The first man and woman in the Philippenes story

The first man and woman in the Philippenes story

Folktale from Philippines

The god Kaptan loved his wife Maguayan very much. They lived together in the sky. They had nothing to do all day except watch the earth below. They watched the sun rise every morning. The earth was bathed in its beautiful golden rays. At night, the moon and stars shone with a silvery light.
Folktale from Philippines

But after some time, they became tired of

watching the something. They began to quarrel. Kaptan said that he wanted to fly to the sun. Maguayan said that she wanted to go to the moon.
Folktale from Philippines

“The sun’s too hot for me,” said Maguayan.

“The moon’s too cold for me,” Kaptan answered

They refused to speak to each other.
Folktale from Philippines

The next morning. When Kaptan woke up, his wife was not there. Although he looked for her everywhere, he could not find her.
Folktale from Philippines

He soon felt very lonely living by himself.

When he looked down at the earth, he remembered how he and his wife had watched it together. He felt very unhappy.
Folktale from Philippines

“The earth is really a lonely place,” he thought to himself. “Why are there no trees and flowers on it?”

He picked up some seeds; and dropped them on the earth. He watched the seeds grow into trees and flowers.
Folktale from Philippines

He was surprised to see that the tallest plant was a bamboo. He watched it carefully. He sprinkled some rain on it.
Folktale from Philippines

“Cr-a-a-ck!” it split open. A man and a woman stepped out. The man was tall and handsome. The woman was fair and beautiful . she reminded him of his wife.
Folktale from Philippines

Kaptan called the man Si Lalaki and the woman Si Kabaye.

Afterwards, he shortened their names to Lalaki and Babae.

They helped him become happy again. Even today, in the Filipino language, men are called lalaki and women babae.
Folktale from Philippines