_Tinguian_
A Tinguian was once walking along a trail in the wood when he heard a
strange sound in a large tree near him, and looking up he was startled
to see that it was the home of the Alan--spirits who live in the wood.
He stopped and gazed for a moment at the horrible creatures, large
as people, hanging from the limbs of the tree with their heads down
like bats. They had wings to fly, and their toes were at the back
of their feet, while their long fingers, which pointed backward,
were fastened at the wrist.
"Surely," thought the man, "these terrible beings will eat me if
they can catch me. I will run away as fast as I can while they are
asleep." He tried to run but he was too frightened, and after a few
steps he fell face down on the ground.
At this the Alan began to wail loudly, for they saw him fall and
believed him dead And they came down out of the tree with gold and
beads which they laid on him.
After a while the man gathered courage and, jumping up, he cried as
loudly as he could, "Go away!"
The Alan did not move, but they looked at him and said: "Give us the
one bead _nagaba_ [a peculiar bead of double effect], and you may
have the rest." When the man refused to do this, they were angry and
turned away, crying, "Then we are going to burn your house, for you
are a bad man."
Thereupon the man went home as fast as he could go, but very soon
after that his house burned, for the Alan kept their word.
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