiban stand as sponsor. So the
baby was baptized Lam-ang and old man Guiban was his godfather.
When young Lam-ang was a few months old, he began looking for
his father. He inquired from his mother his father’s whereabouts.
Namongan was at first reluctant to tell the child about his father but Lam-
ang was very insistent. With a heavy heart, Namongan related to the child
the ill-fated encounter his father had with the tattooed Igorots. Lam-ang
swore to avenge the death of his father.
By the time Lam-ang was nine months old, he was already possessed
with the strength of a grown up man. His arms were full and sinewy. The
people in the village were afraid of him.
One day, Lam-ang bid his mother goodbye. He told her he would be
away to look for his father’s body. In spite of Namongan’s objections,
young Lam-ang departed. He took along with him a magic stone from the
banana stalk, a wild cat, a big bird (tangabaran), a singing bird
(lawlawigan), and a civet cat (the musang).
With the use of the magic stone given to him by the centipede, Lam-
ang traversed the plains and climbed mountains without much difficulty.
He even rode on the mountain wind. On and on he travelled. At last he
arrived in a lush valley at the side of a flowing river. Here he rested
beneath the shade of a big tree. He opened his bag, took out some rice and
cooked his lunch. After eating, he reclined against the tree trunk and went
to sleep. In his slumber, he saw the tattooed Igorots dancing around the
head of his father. Waking in sudden anguish, the young Lam-ang
continued his way until he came to a village near Mamadili and Dagan.
Here he encountered the tattooed and dark Igorots he saw in his dream.
Near the gate of the fence which surrounded the village, Lam-ang saw his
father’s head stuck upon a sarukang or bamboo pole.
When the young man asked the tattooed highlanders why they
murdered his father, the latter advised him to go home or else he would
suffer the same fate as his father. Angered, Lam-ang challenged all of
them to come out and fight him. His cry was heard by the villagers from
Dardarat, Pandang, Nueva, Dagodog, Tapaan, Mamookan, Kawayan,
Aman-gabon, Gambang, Lipay, Kapariaan, Suking, Sasaba, Tebted and
Bakawayan: They all came out and met the challenger.
The Ilokano hero went into the open plain and waited for the killers
of his father. The highlanders came rushing at him, armed with spears.
Lam-ang invoked the power of his magic stone to protect him. Spears fell
upon him like rain but he remained unhurt until the Igorots ran out of
spears. Knowing that it was his turn, Lam-ang took his long bolo and
thrusting it on the fertile earth, he summoned the wind to his aid. The wind
came and carried him on its back. With his double-edged bolo, Lam-ang
lashed at the Igorots who fell like banana stalks. He was able to kill all his
adversaries except one whom he seized alive for fun. He tore the
prisoner’s hair, pulled his teeth, and plucked his eyes. Then he sent this
Igorot back as a warning to the others. After this encounter, he went home.
Upon reaching home he summoned all the girls in the village to
accompany him to the river where he would take a bath. Lam-ang told
them to help him remove from his back the dirt and blood which he had
gathered during his gory encounter with the tattooed Igorots. The girls
agreed and they first cleaned the palay in the granary so they could have
the straw with which to wash Lam-ang’s hair.
Arriving at the river, the maidens burned the straw. Lam-ang called
upon the wind to fan the flames. The bonfire was so big that the residents
of San Juan and Bacnotan ran to the river to find out. But when they saw
Lam-ang, they returned home. The young man called the rain to put out
the fire. Then he gathered the ashes and proceeded to the middle of the
river and washed his hair. The fish were poisoned and these floated
downstream. The shrimps and eels and other freshwater animals came
ashore.
After washing his hair clean, Lam-ang dived into the deepest part of
the stream and fought the crocodiles. He successfully subdued these
horrors of the river and he carried them on his back as he swam to the
bank. The women, upon seeing him unhurt, cheered. The river turned red
with the blood of the crocodiles which Lam-ang had killed. Upon reaching
shore, he commanded the girls to remove the crocodile’s teeth for charms
against all dangers. Then they returned home.
Having rested, Lam-ang put on his precious clothes and prepared his
pets: a white rooster, a hen with yellowish-orange legs, and a dog with
colored hair around the neck. He tied his pets with nine chains of fine
gold. Namongan inquired where Lam-ang was going and the young man
answered his mother that he was heading for Kalanutian to pay court to a
beautiful maiden named Ines Kannoyan. His mother discouraged him
because she wanted the young man to choose among the maidens from
the village. However, Lam-ang’s pets answered Namongan that Ines was
the right girl for their master. They were sure that Lam-ang would be able
to win the famed beauty of Kalanutian. Despite herself, Namongan had to
bless her son’s trip.
 On the way, Lam-ang met Sumarang, a huge and powerful man with
eyes as big as plates. The monster was returning from Kalanutian where
he suffered failure in his attempt to woo the fair Ines. He was rejected by
the maiden. Upon knowing that Lam-ang was headed for Kalanutian,
Sumarang advised the Ilocano hero to go home if he desired not to
experience the same fate. Lam-ang, however, was undaunted in his
pursuit. Despite Sumarang’s threats he insisted on going. Angered,
Sumarang shot him at the back with a poisoned arrow. However, the
young man was quick to sense the treachery and he escaped the fatal aim.
