The  Tale  of    Lam-­‐Ang    

and  the    Fire  Giant  

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Copyright 2015

World Public Library The story was excerpted from Lane Wilcken’s Forgotten Children of Maui: Filipino Myths, Tattoos, and Rituals of a Demigod and adapted by Dr. Ellen-Rae Cachola.

The illustrations were created by students of Kalihi Uka Elementary School’s Reading and Art Clubs. This project was coordinated by Grace Caligtan, Parent Community Network Coordinator and Early Literacy teacher at Kalihi Uka Elementary School; Eric Keli’i Beyer, Art Instructor of Honolulu Museum of Art; & Dr. Ellen-Rae Cachola of Read it LOUD! Foundation. Editing Consultation was provided by Malia Derden, Pacific Tongues Poet.      

Share Alike, others can distribute this work only under a license identical to the one we have chosen for this work.  

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Introduction Lam-Ang and the Fire Giant is the tale of a mythical hero who worked together with animals to secure fire for his village. Once popular among earlier generations, this story makes a come-back in the form of modern re-telling for young audiences who are now living in the digital age. This work is an act of remembering and re-calling for those younger generations who may not be familiar with Filipino legends. Biag ni Lam-Ang (English: “The Life of Lam-Ang”) is an epic poem of the Ilokano people from the Ilocos region of the Philippines. Recited and written in its original Iloko, the poem is believed to be the work of many poets who passed it on through the generations. It was first transcribed around 1640 by a blind Ilokano bard named Pedro Bucaneg. For our classroom purposes, this retelling was re-framed to help students connect with the indigenous value of cooperative effort. Completed through panagtitinolong (Ilocano for collective heroism, or bayanihan in Tagalog), this eBook was co-created by students who learned and discussed the ways in which any large task can be completed with the unity of many. Everyone has something to contribute, no matter how large or small. The reader takes a journey with Lam-Ang to learn, honor and work with everyone’s unique gifts to achieve a common goal.

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Mr. Eric’s Art Club read the story and worked on interpretive drawings of this tale. Miss Grace’s reading club read the folk tale together and also developed their own illustrations. Kalihi Uka’s Early Literacy class also learned the story through making puppets with parents and performing the story during circle time. Illustrations from the Art class and Reading club have been incorporated into this eBook made available through Project Gutenberg. Thank you to Zander, Ma Khasandra Cabuyao, Nainoa Thompson, Tanner Lastimosa and Manoah Zulueta for their artwork. We hope you enjoy the first edition of our book and share it with many.    

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The Tale of Lam-Ang and the

Fire Giant  

           

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Long ago there was no fire on earth. It was cold; the people needed fire to keep them warm. But the only fire on earth was guarded by an ugly and selfish giant who lived in a cave. The people were so afraid of him.    

A young man named Lam-Ang saw how the people in his village suffered from the cold.

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Lam-Ang, disheartened when the villagers were too afraid to help, sat on a rock wondering what to do.

But then, a bullfrog came by and said, “Lam-Ang, I heard you needed help. But I have a heavy tail that makes me slow. Do you still want me to help?”

“Yes! Of course, your help is welcome!” said Lam-Ang. Together with the bullfrog, Lam-Ang walked down the road.

Then, a horse came by and said, “Lam-Ang, I heard that you needed help. But I only have one eye and can’t see very far. Do you still want me to help?”

“Yes! Of course, your help is welcome!” said Lam-Ang. Together with the bullfrog and horse, Lam-Ang walked down the road.

A cat and dog came by and said, “Lam-Ang, we heard that you needed help.” “But I only have one right ear,” said the dog. “And I only have one left ear,” said the cat. “Do you still want us to help?”

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“Yes! Of course, your help is welcome!” said Lam-Ang. Together with the bullfrog, horse, dog and cat, Lam-Ang walked down the road.

A lion came by and said, “Lam-Ang, I heard you needed help. But my roar is only half as loud as it used to be. Do you still want me to help?”

“Yes! Of course, your help is welcome!” Said Lam-Ang. Together with the bullfrog, horse, dog, cat and lion, Lam-Ang walked down the road.

Lam-Ang thanked his animal friends and told them of his plan.

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He asked the bullfrog to wait by a pond outside the village. Farther away from the bullfrog, he asked the horse to wait by the sampaloc tree. Farther away from the horse, he asked the cat to wait on the top of a big rock. Farther away from the cat, he asked the dog to wait near the end of the rocky hills. And still, farther away from the dog, he asked the lion to wait near the entrance of the giant’s cave. Finally, he told everybody to wait quietly for his signal.

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So, they waited and waited and waited.

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Lam-Ang, being very brave, went into the fire giant’s cave. The giant guarded his fire so no one could steal it while he was asleep. Lam-Ang went near the sleepy giant.

“The people in the village are suffering from the cold. You must share some of your fire, oh fire giant,”

Lam-Ang bravely told him.

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“Foolish young man, can’t you see that I’m the guardian of this fire? Nobody can get even just a little spark! It’s mine, all mine!”

The fire giant roared angrily at Lam-Ang. Unshaken, Lam-Ang replied,

“You cannot scare us anymore, selfish fire giant! You have been selfish long enough.”

Lam-Ang shouted.

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Then he sent to the window and gave the signal to the lion that was nearest to the giant’s house. Upon hearing the signal, the lion roared his loudest roar. When the others heard this, the dog barked his loudest bark, the cat meowed her loudest meow, the horse neighed his loudest neigh, and the bullfrog croaked his loudest croak. They made such a loud and strange noise that it frightened the selfish giant. Lam-Ang’s plan worked!

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When the giant rushed out of his house, Lam-Ang took a burning stick, and ran out. The giant chased after him.

Lam-Ang, ran as fast as he could, but the giant had much bigger steps. So he gathered all of his strength and ran till his legs almost gave up.

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“I can’t give up now; I must pass this burning stick to my friends as we had planned. I must keep running!”

He told himself. And he ran on with all his might.

With the fire giant just behind him, Lam-Ang gave the burning stick to the lion. The lion leaped his biggest leap and gave the burning stick to the dog. The dog ran his fastest run and gave the burning stick to the cat. The cat flashed away like lightning and gave the burning stick to the horse.

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The horse galloped his largest gallop and finally gave the burning stick to the bullfrog.

This made the giant very, very angry. He roared and beat his chest and made the biggest steps he could and caught the bullfrog by its tail. (The bullfrog had a tail in those days.) The bullfrog was so frightened, but he knew that he must bring the burning stick to the people.

“Whatever happens, I must pass this stick to the people as we had planned,” said the bullfrog.

So he stretched his body until his eyes bulged out. He made the biggest leap he could and landed where the people were waiting. The bullfrog was very happy, but lost his tail. He left it in the fire giant’s hand. That is why, today, the bullfrog does not have a heavy tail.

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When the people saw the fire giant coming they picked up whatever stones and sticks they could see. They shouted their loudest shouts and chased him towards the mountain cliff. The selfish giant had nowhere to go! The people kept chasing until he fell off the mountain cliff, and the giant was gone forever.

The people danced and rejoiced! “The giant is dead! The giant is dead! We have fire! We have fire!”

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They carried Lam-Ang and his animal friends on their shoulders and paraded them around the village. For the first time, they went out of their huts without shivering in the cold night. Now, they have fire to keep them warm. They thanked Lam-Ang and his animal friends and praised them for working together to bring fire into their village. Greed melted away that day, as each made a vow to always share.