Pag-uuyam

Lahat ng bagay nagbabago.

Ang ihip ng hangin...

panahon...

mga kuru-kuro...

damdamin...

at pananaw sa buhay.

Noon, ang aking pananaw, kapag hindi ka na maligaya iwan mo na.

Carpe Diem ika nga nila...

ika ng iba...

ika ng lahat.

Malawak ang mundo,

madaming taong nakakahalubilo,

madaming mukhang nakakaharap,

mga taong nakikilala.

Masarap magmasid sa mga tao.

Makinig sa kanilang mga kuro-kuro...

Subalit kapag ang ingay ay tila baga nakakabagabag na ng iyong damdamin,

madali namang tumayo at umalis.

O dili naman kaya ay maglagak ng mumunting bagay na may kurdon sa iyong mga tenga

at punuuin ang iyong mundo ng musika malayo sa ingay ng iyong paligid.

At sa mga ganitong mumunting sandali 

ako ay nakakalingap ng katahimikan ng loob at pag-iisip.

Lunod ng musika...sa munting espasyong tanging ako lang ang nakakaunawa.

At sa aking mumunting mundo, 

ako ay magigising sa katotohanang

maligaya man ako sa daan kong tinatahak,

ang mga puno sa paligid ang lumulukob para mahagilap ko ang liwanag ng umaga.

TWO BROTHERS (An Egyptian Tale)

Two Brothers
(An Egyptian Tale)



There were once two brothers, Anpu was the older, Bata was the younger. Anpu had a wife, and owned a farm. Bata came to live with Anpu and his wife. Bata worked hard for his brother, plowing the fields, and harvesting the grain, and doing many other tasks. He was very good at his work. The animals would even speak to him.
One day Anpu announced that it was time to plow the fields and sow the seeds. And he instructed his brother to take sacks of seed out to the fields. They spent the next few days plowing and sowing seeds.

Then Anpu sent Bata back for more seeds. At Anpu's house, Bata found Anpu's wife fixing her hair. Bata said, "Get up and get me some seed, Anpu is waiting."
Anpu's wife replied, "Get the seed yourself. I'm busy with my hair."
Bata found a large basket, and filled it with seed. And, he carried the basket through the house.
Anpu's wife said, "What is the weight of that basket you carry."
Bata replied, "There are three sacks of wheat and two of barley."
She said, "How strong you are, and handsome. Stay with me and let us make love. And Anpu will never know."
Bata replied in horror, "Anpu is like a father to me, and you are like a mother to me. I won't tell anyone of the evil words that you have said. And never let me hear them again." He picked up his basket, and rushed out into the fields.

When Anpu got back home, he realized that something was wrong. No fire had been lit, no food had been cooked, and his wife was in bed moaning and weeping. Her clothes were torn, and she seemed to be bruised. Anpu demanded that she tell him what had happened.

She replied, "When your brother came to fetch the seed, he saw me fixing my hair. He tried to make love to me. And I refused, saying, 'Is not Anpu like a father to you? And am I not like a mother to you?' And he became angry, and beat me. And he said that he would hurt me more if I told you what had happened. Oh Anpu, kill him for me, or I will surely die."

Anpu was angry like a leopard. He took a spear, and hid behind the door of the cattle pen, waiting to kill his brother.
When the sun had gone down, Bata returned with the cattle. The first cow said to Bata, "Your brother hides with a spear, behind the door. And he plans to kill you. Run away while you can."

Bata would not believe the cow. But the second cow gave him the same warning. Then he saw his brother's feet behind the door. And he was afraid and ran away. Anpu chased him in great anger. As he ran, Bata called out to Ra, "O my good lord, who judges between the bad and the good, save me."

And Ra heard Bata's prayer, and caused a river to flow between them. The river was wide and full of crocodiles. The two brothers stood on opposite banks of the river. Bata shouted to Anpu, "Ra delivers the wicked to the just. But I must leave you. Why did you try to kill me, without giving me a chance to explain?" And Bata told his side of the story.
Then Bata took out his knife and cut himself, and he fell to the ground. And Anpu believed him, and was sick at heart. And he longed to be on the other side of the river, with his brother.

