Legends of the Sto. Niño de Cebu (Part 2)
Manuel Enriquez dela Calzada originally wrote this in Cebuano, it was translated into English by Martin Abellana. It was published in 1965. It was Consuelo Enriquez-Uy, a descendant of the Dela Calzada, who donated copies of the book to the Cebu City Library.
Numerous entries on the legends of the Sto. Niño de Cebu is contained in the book. CEBUpedia is running a series of selected stories in the book, with the hope that the Cebu City government, in coordination with the family of Manuel Enriquez dela Calzada, will reproduce the book so it can be distributed to the public schools in Cebu City.
“There, before the altar, the old man said, ‘Go to the source of the River Ginhulaan where you will find a valley. In the valley you will find a vine called Daluha. Its flowers are round and are as big as the thumb of our toes. Its petals are turned downward. Its leaves are round and are full of hairs.’
“Longino listened attentively trying his best to remember everything he heard.
“‘Cut quarter of a fathom of the vine,’ continued the old man, ‘long enough to wind around your head. Be very careful that the leaves and the flowers are not destroyed.’
“‘Now once you have the vine, pick the flowers gently from the vine and squeeze their petals. Let the juice of the petals drop under your eyelids. As you do so, get the vine with its leaves and wind it around your head just above your eyebrows. Let the water from the leaves slowly flow to your eyes. This will make the pupils of your eyes grow for, as it is, your pupils are stunted.’
“Longino followed the advice of the old man. After a month of treatment, the pupils of Longino’s eyes grew but he still could not see. One day, Longino’s family, since he was useless in the household tasks, made him watch their rice palay being dried under the sun. He could not see, of course, but he could detect if chickens or birds approached the palay. So everytime a bird or a chicken approached the palay, he drove it by shouting out loud.” (To be continued)
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