Hudhud Hi Aliguyon (The Tales of

Aliguyon)

In the mountainous hinterlands of Northern

Luzon, a young boy named Aliguyon was
raised well by his father and he grew up to
become a smart and intelligent leader. He also
had the skills and prowess of a brave and
stalwart warrior that children of the villages
often looked up to him as a role model.

Now their tribe had a long standing feud over

territorial boundaries, with another tribe in
another mountain. To settle it once and for all,
Aliguyon challenged the leader of the other
tribe to a duel. However, the leader did not
accept the challenge personally but his son,
Pumbakhayon did, since he was an exact match
to Aliguyon’s capabilities.

Thus, the two warriors faced each other in a battle they were not prepared for. To
Aliguyon’s surprise, his adversary was as skilled and adept as he was. Accordingly, there
was only one spear used because Aliguyon’s initial attempt to slay Pumbakhayon with a
single but powerful thrust of his spear was not successful. Pumbakhayon was able to
catch the spear and used the same weapon by throwing it to Aliguyon with an equally
forceful might. The latter had no other course of action but to catch his spear and hurl it
once more to his opponent.

This duel lasted for three days with nothing transpiring but the swift exchanges of hurls
using only a single spear. On the third day, the two young men decided to stop the
senseless exercise and agreed to talk things over. It became obvious to both of them
that they were equals in every aspect despite belonging to a different tribe. They have
come to respect each other’s skills and intelligence, thus realizing they are capable of
settling their issues wisely. Therefore, the duel ended in a treaty and the two young men
became close friends.

Their tribes and the people all lived harmoniously and peacefully. They emulated their
leaders as they settled their differences by recognizing that each tribal member deserves
to be accorded with respect regardless of tribe or stature.
 Why Do Pineapple Fruits Have
Many Eyes?
There was once a pretty little girl called Piña, who was loved dearly by her mother to the point
of spoiling her. As Piña grew older, she had become lazy, inconsiderate and self-centered. Yet
the mother didn’t mind her daughter’s behavior, because she wanted Piña to depend on her
forever.

One day, the mother fell ill and could not bring herself to cook
food for Piña, while the young girl kept complaining that she was
hungry. This time, Piña's mother had to stay firm for the young
gril's sake. On the other hand, Piña forced herself to go to the
kitchen, grumbling and resentful that her mother was sick.
The girl half-heartedly set out to cook “lugaw" or rice
porridge the way her mother instructed her.

While in the kitchen, Piña kept asking where her mother kept
the things she needed.
“Mother, where is the rice keeper?" The mother had to shout
her answer several times over because Piña took ages before
she could find whatever it was she was looking for.

“Mother, where are the woods for the stove?"

“Mother, where’s the soup ladle?"

Mother, where’s the salt?"

Mother where’s the bowl?"

Note that to all of Piña’s questions, the sick mother had to shout at the top of her lungs, which
only made her feel worse. Feeling weak and exasperated with Piña’s unending questions, the
mother finally lost her temper and let out a curse: “Heaven forbid child! But I call on all the gods
to put eyes all over your face so you can see the things you’re looking for." Tired and weak
Piña’s mother fell asleep.
When the mother woke up, the house was dark and quiet. She called Piña but there was no
answer. The mother willed herself to investigate where Piña could be, but the mother only found
the unfinished cooking task. The mother was saddened by the thought that Piña decided to
leave her, because she was sick and could no longer take care of her daughter.

As she was about to leave the kitchen, she tripped on something that was lying on the floor, all
the while thinking that it was one of Piña’s many things. She picked up the strange looking
object, which was shaped like a human head with tufts of leaves atop its crown.

The mother had an uncanny feeling that the brown circles scattered all over the object reminded
her of Piña’s beautiful brown eyes. Horrified, the mother remembered that she let out a terrible
curse on her daughter before she fell asleep – in fact, she called on all the gods to put eyes all
over Piña’s face. Thus, the strange looking fruit was called “pinya" or pineapple, since Piña
simply vanished into thin air.