Bata spoke again, "I must go to the valley of cedars, to be healed. And I shall hide my heart in a cedar tree. And when the cedar tree is cut down, I will be in danger of dying. If your beer turns sour, you will know that I need your help. Come to the valley of cedars and search for my heart. Put my heart in a bowl of water. And I will come back to life again.
Anpu promised to obey his brother, and went home. He killed his wife, and threw her body to the dogs.
Bata traveled to the valley of cedars, and rested until his wound had healed. He hunted wild beasts and built a house for himself. And he hid his heart in the branches of a tree.

One day, the nine gods were walking in the valley. And they saw that Bata was lonely. And Ra ordered Khnum to make a wife for Bata, on his potters wheel. And when the gods breathed life into her, they saw that she was the most beautiful woman who ever lived. The seven Hathors gathered to declare her fate, and said that she would die a sudden death.

Bata loved her. And he knew that whoever saw her would desire her. Every day, as he left to hunt wild animals, he warned her, "Stay in the house, or the sea may try to carry you away. And there is little I could do to save you."

One day, when Bata had gone out to hunt, his wife grew bored and went out for a walk. And, as she stood beneath the tree, the sea saw her, and surged up the valley to get her. She tried to flee. But the tree caught her by the hair. She escaped, leaving a lock of her hair in the tree.

The sea took the lock of hair, and carried it to Egypt, where the Nile took it. And the hair floated to where the washer men of the King were washing the King's clothes. And the sweet-smelling hair caused the King's clothes to smell like perfume. And the King complained of this. This happened every day.

One day the overseer of the washer men saw the lock of hair caught in the reeds. He ordered that it be brought to him. And he smelled its sweet smell. And he took the lock of hair to the King. And the King's advisers said, "This is a lock of hair from a daughter of Ra." And the King wanted to make this woman his Queen.

The King sent many messengers to all lands. All returned to say that they had failed to find the woman. But one returned from the valley of the cedars to say that his companions had been killed by Bata, and that Bata's wife was the woman that he sought.

The King sent many soldiers to fetch Bata's wife. And with the soldiers, he sent a woman to give jewels to Bata's wife, and to tell her that the King wanted to make her a queen.       

Bata's wife told this woman that Bata's heart was hidden in the tree, and that if the tree were cut down, Bata would die. And the soldiers cut down the tree. As the tree fell, Bata fell down dead. And the soldiers chopped up the tree and dispersed the pieces.

At the same moment that Bata died, Anpu's beer began to bubble and turn sour. And he immediately put on his sandals, and grabbed his spear and his staff, and hastened to the valley of cedars.

There he found his brother dead, and he wept. But he remembered his brother's instruction and searched for his heart. He searched in vain for three years. And he longed to return to Egypt. At the beginning of the fourth year, he said to himself, "If I don't find my brother's heart tomorrow, I will go back home."

The next day, he searched again. And near the end of the day, he found what he thought was a seed. But it was Bata's dried up heart. And he put it in a bowl of water, and sat down to wait. The heart grew as it absorbed water. Bata came back to life, but was very weak. Then Anpu held the bowl to Bata's lips, and he swallowed the remaining water, and then swallowed his own heart. And his strength returned to him. And the two brothers embraced.

Bata said, "Tomorrow, I will change myself into a sacred bull. And you will ride me back to Egypt. Lead me before the King. And he will reward you. Then return to your house."

The next day, Bata changed into a bull. And Anpu rode him to Egypt, and led him before the King. The King rewarded Anpu with gold, and silver, and land, and slaves. And there was rejoicing throughout the land. And Anpu returned to his house.

Eventually, Bata encountered his wife, who was now the Queen. And he said, "Look upon me, for I am alive."
She asked, "And who are you?"

