THE LEGEND OF KABUGWASON

There is another legend about the Visayan islands which is popular in the towns of Cabatuan, Lambunao, and Maasin as well as in other regions of the Visayas.

It seems that in the section of the Philippine archipelago now occupied by the Visayan islands, there once lived a queen named Langit.

She had a daughter named Kabugwason. This daughter being very beautiful, she had many suitors, but the two most favored were Dagu-ob and Kilat - two brothers.

It was a problem trying to decide between the two.

The queen tried to solve this problem by means of a contest of artistic skill. The one who could make a more artistic raft would marry Kabugwason.

It turned out that Kilat's raft was preferred to Dagu-ob's, so he got Kabugwason for his wife. The decision so affected Dagu-ob that he killed himself.

The following day great confusion arose because the spirit of Dagu-ob, with great strength, smashed Kilat's raft to pieces and caused these to be scattered over a big area. The Visayan islands, so the legend goes, including the little islets that sometimes disappear when the tide is high, are the pieces of the splintered craft.

Langit - Hiligaynon word for "sky"
Kabugwason - Hiligaynon word for "morning star"
Dagu-ob - Hiligaynon word for "thunder"
Kilat - Hiligaynon word for "lightning"