Pre-Spanish Philippine Literature PDF

## 21st Century Literature A Core Subject for Grade Eleven Students Central.Co ### **MET 1: Philippine Literature** #### **Topic 1: Pre-Spanish Literature of the Philippines** **Learning Competencies:** Writing a close analysis and critical interpretation of literary texts and doing an adaptatio...

## 21st Century Literature A Core Subject for Grade Eleven Students Central.Co ### **MET 1: Philippine Literature** #### **Topic 1: Pre-Spanish Literature of the Philippines** **Learning Competencies:** Writing a close analysis and critical interpretation of literary texts and doing an adaptation of these require from the learner the ability to: - Identify the geographic, linguistic, and ethnic dimensions of Philippine literary history from pre-colonial to the contemporary. **Learning Target/s:** - I can define literature. - I can read and identify pre-colonial Philippine literary texts. - I can identify the geographic, linguistic, and ethnic dimensions of pre-colonial Philippine literary history. *** **Engage** Before colonization, the Philippines was greatly influenced by diverse cultures and traditions from traders coming from India and China. The Islamic tradition of our Malayan ancestors from the southern part of the country was established around the 14th century, while an upsurge in literature started during the ruling of Spain and the United States that continued and flourished after the American colonization. This lesson gives a taste of the literature of the past which developed into the literature that we have today. Though their origin is oral tradition, Filipino riddles are considered canon in the Philippine literature. *** **Explore** The Philippines has a unique cultural landscape, one shaped by a myriad of languages and traditions determined by their geographical and linguistic regions. That is why it is not quite right to say that there is just one Filipino culture in describing our literature. Literature in the pre-colonization era is inexplicably vast in that it will never suffice learning only a few of it. But it nevertheless gives us a glimmer of the ways our ancestors lived during the early days. Work and activity songs described how people earn their livelihood like farming, fishing, pottery and a lot more. An example is the popular song by the Tagalogs - Magtanin ay di Biro. The moment you pick up a book and turn its pages it is the moment that you encounter literature. Literature is our connection with our own human experience of life. It is the creative representation and reproduction of what we have lived in and for. It describes, records and shares our experiences, hopes and desires to other people. It is us speaking when we are out of words. Literature comes from the Latin word "litteratura," which means "writing formed with letters". However, literature is not only enclosed in that meaning. Literature is anything and everything that reproduces life experiences. It collects, organizes and sums up the entirety of humanity, occasionally adding more color to it. When other people read literature, they are not just being told of stories; they are being shown events, conflicts, and perspectives, as if being physically present in the literature itself. Oral and written literature were present in our culture even before the colonizers came. We had our own alphabet that our Malayan ancestors used. The written literary forms did not last because of the materials used such as leaves, bamboo canes, and the ground (Mendoza et al, 2016). *** **Explain** #### **Riddles** Riddles are generally poetic in form and come in one, two, three, or four lines. During the pre-colonial period, riddles serve as a form of folk speech and are about the battle of the wits. Riddles use one or more images to refer to an object to be guessed. Commonly, obscure or vague words appear as proper names, fictitious names of animals, also to meet the need of rhyme. Sometimes the riddle may be in the form of a direct question. These riddles are called tigmo in Cebuano, bugtong in Tagalog, paktakon in Ilongo and patototdon in Bicol. More often than not, the more prominent element present in riddles is the use of a metaphor. Riddles describe something by comparing it to another that has no significant relation to it but has similarities. Then anyone can try guessing what the thing being described is. Here are few examples of riddles: **Gaddang:** > Nu mat-tut-lud ay atanang udde; nu mat-tadag ay ibbafa. > If he sits down he is high; if he stands up he is low. **Ilokano:** > Nagcapa dimet nagpadi; Nagcorona dimet nigari. > Gown but not priest; crown but not king. **Ilokano:** > Pito iti taoana; taltallo iti requepna. > There are seven windows; only three shut. **Tagalog:** > Naligo ang capitan hindi nabasa ang