The first Durian
A LONG time ago, even before the Jesuits found their way to Mindanao during the Spanish period, and long before the Japanese arrived to make Davao City a booming city because of abaca, there was an old and ugly king in Calinan named Barom-Mai.
He was very powerful and struck fear in the hearts of his people. But he had one frustration: he couldn't win the love of his young bride, Madayaw-Bayho, the daughter of Tageb, king of the pirates.
Desperate to win his bride's heart, he called his advisers to a meeting and asked them how.
Matigam, the wisest among his advisers thus told him about a hermit named Impit Purok who lived in a cave in Mt. Apo.
Matigam then accompanied Barom-Mai to the hermit. Impit Purok asked for three things: the egg of the black tabon bird, twelve ladles of fresh milk from a pure white carabao, and the nectar from the flower of the tree-of-make-believe.
The egg will be used to soften the bride's heart; the milk, to make her kind; and, the nectar, to make her see Barom-Mai as a young and handsome king, Impit
Purok said.
The black tabon bird, a large-footed bird that lays eggs in huge holes it digs in cave floors, forest undergrowth, coastal scrubs, however, could only be found in faraway Palawan.
In those days of yore, Palawan could hardly be reached by anyone from Calinan.
Barom-Mai, however, got the help of Pawikan - the king of the sea turtles -- who let him ride on his back and brought him to the caves of Palawan were black tabon birds abound and taught Barom-Mai how to find the eggs in the ground.
That done, he went back to Calinan. He luckily got milk from a white carabao the following breakfast, thanks to his cook.
Hangin-Bai, the nymph of the air, led him to her sister, the wood nymph who had the magic flower in her hair.
With the three things all gathered, Barom-Mai went back to Impit Purok who mixed the three ingredients and told Barom-Mai to pour the mixture in the royal garden, just like he was planting it.
Before the king left, Impit Purok told him to prepare a big feast after Barom-Mai wins his queen back and to to invite Impit Purok as the king's guest of honor.
Barom-Mai rushed home to his kingdom and immediately poured the mixture in a hole in the ground he asked to be dug in the royal garden.
The morning after it was planted, a tree grew. It had a sweet smell and tasted good. When Madayaw-Bayho was given the fruit, she fell in love with Barom-Mai.
Filled with jubilation, Barom-Mai throws a big feast. But he forgot what Impit Purok told him -- to invite the hermit as guest of honor.
When Impit Purok learned of the big feast and did not get any invitation to it, he cast a curse upon the fruit.
The sweet smell was replaced with a foul odor while the smooth skin of the fruit became covered with thorns, which is how the durian smells and looks today. (Stella A. Estremera)
(Based on Why the Piña Has a Hundred Eyes and Other Classical Philippine Folk Tales About Fruits (as told by Neni Sta. Romana-Cruz and Illustrated by Felix Mago Miguel) Makati, Metro Manila: Tahanan Books for Young Readers, 1993)
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