|
|
The
Mariners and the Four Asuangs of Capiz
( Capiz ) |
|
|
|
| Once
a small boat containing one commandant, a captain and
six sailors landed on the island of Capiz. They sought
refuge in a house owned by a widow and her three lovely
daughters. These women were very accommodating, and
during their meals there was much gay talk and laughter.
The meals themselves were of the highest quality. Never
had the sailors been extended such hospitality! |
|
|
|
| And then one of the
sailors noticed that his fork was shaped like a human
hand. This observation prompted the mariners to quickly
be done with the meal. The mariners began to form suspicions
as to the true nature of the women in the house with
them. They decided to watch out for strange happenings
during their stay in Capiz. |
|
|
|
| The more curious three
of the sailors investigated the lower rooms of the house
they were staying in. There, they found the three lower
halves of the bodies of women. The upper halves had
simply broken away and disappeared. The sailors gave
way to temptation and fear and smeared ashes on the
top parts of these lower halves and changed their positions,
to prevent the upper and lower halves from coming together
again. |
|
|
|
| Later in the night
the three upper halves returned and found the rest of
their bodies defiled. The captain of the mariners heard
their despaired weeping and hastened downstairs. He
found the three daughters of the widow who owned the
house he slept in – in the form of flying night-creatures,
or asuangs. The asuangs begged for him to wash the ashes
from the lower halves of their bodies, and so moved
was the captain by their pleas that he himself washed
the ashes off with a piece of cloth and water. The asuangs
were able to reunite with their lower halves before
daylight, when, they said, they would die a horrible
death. They thanked the captain profusely, but were
angry at the sailors who had done them wrong. |
|
|
|
| The
captain tried to confront the three sailors who had
played the trick on the asuangs, but they had run away.
The asuangs pursued them, threatening to kill them unless
they atoned for their crime by marriage. At last the
three sailors had to submit to fate and return to Capiz
as spouses to asuangs.
|
|
|
|
| Anyway, the asuangs
made them good wives. The three sailors who were never
mean to the asuangs settled with women from Capiz and
became happy. The captain and the commandant stayed
in Capiz for a long while. |
|
|
|