tian. > The captain took a bath without his belly getting wet. **Tagalog:** > Ano ang itatawag mo sa biyenang babayi nang asawa nang kapatid mo? > What will you call the mother-in-law of your sister's husband? **Pangasinan:** > Tepac cac tan tepac agnereguel na ybac. > Clapping and clapping but my companions cannot hear me. **Bisaya:** > Isa ca bungsud nga pito ang iya buho. > A small hill having sevel holes. **Bisaya:** > Nagpanilong apang basa. > He is under the shed but is always wet. **Bisaya and Pangasinan:** > Anano nga sapat nga con maglacat, dala nia ang iya balay? > What animal carries his house wherever he goes? **Pampanga:** > Perlas yang maningning a ibat qung mina, nung mibalik ya qung penibatana matda ing ningning na. > A sparkling pearl that came from the mine, in going to its source, lost its brilliancy. **Pampanga:** > Magdala ya laman mete, mamita yang laman mabie. > He carries the flesh of the dead, but seeks the flesh of the living. #### **Folk Narratives** Folk narratives consist of myths, legends, folktales, and epics. Myths are prose narratives explaining how the world and people came to be in their form. These were the first tools man used to define his world. The origin of the surrounding world has always been the object of interest of prehistoric Filipinos. - **Myths** Stories that make use of gods, goddesses, and other fantastical creatures as characters means for our ancestors to explain the occurrence of supernatural events, the beginning of cultural traditions, and the existence of mysteries. A myth may also attempt to explain the origin of the world and of the people. - **Legends** Believed to be historical but cannot be verified as true. Often about famous persons or events may tell of an encounter with marvelous creatures, which the folks still believe in: fairies, ghosts, water spirits, the devil, and the like. - **Folktales** Prose narratives usually told to amuse or entertain. Instructional in nature. Deal with events set in an indefinite time and space. - **Epics** A long narrative poem that describes the adventures of a hero, warrior, god, or king. Influenced by the traditions, culture, beliefs, moral code, and attitudes of the people who created it. *** **Dimensions of Philippine Literary History** | Geographic Dimension | Linguistic Dimension | Ethnic Dimension | | :-------------------- | :---------------------- | :-------------------- | | (Where did the story happen?) | (What are the terms in the passage that represent the community?) | (What are the cultures and traditions of an ethnic group that were being portrayed in the story?) | | (Mindanao) | The names Indarapatra and Sulayman are distinct in Mindanao. | Family members rule over kingdoms by blood. | | Kaharian ng Mantapuli | The names of the enemies Kurita, Tarabusaw, Pah are distincts, too. | Men rulers being very brave and good in fighting. | | Kabilalan | The weapons kris, espada, and juris pakal. | Use of kris, espada, juris pakal in fighting. | | Matutum | | Belief in symbols such as the death of a certain plant that represents someone is also the death of that person. | | Bita | | Birds and other creatures as enemies. | | Gurayu | | Belief in miraculous water that can bring back life. | | | | King letting their daughter be married to another king or someone with high position as a gift or gratitude. | *** **Elaborate** **ACTIVITY #1: Understand the Dimension!** Identify the dimensions of the literary text given. Use the table below as your reference. Present your output creatively in 3-5 minutes (you may include a short role-play of the summary of the story, a video presentation, a song, a powerpoint presentation, or etc.). You will be rated based on: Content - 20 points, Delivery - 10 points, and Creativity - 10 points. Mabel Cook Cole was the compiler and annotator of Philippine Folk Tales published by A.C. McClurg & Co. in 1916. She was the wife of Fay - Cooper Cole and he contributed his photographs of the communities to her book. She spent four years with the different tribes of the Philippines. | Geographic | Linguistic | Ethnic | | :-------------------- | :---------------------- | :-------------------- | | (Where did the story happen?) | (What are the new terms in the passage you encountered that represent the community?) | (What are the cultures and traditions of an ethnic group that were being portrayed in the story?) | *** **Group 1:** **"The Widow's Son"** **By Mabel Cook Cole** **Told by the Subanun Tribe *(Mindanao)* ** In a little house at the edge of a village lived a widow with her only son, and they were very happy together. The son was kind to his mother, and they made their living by growing rice in clearings on the mountain side and by hunting wild pigs in the forest. One evening when their supply of meat was