In the Beginning

_Bilaan_ (_Mindanao_)

In the beginning there were four beings, [131] and they lived on an

island no larger than a hat. On this island there were no trees or

grass or any other living thing besides these four people and one

bird. [132] One day they sent this bird out across the waters to

see what he could find, and when he returned he brought some earth,

a piece of rattan, and some fruit.

Melu, the greatest of the four, took the soil and shaped it and beat

it with a paddle in the same manner in which a woman shapes pots of

clay, and when he finished he had made the earth. Then he planted

the seeds from the fruit, and they grew until there was much rattan

and many trees bearing fruit.

The four beings watched the growth for a long time and were well

pleased with the work, but finally Melu said:

"Of what use is this earth and all the rattan and fruit if there are

no people?"

And the others replied, "Let us make some people out of wax."

So they took some wax and worked long, fashioning it into forms,

but when they brought them to the fire the wax melted, and they saw

that men could not be made in that way.

Next they decided to try to use dirt in making people, and Melu and

one of his companions began working on that. All went well till they

were ready to make the noses. The companion, who was working on that

part, put them on upside down. Melu told him that the people would

drown if he left them that way, but he refused to change them.

When his back was turned, however, Melu seized the noses, one by one,

and turned them as they now are. But he was in such a hurry that he

pressed his finger at the root, and it left a mark in the soft clay

which you can still see on the faces of people.