He replied, "I am Bata. And it was you who caused the tree to be cut down, so that I would be destroyed. But I am alive." And she trembled in fear, and left the room.
That evening, the King sat at a feast, with his Queen. And she said to him, "Will you swear by the gods that you will give me anything that I want?" The King promised that he would. The Queen said, "I desire to eat the liver of the sacred bull, for he is nothing to you."

The king was upset at her request. But the next day, he commanded that the bull be sacrificed. And the bull was sacrificed. And its blood splattered on each side the gate of the palace.
That night, two persea trees sprang up next to the palace gate. The King was told of this miracle, and there was much rejoicing.

One day the King and Queen were standing in the shade of one of the trees. And the tree spoke to the Queen, "False woman, you are the one who caused the cedar tree to be cut down, and you made the King slaughter the bull. But, I am Bata, I am still alive." And the Queen was afraid.

Later, when the King and Queen were feasting, the Queen said, "Will you swear by the gods that you will give me anything that I want?" The King promised that he would. The Queen said, "It is my desire that those two persea trees be chopped down, to make furniture for me."

The King was troubled by her request. But the next day the King and Queen watched as the trees were cut down. As the Queen stood watching, a chip of wood flew from one of the trees, and flew into her mouth, and she swallowed it. And it made the Queen become pregnant.

After many days, the Queen gave birth to a son. The King loved him, and made him heir to the throne.
In time the King died, and rejoined the gods. And his son succeeded him as King.

The new King (who was Bata) summoned his court, and told everyone the story of his life. And he judged that his wife, who had become his mother, should die for her crimes. And the court agreed. And she was led away to be killed.

Bata ruled Egypt for thirty years. Then he died. And his brother Anpu then ruled Egypt.

Reference:
https://www.facebook.com/notes/roni-uy/two-brothers-an-egyptian-tale/491557297525497 

THE CRICKET BOY (A Chinese Tale)

The Cricket Boy
(A Chinese Tale)

A long time ago, cricket fighting caught on in the imperial court, with the emperor leading the fad. A local magistrate in Huayin, who wanted to win the favor of the monarch, tried in every way to get him the best fighting crickets. He had a strategy for doing so: He managed to get a cricket that was very good at fighting. He then made his subordinates go to the heads of each village and force them to send in a constant supply of fighting crickets.He would send to the imperial court the crickets that could beat the one he was keeping. Theoretically, everything should have worked smoothly. However, as the magistrate was extremely zealous to please the emperor, he meted out harsh punishment on any village heads who failed to accomplish their tasks. The village heads in turn shifted the burden to the poor villagers, who had to search for the crickets. If they failed to catch them, they had to purchase them from someone else, or they had to pay a levy in cash. The small insects suddenly became a rare commodity. Speculators hoarded good crickets, buying them at a bargain and selling them for an exorbitant price. Many village heads worked hand in hand with the speculators to make profits. In so doing, they bankrupted many a family.Cheng Ming was one such villager. The head of his village delegated part of his duties to him because he found Cheng Ming easy to push around.Cheng Ming did not want to bully his fellow villagers as the village head did him, so he often had to pay cash out of his own pocket when he failed to collect any competent crickets. Soon the little proper ties he had were draining away, and he went into a severe depression. One day, he said to his wife that he wanted to die.“Death is easy, but what will our son do without you?” asked his wife,glancing at their only son, sleeping on the kang. “Why can’t we look for the crickets ourselves instead of buying them? Perhaps we’ll strike some good luck.”Cheng Ming gave up the idea of suicide and went to search for crickets. Armed with a tiny basket of copper wires for catching crickets and a number of small bamboo tubes for holding them, he went about the tedious task. Each day he got up at dawn and did not return until late in the evening.He searched beneath brick debris, dike crevices, and in the weeds and bushes. Days went by, and he caught only a few mediocre crickets that did not measure up to the magistrate’s standards. His worries increased as the dead line drew closer and closer.The day for cricket delivery finally came, but Cheng Ming could not produce any good ones. He was clubbed a hundred times on the buttocks, a form of corporal punishment in the ancient Chinese judicial system. When he was released the next day, he could barely walk. The wound on his buttocks confined him to bed for days and further delayed his search for crickets. He thought of committing suicide again. His wife did not know what to do.

