Mount Mayon literature files

The following is material the originally appeared in Instructional Minutes on "The Legend of Mount Mayon" under Philippine Literature. The story can be read here. I decided to transfer these "alternate" stories here so that students can focus on the "main" story. Both materials come from blogs.

The first blog, MountMayon.Blogspot.com, tells another version of the story: It still involves the rivalry for the hand of the titular maiden and ends with her tragic deathwhich gave rise to the majestic mountain which bears here name.

The other blog now exists only as a cached Yahoo! archive. It appears to contain original and modern material. It connects the Mount Mayon legend with another literature from the Bicol region: the epic-fragment Ibalong.

I guess the legends have come to us in the same way. Our forebears passed the story from generation to generation. And each generation embellishes the story before passing it on the next. Had there been blogging during the Pre-Spanish period, I would not be surprised that there would be blogs giving different versions of the same epic or legend.

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Another version of the legend (from http://www-mountmayon.blogspot.com/) is also between two rivals for the hand of Magayon: Matapang (‘brave’), a man who was not of noble birth, and Maraut, a rich but boastful chief from a neighboring tribe. Again, the family of Magayon favored Maraut over Matapang. Matapang and Magayon decide to run away and elope. But they were intercepted by Maraut. Matapang was felled by an arrow. Magayon continued to run but was bitten by a poisonous snake. She was buried by her father, but overnight over her grave had risen a mountain with a perfect cone.

Yet another version (from an archived Yahoo! Geocities site), written by Lorna Salvosa Agpay, that seems to connect the story of Magayon with Handiong, one of the heroes of the Bikol epic Ibalong. Magayon and Handiong belong to rival tribes but they fell in love. This caused a bloody war between their two tribes. This caused the couple so much pain that they decided to commit suicide. Over the grave of Magayon rose the volcano that now bears her name. The author included a poem, written in two languages, of the love of Daragang Magayon for Handiong.

Ang Pag Ibig Ni Daragang Magayon

Hango sa Alamat ng Bulkang Mayon

ni Lorna Salvosa Agpay

Para Sa Aking Handiong,

Sa Simbahang Luma

Daraga, Albay

Oktubre 21, 1999

Aking pagibig, tangi kong mahal

Sa ating tipanan ako’y naghihintay

Bawat oras, at minutong dumaan,

Larawan mo hirang aking inaasam

Itong simo’y ng hanging umaaliw sa akin

Sinugo ko na mahal, upang ika’y sunduin

Sa bawat takbo nitong aking orasan

Nanaginip akong kaharap ‘yong  larawan

Aking sinta, tanging iniibig

Kalungkuta’y lagi nang kaniig

Mula ng magbiro kapalaran sa atin

At ika’y ilayo sa aking piling

Handiong aking sinta,

Sa aking piling, magbalik ka

Itong aking luha, iyong pahirin

Aking pag ibig magbalik sa akin

Hawak ko pa mahal, itong ating punyal

Simula ng itarak, lagi nang kaulayaw

Simula ng dumaloy, dugo ng kamatayan

Tanging kong kapiling, bulkang aking libingan

Mahal magbalik ka, hanguin ako sa aking libingan

Sirain ng pagmamahal, kaytaas na bulkan

Aking sinta, tangi kong pagibig

Sirain mong lahat ng sa ati’y balakid

Sa ibabaw nitong kaylungkot na simbahan

Hinihintay pa rin kita, o aking mahal.

The Love of Daragang Magayon

From the legend of Mayon Volcano

by Lorna Salvosa Agpay

For My Handiong

In the old church

Daraga, Albay

October 21, 1999

My love, the only one in my life

In our place , I patiently wait

Every hour and every minute that pass

Your nearness my darling, is the only thing I ask

This whispering wind, that delights me

I behest my darling, to whisper to thee

Every tick of the clock, every movement

I am dreaming of myself holding you near

My love, my only one

Agony has been my husband

Since fate has cursed our love

I’ve been the melancholy’s wife

Handiong, my beloved

Come back to me, can’t you see?

I need you to wipe away my tears

Only your love can take away my fears

I still have it my love, this knife

It pierces, it stabs, leaving me hugging death

The blood, the blood that killed

Now I resides in my volcano grave

My love, please come back, take me from my grave

Destroy it with your love,

My only one,

Destroy everything that hinders our love

In this old church, our meeting place

I am still waiting for you, oh love of my life

Agpay, L. S. (1999). “The Legend of Magayon”. Blog: Bundok Philippines. Cached Yahoo! Geocities website. Accessed: August 17, 2013. URL: http://www.webcitation.org/query?url=http://www.geocities.com/yosemite/3712/tmagayon.html&date=2009-10-26+03:12:49.

 

Username “striker”. (September 2, 2008). “Legend of Mount Mayon” Blog: Mount Mayon. Accessed: August 17, 2013. URL: http://www-mountmayon.blogspot.com/2008/09/legend-of-mount-mayon-3.html.