Complete Text of Lam-ang (an Iloko epic) - Page 14 of 16

And now said
The woman Namongan
To her relative Unnayan:
May I ask you
What the habits are
Of our daughter,
My dear Unnayan?
And this is what
The woman Unnayan replied:

Ay, as for Ines Cannoyan
The moon is full when she leaves
And the moon is new when she returns.
When she fetches water from the river
She pries open
Every stone beside the river
Thinking they are shrimps
The flotsam that is carried
When the river swells.

And this was what
The woman Unnayan said:
May I also ask
About our son
The man Lam-ang?
Namongan thus replied:
My dear relative,
As regards Lam-ang
The moon is waning when he leaves
And the moon is new when he returns.
When he goes to the forest
He goes under each tree
And fixes a bed
Where he would sleep.

Then said thus
The old woman Namongan:
My dear relative,
It is now my turn to feast them.
Then they set out to leave
They all went to the seashore
The townmates of Doña Cannoyan
And the townmates of Lam-ang.
They all boarded
The two boats
And when they were aboard
All the townmates
They set the sails
Of the two boats.
And when the boats
Did not move
Lam-ang slapped
The rears of the boats
And the two began to move
Blown by a strong wind.

And when they arrived
In their town of Nalbuan
The boats stopped
Then they all disembarked
And they all went back
To the house they had left.
They started at once to dance
The townmates of Cannoyan
And the townmates of Lam-ang.

Then the crowd asked
That the two dance now
The groom and the bride
So Lam-ang asked
Cannoyan to dance.
And when they had danced
The fandanggo, valse and curratsa
Sagamantica of Pangasinan
And pios ^[30] of the Ilocos region
Then they parted.
Cannoyan was left behind
Because her mother left her
To the care of Lam-ang.

And when they had left
The townmates of Cannoyan
The current chieftain ^[31]
Made a visit
To the house of Lam-ang.
And he said of Lam-ang:
Ay my friend Lam-ang,
I wish to inform you
That it is your turn
To dive for the rarang. ^[32]

When the chieftain had left
This is what
The man Lam-ang said:
My wife Cannoyan,
It is my turn
To dive for the rarang.
I have a premonition
That I will surely be eaten
Because I will be caught
By the monster shark,
And this you must remember:
Then the stairs will dance
Then the kitchen roof will fall
Then the stove will break to pieces.