The Legend of Lake Danum

Once upon a time, high up in the Cordillera mountains, there lived a young widow named Bulan. She was an honest, kind, and hard-working woman who tilled the fields her husband had left her and cared for her children as well as she could. But the weather had been bad that year. Too much rain had flooded the fields and killed the rice crop, so Bulan had nothing to feed her children.

One day while she was in the granary gathering up the last few grains of rice, Bulan heard her family’s pig squeal under the house. It gave her an idea. 🐖

“I will take that pig to the market and trade it for rice,” she said to her children. “Then at least we will have food to eat.” 🍚

So the next day Bulan tied the pig in a basket, placed the basket on her head, and started on her journey. It was a warm day, and she tired easily because she was so hungry.

After a while she stopped to rest near a shallow lake. As she lifted the basket off her head, the pig squealed out loud. All of a sudden, an old woman appeared. Her white hair seem to trap the sunlight and hold it. Her face was very pale, but her eyes were bright and clear.

“Where are you taking your pig?” the old woman asked. The old woman made her nervous, but Bulan answered truthfully and said, “I am going to Sagada to trade it for something to eat.”

“Follow me. I will give you something for your pig,” said the old woman. She walked to the edge of the lake and put out a foot. As Bulan watched in amazement, the old woman stepped onto the water. But her feet stayed dry. She walked a few steps on the shimmering silver surface of the lake and then turned to Bulan who still stood at the water’s edge. Bulan shook her head uncertainly. She knew this was magic and she was frightened.

The old woman walked back to Bulan and held out her wrinkled hand. Balancing the basket on her head, Bulan took the old woman’s hand. Slowly she stepped onto the lake. She waited to feel the wetness, but her feet never went under. It was like walking on a bed of soft moss.

Suddenly a small house on stilts appeared in the middle of the lake. The two women went inside, and Bulan set the basket with the pig down on the floor. The old woman sat on a stool by the window and ordered Bulan to pick the lice from her head. Bulan was more scared than ever, because now she was sure that the old woman was a witch. Yet Bulan did as she was told.

When Bulan parted the old woman’s hair, she found no lice, only small snakes and centipedes. 🐍 There must have been thousands of them! Bulan bit her lip so she would not scream and bravely crushed the snakes and centipedes between her thumbnails.

After an hour the old woman told her to stop. She got up and collected the snakes and centipedes. She threw them in a pot of vegetable stew and began to cook them. After a while the witch indicated the food was ready and served them on plates made of human skulls. 💀 It was disgusting, but Bulan was prepared to eat this foul meal so that her children would not starve. Once again she bit her lip and pretended that nothing was unusual.

When they finished eating, the old woman gave Bulan two taro roots and one rice stalk. 🌾 “Go home now,” the old woman said. “As soon as you reach your house, put the rice stalk in the granary. Boil the taro.” She did not say any more, not even goodbye.

Bulan was disappointed that all she got for her pig and her trouble were two taro roots and one rice stalk. Nonetheless she thanked the old woman and went home. She put the rice stalk in the granary and boiled the taro, just as the old woman had instructed.

When the taro was cooked, Bulan took a knife to cut it up. And then she noticed something strange. No matter how much she sliced, the taro stayed the same size! Soon she had a hundred slices of taro on the table, more than enough for her children to eat. She knew then that this was the old woman’s gift.

Then she remembered the rice stalk and she ran to her granary. It was overflowing with rice! Bulan was very happy, because she knew that her family would never be hungry again.

Soon the neighbors began to notice Bulan’s good fortune. One of her neighbors was a rich but greedy woman named Galay. This woman had refused to lend Bulan any rice when she had nothing to feed her children. Galay now asked Bulan how she came to have so much food. Bulan truthfully told Galay all about her strange journey.

“I will take my husband’s pig and look for the old witch,” said Galay with a hard glitter in her eyes. 🐖

“But your granary is full!” exclaimed Bulan.

“Ah, but if I had the magic rice stalk I would never have to work again!” said Galay, as she walked away to check on the pig.

The next day the greedy neighbor set out for the lake with a pig in a basket on her head. When she reached the lake she set her pig down. She pinched its tail to make sure it would squeal.

In a twinkling, the old woman appeared. Everything happened exactly as Bulan had told her.

The two women walked on the surface of the lake until they reached the house on stilts. The old woman took a stool, sat by the window, and told Galay to pick her lice. Galay was horrified and refused. Next the old woman made supper. But when Galay saw the plates made of human skulls she quickly got up from the table. As Galay ran toward the door, the old woman slapped her on the thigh. Instantly Galay turned into a big pine tree. The house and the old woman vanished. Only the lake and the tree remained.

A few years later a woodcutter came and saw the huge pine tree standing in the middle of the shallow lake. He decided to cut it down.

As soon as the tree fell, the water began to rise. The lake swallowed up much of the surrounding land and became so deep you could not see the bottom.

Today it is called Lake Danum, which means lake water. The pine tree no longer stands, but people believe that the greedy neighbor’s spirit still lives in the middle of the lake.