How the First Head was Taken

 One day the Moon, who was a woman named Kabigat, sat out in the yard making a large copper¹ pot. The copper was still soft and pliable² like clay, and the woman squatted³ on the ground with the heavy pot against her knees while she patted and shaped it.14

 

Now while she was working a son of Chal-chal, the Sun, came by and stopped to watch her mould the form. Against the inside of the jar she pressed a stone, while on the outside with a wooden paddle dripping with water she pounded and slapped until she had worked down the bulges⁴ and formed a smooth surface.

 

The boy was greatly interested in seeing the jar grow larger, more beautiful, and smoother with each stroke, and he stood still for some time. Suddenly the Moon looked up and saw him watching her. Instantly she struck him with her paddle, cutting off his head.

 

Now the Sun was not near, but he knew as soon as [112]the Moon had cut off his son’s head. And hurrying to the spot, he put the boy’s head back on, and he was alive again.

 

Then the Sun said to the Moon, “You cut off my son’s head, and because you did this ever after on the earth people will cut off each other’s heads.” [113]

 

The Serpent Eagle15

 

Igorot

 

Once there lived two boys whose mother sent them every day to the forest to get wood16 for her fires. Each morning, as they started out, she gave them some food for their trip, but it was always poor and there was little of it, and she would say:

 

“The wood that you brought yesterday was so poor that I cannot give you much to eat today.”

 

The boys tried very hard to please her, but if they brought nice pine wood she scolded them, and if they brought large dry reeds⁵ she said:

 

“These are no good for my fire, for they leave too much ashes in the house.”

 

Try as they would, they failed to satisfy her; and their bodies grew very thin from working hard all day and from want of enough to eat.

 

One morning when they left for the mountains the mother gave them a bit of dog meat to eat, and the boys were very sad. When they reached the forest one of them said: [114]

 

“You wait here while I climb the tree and cut off some branches.”

 

Type of Mandaya tree house

Type of Mandaya tree house

 

He went up the tree and soon called down, “Here is some wood,” and the bones of his arm dropped to the ground.

 

“Oh,” cried his brother, “it is your arm!”

 

“Here is some more wood,” cried the other, and the bones of the other arm dropped to the ground.

 

Then he called again, and the bones of his leg fell, then those of his other leg, and so on till all the bones of his body lay on the ground.

 

“Take these home,” he said, “and tell the woman that here is her wood; she only wanted my bones.”

 

The younger boy was very sad, for he was alone, and there was no one to go down the mountain with him. He gathered up the bundle of wood, wondering meanwhile what he should do, but just as he finished a serpent eagle called down from the tree tops:

 

“I will go with you, Brother.”

 

So the boy put the bundle of wood on his shoulder, and as he was going down the mountain, his brother, who was now a serpent eagle, flew over his head. When he reached the house, he put down the bundle and said to his mother:

 

“Here is your wood.”

 

When she looked at it she was very much frightened and ran out of the house.

 

Then the serpent eagle circled round and round above her head and called:

 

“Quiukok! quiukok! quiukok! I do not need your food any more.”

1 copper   

n.铜；铜币；铜器；adj.铜(制)的；(紫)铜色的

参考例句：

• The students are asked to prove the purity of copper.要求学生们检验铜的纯度。
• Copper is a good medium for the conduction of heat and electricity.铜是热和电的良导体。

2 pliable   

adj.易受影响的；易弯的；柔顺的，易驾驭的

参考例句：

• Willow twigs are pliable.柳条很软。
• The finely twined baskets are made with young,pliable spruce roots.这些编织精美的篮子是用柔韧的云杉嫩树根编成的。

3 squatted   

v.像动物一样蹲下( squat的过去式和过去分词 )；非法擅自占用（土地或房屋）；为获得其所有权；而占用某片公共用地。

参考例句：

• He squatted down beside the footprints and examined them closely. 他蹲在脚印旁仔细地观察。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He squatted in the grass discussing with someone. 他蹲在草地上与一个人谈话。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 bulges   

膨胀( bulge的名词复数 )； 鼓起； （身体的）肥胖部位； 暂时的激增

参考例句：

• His pocket bulges with apples. 他的衣袋装着苹果鼓了起来。
• He bulges out of his black T-shirt. 他的肚子在黑色T恤衫下鼓鼓地挺着。

5 reeds   

芦苇( reed的名词复数 )； 芦丛； 簧舌； 簧片

参考例句：

• Our roof was made of dried reeds. 我们的屋顶是用干芦苇盖的。
• Oaks may fall when reeds stand the storm. 芦苇耐风暴，橡树却会倒。