 Then they heard about a hunchbacked fortune teller who was visitingthe village. Cheng Ming’s wife went to see him. The fortune teller gave her a piece of paper with a picture on it. It was a pavilion with a jiashan (rockgarden) behind it. On the bushes by the jiashan sat a fat male cricket. Besideit, however, lurked a large toad, ready to catch the insect with its long,elastic tongue. When the wife got home, she showed the paper to herhusband. Cheng Ming sprang up and jumped to the floor, forgetting the painin his buttocks.“This is the fortune teller’s hint at the location where I can find aperfect cricket to accomplish my task!” he exclaimed.“But we don’t have a pavilion in our village,” his wife re minded him.“Well, take a closer look and think. Doesn’t the temple on the east sideof our village have a rock garden? That must be it.” So saying, Cheng Minglimped to the temple with the support of a make shift crutch. Sure enough,he saw the cricket, and the toad squatting nearby in the rock garden at theback of the temple. He caught the big, black male cricket just before thetoad got hold of it. Back home, he carefully placed the cricket in a jar he hadprepared for it and stowed the jar away in a safe place. “Everything will beover tomorrow,” he gave a sigh of relief and went to tell his best friends inthe village the good news.Cheng Ming’s nine-year-old son was very curious. Seeing his father wasgone, he took the jar and wanted to have a peek at the cricket. He wasremoving the lid carefully, when the big cricket jumped out and hoppedaway. Panicked, the boy tried to catch the fleeing cricket with his hands, butin a flurry, he accidentally squashed the insect when he finally got hold of it.“Good heavens! What’re you going to say to your father when hecomes back?” the mother said in distress and dread. Without a word, the boywent out of the room, tears in his eyes.Cheng Ming became distraught when he saw the dead cricket. Hecouldn’t believe that all his hopes had been dashed in a second. He lookedaround for his son, vowing to teach the little scoundrel a good lesson. Hesearched inside and outside the house, only to locate him in a well at thecorner of the court yard. When he fished him out, the boy was already dead. The father’s fury instantly gave way to sorrow. The grieved parents laid theirson on the kang and lamented over his body the entire night.As Cheng Ming was dressing his son for burial the next morning, he feltthe body still warm. Immediately he put the boy back on the kang, hopingthat he would revive. Gradually the boy came back to life, but to his parents’dismay, he was unconscious, as if he were in a trance. The parents grieved again for the loss of their son. Suddenly theyheard a cricket chirping. The couple traced the sound to a small cricket onthe door step. The appearance of the cricket, however, dashed their hopes,for it was very small. “Well, it’s better than nothing,” Cheng Ming thought.He was about to catch it, when it jumped nimbly on to a wall, cheeping athim. He tip toed to ward it, but it showed no sign of fleeing. Instead, whenCheng Ming came a few steps closer, the little cricket jumped onto his chest.

