In the beginning there was no land for people to live on. There was just the world of the sky, with its soft cool clouds, and beneath it a vast lake.
One day the daughter of the chief of the sky became ill. Her name was Mayang. Her body burned with a fever so hot that she seemed to be on fire. She would not eat. Each day she got weaker and weaker. Finally her worried father called the medicine man.
The medicine man examined the girl. He felt her forehead. He held her pale cold hand. And then he shook his head and said, “The only cure for her lies in the roots of the wild balete tree. You must dig around this tree and let her touch its roots. Only then will she get well.”
So the chief ordered his servants to dig a hole around the tree. The balete was an old giant of a tree and its roots reached deep down under the clouds. When the hole was dug, the chief’s servants made a harness and carefully lowered Mayang into the hole.
But Mayang had grown so thin that she slipped right through the harness! The poor girl fell. Down, down she went, faster and faster into the vast lake. She was too surprised to make a sound.
A group of wild ducks swimming in the lake saw the girl falling from high up in the sky. “Quick!” the biggest duck called to the other ducks. “We must catch her!”
Just in time five ducks swimming closely together formed a pillow of fluffy feathers. Mayang landed lightly on their backs.
When Mayang looked around, she saw nothing but water. Scared and feeling all alone, she began to cry.
Pagong the turtle happened to be swimming by and saw the girl crying. She was a kind old turtle who did not like to see anyone unhappy. “Don’t cry, you poor thing,” Pagong said. “What’s the matter? Are the ducks bothering you?”
“Certainly, certainly not!” the ducks quacked. “We saved her and are keeping her afloat on our backs!”
“Yes,” said Mayang, who had recovered a little bit from her scare.
“This is quite nice. These soft feathers remind me of the clouds of my home.” But when she remembered her home she began to cry again.
Pagong eyed her curiously. She had never seen a little girl before.
“What is your name, my dear?” she asked. “And where do you come from?”
“My name is Mayang and I come from… from up there.” She pointed to the hole in the sky.
“I will help you,” promised Pagong. “I just have to figure out a way.”
And so Pagong called the animals of the lake to a meeting.
“We must help this poor girl,” the big turtle told the animals. “What’s the matter with her?” asked Karpa, the lazy old fish. “Can’t she swim?”
“No, I don’t believe she can,” answered Pagong. “Look how small her flippers are.”
Suddenly Pagong had a bright idea.
“I have it,” she cried. “What we must do is make a piece of land for her — an island!”
“M-m-make an island?” asked Alimasag the crab. “H-h-how?”
“Simple,” said Pagong. She turned to Palaka, the young frog who was perched on a lily pad. “Your legs are long and your hind strokes can get you far.” Palaka looked pleased. He was proud of his strong legs. “So,” Pagong continued, “you must go down to the bottom of the lake and get some soil.”
Palaka was only too pleased to show off. He disappeared, but before you could count to ten his head popped up again in the water. “It’s too dark and spooky down there,” he gasped. “Someone else must get the soil.” With that Palaka paddled away.
“C-c-can I t-try?” asked Alimasag. “I am n-not a-afraid of the d-dark.” Alimasag disappeared into the water but soon she came up, sputtering. “Aaa-I c-could not find the bottom,” she said. “So far it was!” And then she too swam away.
Now the ducks really began to complain. Pagong did not know what to do. Suddenly she heard a low, throaty voice that said, “I’ll go-o-o.” It came from an old toad.
The ducks complained even louder. Mayang was very heavy to carry. “Stop dreaming, old toad! If the frog couldn’t do it, what makes you think you can? Too dangerous!” they quacked all at the same time.
But the toad had already dived into the darkness of the deep. The minutes passed. A long while later, the toad came up again. “I hob soil im my mouf,” he said in his low voice.
“That’s all right,” said Pagong. “Thank you for-” Then she realized what the toad was saying. “You have it? The soil from the bottom of the lake is inside your mouth?”
Instead of answering, the toad opened his mouth. He spit the soil on the turtle’s back and all the animals helped spread it around, until it became big enough for the girl.
Out of this soil an island grew, a big island, shaped like a turtle.
The girl who had fallen from the sky lived on her new island. The island was called Bohol, and Mayang, the daughter of the sky chief, became the first Boholano.
