An Excerpt from The Life ofLam-ang (An Iloko epic)When the Captain had left, This is what the brave-man Lam-angSaid with a sigh:My wife Cannoyan I have been hosen To dive for shellfish alled rarang! I have dreamt That I shall do"btless be eaten #y the shar$ tioan-tioan! I shall give yo" a sign% The stairs shall dane% The $ithen shall ollapse% The stove shall brea$ to piees!&When morning ame, Lam-ang prepared to leave! 'eahing an ideal spot, (e "ndressed and swam To where the rarang abo"nds! (e loo$ed thro"gh the rystal waters Then dived for the shellfish #"t failed in his first try! S"rfaing, he tried one more to loate them )nd having seen some *ived one more+ 'ight into the mo"th ,f the fish, ) big tioan-tioan shar$,)nd the signs ame to pass: The stairs daned% The $ithen ollapsed% The stove bro$e to piees! The woman Cannoyan The wept! My h"sband *on Lam-ang, Where an yo" be now! There is none I an hire To loo$ for yo"!& The woman Cannoyan then so"ght help )nd fo"nd Maros, the diver! She then tied the white rooster, The yellow-legged hen, The woman Cannoyan! She also leashed the hairy dog With the "rly lo$s Then radled the white rooster! She left and soon reahed the spot Where his lothes were! There at the spot where Lam-ang was, Cannoyan ried, ,verwhelmed by sorrow! The o$ omforted her th"s: Mistress, don t yo" worry!Master Lam-ang ertainly shall live If they an loate his bones!& The diver, old man Maros, *ived then! #"t he failed to find the bones!The seond time he dived, (e fo"nd the bones Where the shar$ had e-pelled them! The o$ said: Sir, ta$e all the bones and beah them:.one sho"ld be missing!& )nd when no more bones o"ld be fo"nd, The o$ e-amined the bones losely! (e fo"nd nothing missing! The bones of Lam-ang (aving been ompleted, This is what he said: I shall t"rn my ba$ While yo" over the bones With yo"r s$irt!& The yellow-legged hen rowed% The rooster shoo$ its wings! )nd the bones started to move! The dog with the "rly lo$s (owled twie Then lawed the gro"nd )s tho"gh to b"ry the bones of Lamang! Then the man Lam-ang /ot-"p at one! (ow so"ndly I slept, my wife Canoyan! It s been seven nights Sine we last slept together!&The Story of Lam-ang (A Summary)*on 0"an and his wife .amongan lived in .alb"an, nowpart of La 1nion in the northern part of the 2hilippines! They hadasonnamedLam-ang! #eforeLam-angwasborn, *on0"anwent to the mo"ntains in order to p"nish a gro"p of their Igorotenemies! While he was away, his son Lam-ang was born! It too$fo"rpeople to help .amongan give birth! )s soonasthebabyboy popped o"t, he spo$e and as$ed that he be given the nameLam-ang! (ealsohosehisgodparentsandas$edwherehisfather was! )fter nine months of waiting for his father to ret"rn, Lam-ang deided he wo"ld go loo$ for him!.amongan tho"ght Lam-angwas"ptothehallengeb"t shewassadtolet himgo!*"ring his e-ha"sting 3o"rney, he deided to rest for awhile! (efell asleep and had a dream abo"t his father4s head being st"$on a pole by the Igorot! Lam-ang was f"rio"s when he learnedwhat had happened to his father! (e r"shed to their village and$illed them all, e-ept for one whom he let go so that he o"ld tellother people abo"t Lam-ang4s greatness!1pon ret"rning to .alb"an in tri"mph, he was bathed bywomen in the )mb"rayan river! )llthe fish died bea"se of thedirt and odor from Lam-ang4s body! There was a yo"ng woman named Ines 5annoyan whomLam-ang wanted to woo!She lived in Calan"tian and he bro"ghtalonghiswhiterooster andgraydogtovisit her!,ntheway,Lam-ang met his enemy S"marang, another s"itor of Ines whomhe fo"ght and readily defeated!Lam-angfo"ndtheho"seof Iness"rro"ndedbymanys"itors all of whom were trying to ath her attention!(e had hisrooster row, whih a"sed a nearby ho"se to fall! This madeInes loo$ o"t! (e had his dog bar$ and inan instant the fallenho"se rose "p again! The girl4s parents witnessed this and alledfor him! The rooster e-pressed the love of Lam-ang! The parentsagreed to a marriage with their da"ghter if Lam-ang wo"ld givethemadowryval"edat do"bletheir wealth! Lam-anghadnoproblem f"lfilling this ondition and he and Ines were married!It was a tradition to have a newly married man swim in theriver for the rarang fish! 1nfort"nately, Lam-ang dove straight intothe mo"th of the water monster #er$a$an! Ines had Maros gethis bones, whih she overed with a piee of loth! (is roosterrowed and his dog bar$ed and slowly the bones started to move!#a$ alive, Lam-ang and his wife lived happily ever after with hiswhite rooster and gray dog!