low, the boy said: "Mother, I am going to hunt pig in the morning, and I wish you would prepare rice for me before daylight." So the widow rose early and cooked the rice, and at dawn the boy started out with his spear and dog. Some distance from the village, he entered the thick forest. He walked on and on, ever on the lookout for game, but none appeared. At last when he had traveled far and the sun was hot, he sat down on a rock to rest and took out his brass box to get a piece of betel-nut. He prepared the nut and leaf for chewing, and as he did so he wondered why it was that he had been so unsuccessful that day. But even as he pondered he heard his dog barking sharply, and cramming the betel-nut into his mouth he leaped up and ran toward the dog. As he drew near he could see that the game was a fine large pig, all black save its four legs which were white. He lifted his spear and took aim, but before he could throw the pig started to run, and instead of going toward a water course it ran straight up the mountain. The boy went on in hot pursuit, and when the pig paused he again took aim, but before he could throw it ran on. Six times the pig stopped just long enough for the boy to take aim, and then started on before he could throw. The seventh time, however, it halted on the top of a large flat rock and the boy succeeded in killing it. He tied its legs together with a piece of rattan and was about to start for home with the pig on his back, when to his surprise a door in the large stone swung open and a man stepped out. "Why have you killed my master's pig?" asked the man. "I did not know that this pig belonged to anyone," replied the widow's son. "I was hunting, as I often do, and when my dog found the pig I helped him to catch it" "Come in and see my master," said the man, and the boy followed him into the stone where he found himself in a large room. The ceiling and floor were covered with peculiar cloth that had seven wide stripes of red alternating with a like number of yellow stripes. When the master of the place appeared his trousers were of seven colors, as were also his jacket and the kerchief about his head. The master ordered betel-nut, and when it was brought they chewed together. Then he called for wine, and it was brought in a jar so large that it had to be set on the ground under the house, and even then the top came so high above the floor that they brought a seat for the widow's son, and it raised him just high enough to drink from the reed in the top of the jar. He drank seven cups of wine, and then they ate rice and fish and talked together. The master did not blame the boy for killing the pig, and declared that he wished to make a brother of him. So they became friends, and the boy remained seven days in the stone. At the end of that time, he said that he must return to his mother who would be worried about him. In the early morning he left the strange house and started for home. At first he walked briskly, but as the morning wore on he went more slowly, and finally when the sun was high he sat down on a rock to rest. Suddenly looking up, he saw before him seven men each armed with a spear, a shield, and a sword. They were dressed in different colors, and each man had eyes the same color as his clothes. The leader, who was dressed all in red with red eyes to match, spoke first, asking the boy where he was going. The boy replied that he was going home to his mother who would be looking for him, and added: "Now I ask where you are going, all armed ready for war." "We are warriors," replied the man in red. "And we go up and down the world killing whatever we see that has life. Now that we have met you, we must kill you also." The boy, startled by this strange speech, was about to answer when he heard a voice near him say: "Fight, for they will try to kill you," and upon looking up he saw his spear, shield, and sword which he had left at home. Then he knew that the command came from a spirit, so he took his weapons and began to fight. For three days and nights they contended, and never before had the seven seen one man so brave. On the fourth day the leader was wounded and fell dead, and then, one by one, the other six fell. When they were all killed, the widow's son was so crazed with fighting that he thought no longer of returning home, but started out to find more to slay,. In his wanderings he came to the home of a great giant whose house was already full of the men he had conquered in battle, and he called up from outside: "Is the master of the house at home? If he is, let him come out and fight." This threw the giant into a rage, and seizing his shield and his spear, the shaft of which was the trunk of a tree, he sprang to the door and leaped to the ground, not waiting to go down the notched pole which served