He caught the arrow and returned it to Sumarang. Then he called the wind
which carried his magic spear. With this weapon, Lam-ang dealt a blow
to Sumarang. The huge man was carried nine hills away.
Having vanquished Sumarang, Lam-ang resumed his journey.
Further on the way, he met the enchantress Sarindan, who asked him to
tarry awhile and chew betel with her. However, sensing danger, Lam-ang
brushed the temptress aside. His hear was all set for the lovely Ines.
When Lam-ang arrived at Kalanutian he saw a crowd of suitors
gathered in front of Ines’ house. They were so numerous that their spears
looked like blades of cogon grass. Lam-ang devised a way by which he
could talk to Ines. Walking near the yard, he asked his rooster to flap its
wings. The fowl did so as told. The wind from its wings toppled the small
hut standing near Ines’ house. The maiden ran to the window to find our
when she heard the noise. The dog of Lam-ang growled and the hut stood
again, unharmed. Ines was held spellbound. She knew the new arrival had
powers. Everyone present in the yard also sighed with wonder. Ines’
mother ran to the window when she heard the people sigh. Seeing what
Lam-ang had done, she told her daughter to go down and meet the Ilocano
hero.
Lam-ang embraced Ines when the maiden came to welcome him.
The other suitors were surprised. They were jealous, but, realizing the
powers of Lam-ang, they only left in disgust. Ines and Lam-ang went into
the house and sat on a guilded chair by the window. Ines’ mother went to
the kitchen and cooked lunch. She cooked the food in a magic pot. Then
she butchered her fat caponized rooster. When lunch was ready, Ines and
Lam-ang ate together, sharing the same plate.
After the meal, Ines requested her mother to secure some laughing
nuts from the areca nut palm tree whose leaves smiled. Lam-ang chew
these nuts with betel leaves. Ines’ mother also gave Lam-ang tobacco
leaves from Cagayan for him to smoke.
After Lam-ang had chewed the nuts and smoked the tobacco leaves,
Ines’ mother asked him about the nature of his coming. The rooster was
the one who answered the old woman. It told the woman that they came
to ask Ines to be their master’s wife. The old woman countered that she
had no objections if Lam-ang could offer her daughter a dowry equal to
their wealth (the stones in Ines’ yard were gold; the maiden had two toy
balls made of solid gold and aside from these, the family owned a wide
tract of land and many other possessions).
Lam-ang replied that his wealth could equal Ines’ own riches. He
told Ines’ mother that he owned wide fishponds, that his parents’ wealth
was nine times worth the riches of his beloved, that he, too, had two
golden ships which plied the seas between Luzon and China, and that he
had commercial trade with the chieftains of Puanpuan.
The proposal accepted, Lam-ang went home and prepared for the
wedding. Before he left, he told Ines that his return to Kalanutian would
be announced by two cannon shots from his ships. These shots would
indicate that Lam-ang and his party had arrived in Sabangan, a seaport
along the coastline of Kalanutian, Ines’ hometown.
Reaching Malbuan, Lam-ang beat the gong to gather his
townspeople and to invite them to his forthcoming wedding. Meanwhile,
the rooster related to Namongan the success of their mission. Namongan
was delighted to hear the news. She prepared for her would-be daughter-
in-law gifts consisting of gold embroidered slippers, a wedding ring
studded with a precious diamond, two gold combs, bracelets, and a
complete bridal trousseau. When the people had gathered, Lam-ang told
them to come along with him to attend his wedding in Kalanutian. They
rode in his golden ships.
Two shots were fired to announce Lam-ang’s arrival. The
townspeople of Kalanutian went to the shore to meet the new arrivals. The
following day, Lam-ang and Ines were married in a ceremony solemnized
in a church. A mass for the happiness of the pair was said. The people,
after feasting, danced the fandango and the sagamantika.
After the festivity, Lam-ang was required, as was the custom of the
people in Kalanutian, to go fishing in the nearby. The night before the
appointed day came, Lam-ang confided to Ines that he has a feeling that
he would be swallowed by a shark. He also told his wife that she would
know of this impending danger by the following signs: the staircase would
dance, the kitchen would topple over, and the stone would be broken to
pieces.
The following day, despite the pleadings of Ines, Lam-ang went to
the sea. He took off his clothes and dived into the deeper part of the sea.
But he was unable to make any catch. He went back to the shore to take a
breath. And when he made a second dive, he fell into the mouth of a
berbakan (shark). The signs of the incident appeared to Ines, and the poor
woman wept and wept.
Lam-ang’s pets comforted her, saying that they could restore their
master to life again. The first thing to do was to gather the bones from the
bottom of the sea. Ines sought out Marcos the diver and requested him to
gather Lam-ang’s bones beneath the sea.
Marcos swam deep into the water. After several hours of searching,
he found the bones and brought these ashore. The rooster told Ines to
cover the bones with her skirt and to turn her back. This done, the rooster
crowed. The hen flapped its wings. The covered bones moved. Then the
dog growled, passing its foot among the bones. Suddenly, Lam-ang rose
as though he merely woke up from a deep slumber. Embracing his wife,
he said: “Oh how could I have slept so soundly?”
Ines cried with joy. She told her husband that he did not sleep but
that he had been eaten by a shark. Lam-ang merely shook his head. They
rewarded the faithful diver. And gathering their pets in their arms, Lam-
ang and Ines went home and lived happily ever after.