 Though small, the cricket looked smart and energetic. Cheng Mingplanned to take it to the village head. Uncertain of its capabilities, ChengMing could not go to sleep. He wanted to put the little cricket to the testbefore sending it to the village head. The next morning, Cheng Ming went to a young man from a rich familyin his neighborhood, having heard him boasting about an “invincible” cricketthat he wanted to sell for a high price. When the young man showed hiscricket, Cheng Ming hesitated, because his little cricket seemed no match forthis gigantic insect. To fight this monster would be to condemn his dwarf todeath.“There’s no way my little cricket could survive a confrontation withyour big guy,” Cheng Ming said to the young man, holding his jar tight. Theyoung man goaded and taunted him. At last, Cheng Ming decided to take arisk. “Well, it won’t hurt to give a try. If the little cricket is a good-for-nothing,what’s the use of keeping it anyway?” he thought.When they put the two crickets together in a jar, Cheng Ming’s smallinsect seemed transfixed. No matter how the young man prodded it to fight,it simply would not budge. The young man burst into a guffaw, to the greatembarrassment of Cheng Ming. As the young man spurred the little cricketon, it sud denly seemed to have run out of patience. With great wrath, itcharged the giant opponent head on. The sudden burst of action stunnedboth the young man and Cheng Ming. Before the little creature planted itssmall but sharp teeth into the neck of the big cricket, the terrified young manfished the big insect out of the jar just in time and called off the contest. Thelittle cricket chirped victoriously, and Cheng Ming felt exceedingly happy andproud.Cheng Ming and the young man were commenting on the littlecricket’s extraordinary prowess, when a big rooster rushed over to peck atthe little cricket in the jar. The little cricket hopped out of the jar in time tododge the attack. The rooster then went for it a second time, but suddenlybegan to shake its head violently, screaming in agony. This sudden turn of events baffled Cheng Ming and the onlookers. When they took a closer look,they could not believe their eyes: The little cricket was gnawing on therooster’s bloody comb. The story of a cricket fighting a rooster soon spreadthroughout the village and beyond. The next day, Cheng Ming, along with the village head, sent the cricketto the magistrate and asked for a test fight with his master cricket, but themagistrate re fused on the ground that Cheng Ming’s cricket was too small.“I don’t think you have heard its rooster-fighting story,” Cheng Mingproclaimed with great pride. “You can’t judge it only by its appearance.”“Nonsense, how can a cricket fight a rooster?” asked the magistrate.He ordered a big rooster brought to his office, thinking that Cheng Mingwould quit telling his tall tales when his cricket became the bird’s snack. Thebattle between the little cricket and the rooster ended with the same result: The rooster sped away in great pain, the little cricket chirping triumphantly on its heels.

 The magistrate was first astonished and then pleased, thinking that hefinally had the very insect that could win him the emperor’s favor. He had agolden cage manufactured for the little cricket. Placing it cautiously in thecage, he took it to the emperor. The emperor pitted the little cricket against all his veteran combat antcrickets, and it defeated them one by one. What amused the emperor mostwas that the little creature could even dance to the tune of his court music!Extremely pleased with the magic little creature, the emperor rewarded themagistrate liberally and promoted him to a higher position. The magistrate,now a governor, in turn exempted Cheng Ming from his levies in cash as wellas crickets.A year later, Cheng Ming’s son came out of his stupor. He sat up andrubbed his eyes, to the great surprise and joy of his parents. The first wordshe uttered to his jubilant parents were, “I’m so tired and hungry.” After a hotmeal, he told them, “I dreamed that I had become a cricket, and I fought alot of other crickets. It was such fun! You know what? The greatest fun I hadwas my fight with a couple of roosters!”

Reference: https://www.facebook.com/notes/roni-uy/the-cricket-boy-a-chinese-tale/491553494192544

THE STORY OF THE AGED MOTHER

THE STORY OF THE AGED MOTHER 
A Japanese Folktale 

Long, long ago there lived at the foot of the mountain a poor farmer and his aged, widowed mother. They owned a bit of land which supplied them with food, and their humble were peaceful and happy.

Shinano was governed by a despotic leader who though a warrior, had a great and cowardly shrinking from anything suggestive of failing health and strength. This caused him to send out a cruel proclamation. The entire province was given strict orders to immediately put to death all aged people. Those were barbarous days, and the custom of abandoning old people to die was not common. The poor farmer loved his aged mother with tender reverence, and the order filled his heart with sorrow. But no one ever thought a second time about obeying the mandate of the governor, so with many deep hopeless sighs, the youth prepared for what at that time was considered the kindest mode of death.