for steps. He looked around for his antagonist, and seeing only the widow's son he roared: "Where is the man that wants to fight? That thing? It is only a fly!" The boy did not stop to answer, but rushed at the giant with his knife; and for three days and nights they struggled, till the giant fell, wounded at the waist. After that the widow's son stopped only long enough to burn the giant's house, and then rushed on looking for someone else to slay. Suddenly he again heard the voice which had bade him fight with the seven men, and this time it said: "Go home now, for your mother is grieved at your absence." In a rage he sprang forward with his sword, though he could see no enemy. Then the spirit which had spoken to him made him sleep for a short time. When he awoke the rage was spent. Again the spirit appeared, and it said: "The seven men whom you killed were sent to kill you by the spirit of the great stone, for he looked in your hand and saw that you were to marry the orphan girl whom he himself wished to wed. But you have conquered. Your enemies are dead. Go home now and prepare a great quantity of wine, for I shall bring your enemies to life again, and you will all live in peace." So the widow's son went home, and his mother, who had believed him dead, was filled with joy at his coming, and all the people in the town came out to welcome him. When he had told them his story, they hastened to get wine, and all day they bore jarsful to the widow's house.. That night there was a great feast, and the spirit of the great stone, his seven warriors, the friendly spirit, and the giant all came. The widow's son married the orphan girl, while another beautiful woman became the wife of the spirit of the stone. *** **Group 2:** **"The Children of Limokon"** **By Mabel Cook Cole** **Told by the Igorot Tribe** In the very early days before there were any people on the earth, the limokon *(a kind of dove)* were very powerful and could talk like men though they looked like birds. One limokon laid two eggs, one at the mouth of the Mayo River and one farther up its course. After some time these eggs hatched, and the one at the mouth of the river became a man, while the other became a woman. The man lived alone on the bank of the river for a long time, but he was very lonely and wished many times for a companion. One day when he was crossing the river something was swept against his legs with such force that it nearly caused him to drown. On examining it, he found that it was a hair, and he determined to go up the river and find whence it came. He traveled up the stream, looking on both banks, until finally he found the woman, and he was very happy to think that at last he could have a companion. They were married and had many children, who are the Mandaya still living along the Mayo River. *** **Group 3:** **"The Creation"** **By Mabel Cook Cole** **Told by the Igorot Tribe** In the beginning there were no people on the earth. Lumawig, the Great Spirit, came down from the sky and cut many reeds. He divided these into pairs which he placed in different parts of the world, and then he said to them, "You must speak." Immediately the reeds became people, and in each place was a man and a woman who could talk, but the language of each couple differed from that of the others. Then Lumawig commanded each man and woman to marry, which they did. By and by there were many children, all speaking the same language as their parents. These, in turn, married and had many children. In this way there came to be many people on the earth. Now Lumawig saw that there were several things which the people on the earth needed to use, so he set to work to supply them. He created salt, and told the inhabitants of one place to boil it down and sell it to their neighbors. But these people could not understand the directions of the Great Spirit, and the next time he visited them, they had not touched the salt. Then he took it away from them and gave it to the people of a place called Mayinit. These did as he directed, and because of this he told them that they should always be owners of the salt, and that the other peoples must buy of them. Then Lumawig went to the people of Bontoc and told them to get clay and make pots. They got the clay, but they did not understand the moulding, and the jars were not well shaped. Because of their failure, Lumawig told them that they would always have to buy their jars, and he removed the pottery to Samoki. When he told the people there what to do, they did just as he said, and their jars were well shaped and beautiful. Then the Great Spirit saw that they were fit owners of the pottery, and he told them that they should always make many jars to sell. In this way Lumawig taught the people and brought to them all the things which they now have.