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The
Legend of "Landas de Diablo"
( Tagalog ) |
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| In
Malanday, Marikina, in Central Luzon, where rice fields
flourish, there is a very straight path of stone leading
from the side of the road to the center of a harvest
realm. The denizens call it "Landas de Diablo"
and regard it with superstitious fear. There is a story
behind that marvelous work, they say, which makes it
warrant their fear. It is a tale involving two young
lovers and the Devil himself.
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| A long time ago, there
was a jewel of a girl named Marikita, who lived in the
middle of a rice field. Her home was very far away from
the main road, yet flocks of wooers braved the narrow
bridges of land marking the rice paddies just to see
her and sigh. She was lovely. Every young man in the
village was beguiled by her – even Kabanalan,
the handsome heir to an enormous fortune. |
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| After one glance at
the fair maid, Kabanalan could say that he regarded
her with more worth than any priceless trinket in his
father’s home. He never wanted to have anything
in his possession as badly as he did Marikita. He was
gentle and kind, and he won Marikita’s attention
instantly. |
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| He promised Marikita
that if she would only agree to marry him, he would
give her anything she wanted – anything at all! |
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| In truth Marikita
liked the young man Kabanalan, and she felt it safe
to jest with him. She said, "If you would give
me anything, I have this simple boon of you: make me
a stone path that would span the length of the rice
paddies that separate my father’s humble hut from
the main road. I tire of the land bridges. But make
me this path before the night is done, for tomorrow
is Sunday and I would not want to make my feet hurt
one more time, before they reach the church! |
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| "Make me that
bridge by tomorrow, and tomorrow we shall wed." |
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| Dazzled by her charm,
Kabanalan promised her this. He would build her this
impossibility, even if he would do it with his own two
hands! Marikita only laughed. She liked the young man
Kabanalan. |
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| But Kabanalan took
her boon for earnest. When he and Marikita parted, a
shadow fell across his face. "I know that even
with all my wealth I could not fulfill her wish,"
he thought sadly. "I would rather kill myself than
disappoint her, all the same!" |
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| Despaired, he stumbled
into a grove where a solitary mango tree stood, and
from the deep shade a handsome stranger emerged. |
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| "I see how heavy
your heart weighs by the look in your eyes," the
stranger said mysteriously. "Tell me what is wrong,
perhaps I can help."
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| Kabanalan shook his
head. "No. No one can help." He sighed forlornly.
"I had promised the most beautiful woman in the
world an impossible wish." |
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| "What is that
wish?" the stranger asked. |
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| Kabanalan told him
of the stone path above the rice paddies that Marikita
had asked for, and to his surprise, the stranger laughed. |
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| "Is that all!"
he cried heartily. "I can do it. I can build that
stone road for you overnight." |
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| "Do not jest,
I beg of you," Kabanalan said stonily. "She
will marry me if I will only grant her this one wish." |
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| "I have no doubt
of it," said the wry stranger. "I can build
that stone road for you overnight." |
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| Kabanalan was somehow
convinced. "If you would be so kind as to do this
for me, I shall give you anything you ask for." |
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| "Will you give
me your soul?" the stranger demanded. |
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| Kabanalan did not
give it a second thought. "Yes, I will," he
declared. "If only to please the fair Marikita." |
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| The stranger brought
out a piece of paper on which they scrawled their pact.
Afterward Kabanalan signed his name at the bottom of
the page with his own blood. |
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| The very next morning,
Marikita was no less than shocked! She was stepping
out, when she saw this sturdy stone path leading from
her doorstep to the main road, where a carriage and
a handsome young man waited, ready to take her to church.
The young man was Kabanalan. Upon seeing his love’s
blank bewilderment shift into an astonished smile, his
own features brightened. Marikita rushed across the
stone path toward him, arms outstretched. He was the
happiest man on Earth! |
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| But as Marikita drew
near, the mysterious stranger from the shadows of the
lone grove appeared in a whirl of dust between her and
her bridegroom. Everyone who saw him knew him at once.
It was the Devil! |
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| "I come to claim
my wage!" he cried, and seized Kabanalan. With
this prize in tow, the Devil disappeared. Marikita was
left alone, staring after the void the builder of the
stone path had left behind.
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| There were some witnesses,
who had risen early for Mass, and had gathered on the
main road near the end of the long stone path which
they knew had not been there the night before. They
saw Marikita turn deathly pale as she came to realize
what her lover had done for her sake. She stood still
for a long time. Then when her friends from town tried
to approach her, she turned and ran back into her house,
and slammed the door shut. She let no one speak to her,
and even her own parents could not come near her. |
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| Marikita was found
dead soon after that, floating in the river by which
she and Kabanalan used to take long walks. It was said
that she had killed herself, but no one was quite so
sure. |
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| "Landas de Diablo",
the Devil’s Road, still stands, proof of this
ancient story of a doomed love. |
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