Just at sundown, when his day’s work was ended, he took a quantity of unwhitened rice which is principal food for poor, cooked and dried it, and tying it in a square cloth, swung and bundle around his neck along with a gourd filled with cool, sweet water. Then he lifted his helpless old mother to his back and stated on his painful journey up the mountain. The road was long and steep; the narrowed road was crossed and recrossed by many paths made by the hunters and woodcutters. In some place, they mingled in a confused puzzled, but he gave no heed. One path or another, it mattered not. On he went, climbing blindly upward – ever upward towards the high bare summit of what is know as Obatsuyama, the mountain of the “abandoning of aged”.

The eyes of the old mother were not so dim but that they noted the reckless hastening from one path to another, and her loving heart grew anxious. Her son did not know the mountain’s many paths and his return might be one of danger, so she stretched forth her hand and snapping the twigs from brushes as they passed, she quietly dropped a handful every few steps of the way so that they climbed, the narrow path behind them was dotted at frequently intervals with tiny piles of twigs. At last the summit was reached. Weary and heart sick, the youth gently released his burden and silently prepared a place of comfort as his last duty to the loved one. Gathering fallen pine needle, he made a soft cushion and tenderly lifting his old mother therein, he wrapped her padded coat more closely about the stooping shoulders and with tearful eyes and an aching heart said farewell.

The trembling mother’s voice was full of unselfish love as she gave her last injunction. “Let not thine eyes be blinded, my son.” She said. “The mountain road is full of dangers. LOOK carefully and follow the path which holds the piles of twigs. They will guide you to the familiar way farther down”. The son’s surprised eyes looked back over the path, then at the poor old, shriveled hands all scratched and soiled by their work of love. His heart smote him and bowing to the grounds, he cried aloud: “oh, Honorable mother, thy kindness thrusts my heart! I will not leave thee. Together we will follow the path of twigs, and together we will die!”

Once more he shouldered his burden (how light it seemed no) and hastened down the path, through the shadows and the moonlight, to the little hut in the valley. Beneath the kitchen floor was a walled closet for food, which was covered and hidden from view. There the son his mother, supplying her with everything needful and continually watching and fearing. Time passed, and he was beginning to feel safe when again the governor sent forth heralds bearing an unreasonable order, seemingly as a boast of his power. His demand was that his subject should present him with a rope of ashes. The entire province trembled with dread. The order must be obeyed yet who in all Shinano could make a rope of ashes?

One night, in great distress, the son whispered the news to his hidden mother. “Wait!” she said. “I will think. I will think” On the second day she told him what to do. “Make rope twisted straw,” she said. “Then stretch it upon a row of flat stones and burn it there on the windless night.” He called the people together and did as she said and when the blaze and died, behold upon the stones with every twist and fiber showing perfectly. Lay a rope of whitehead ashes.

The governor was pleased at the wit of the youth and praised greatly, but he demanded to know where he had obtained his wisdom. “Alas! Alas!” cried the farmer, “the truth must be told!” and with deep bows he related his story. The governor listened and then meditated in silence. Finally he lifted his head. “Shinano needs more than strength of youth,” he said gravely. “Ah, that I should have forgotten the well-know saying, “with the crown of snow, there cometh a wisdom!” That very hour the cruel law was abolished, and custom drifted into a far as past that only legends remains.

Reference:https://www.facebook.com/notes/roni-uy/the-story-of-the-aged-mother-a-japanese-folktale/479016015446292

Moving My Primitive Ass to a More Civilized Home

There are certain thoughts that I can't express in my old blog though honestly I don't really give a damn on what they ought to say but I guess I'm yearning for more freedom... away from pressure... away from my own reality. Things are getting more and more hard for me. expectations. pressure. disappointments. crap. I need some air to breathe... some space to wiggle myself into. I want to be a bear so that I can go to the cave and hibernate without people asking for explanations. Peace of mind. I need it. Even rest in peace will do. Crap.