Narrator: A couple named Don Juan and Namongan lived in a
faraway barrio of Nalbuan. One day, Don Juan left his pregnant wife
and went to the mountain to punish a group of Igorots. While he was
in the mountain, Namongan gave birth to a baby boy. The baby was
different from other babies because upon birth he could already
speak. He wanted his name to be Lam-ang. And he was the one who
chosed his godfather when he was baptized.
Lam- ang: Where is my father?
Narrator: Lam-ang asked his mother Namongan one day.
Namungan: He is in the mountain to settle his feud with a group of
Igorots there.
Narrator: said his mother. Lam-ang felt sad. He hadn't seen his father
since he was born and he was terribly longing to see him.
Lam – ang: Would it be long before he comes back?
Namungan: I don't know,
Narrator: answered his lonely mother Namongan who was also
terribly missing her husband. I don't even know if he is still alive.
One day, Lam-ang had an unusual dream. In his dream, he saw how
his father was mercilessly killed by a group of Igorots. He was
seething with anger when he woke up. He decided to follow his
father to the mountain. He was then nine months old, when he
reached the Igorot's village, he saw them dancing around the head of
his father that was on top of a thin bamboo pole. In his rage, he
fought all the Igorots and slew them all, including the leader of the
group whom he tortured first before he killed. On his way home to
Nalbuan, he passed by the Amburayan River. There he took a bath
with his lady friends scrubbing his body of dirt and blood that
eventually killed all the living creatures in the river. When he was
old enough to marry, he heard of the beautiful Ines Kannoyan and
fell in love with her. He went to Ines' place to court her taking with
him his white rooster and his favorite dog. When he arrived at her
house, he was annoyed to see Ines' many suitors in front of the
house.
He asked his rooster to crow (tic tilaok) and the rooster did. At once,
Ines' house crumbled to the ground killing all her suitors. Then
he asked his dog to bark (arf arf) and the dog did. The crumbled
house stood again at once. Ines and her parents went out of the
house to meet him. The white rooster expressed Lam-ang's feelings
for Ines Kannoyan.
White Rooster: My master, Lam-ang, loves you very much and he
wants to marry you,
Narrator: the white rooster said to Ines in the language she clearly
understood.
Ines: I'll marry you if your wealth could equal our
riches, answered Ines Kannoyan.
Narrator: Ines' challenge to him did not dampen Lam-ang's
spirit. He went home at once and came back with a big boat full of
gold, the value of which surpassed Ines' family's wealth. Then they
were married and they lived happily. Years passed and came Lam-
ang's turn to catch a fish known as rarang. It was an obligation of
every married man in the community to catch a rarang. Lam-ang,
however, felt that he would be killed by a berkahan (a kind of fish
that belonged to the shark family) once he set out to catch a
"rarang". But he had to do his duty and one night, he sailed out to
the sea. He was killed by a berkahan as he had foreseen.
Ines wept in sorrow. Lam-ang's white rooster thought of a way to
bring Lam-ang back to life again. Ines Kannoyan paid a deep-
sea diver to locate all the bones of Lam-ang under the
sea. The diver found all the bones very easily and Ines put them
together. Then, together with Lam-ang's white rooster and favorite
dog, she held prayer vigils every night, until one day, Lam-ang came
back to life. And they lived happily ever after.
