Legends of the Sto. Niño de Cebu (Part 6)
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 are 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.
“The mangamut attracted, as it has been said previously, many people. Women in the family way often asked their husbands to get a mangamut. Young men and young women, too climbed the mangamut tree to pick fruit. They just could not look at the fruit for inviting indeed was the fruit.
“Now during the reign of Humabon’s father, there lived a young man. The young man was the nephew of King Humabon’s father. In other words, the young man was the cousin of Humabon. This cousin of Humabon had a betrothed, a young woman of great beauty.
“One day the young man visited his fiancée but the young woman was not at home. The young man became angry. He became angrier when he learned that his fiancée was among the young men and women picking the mangamut fruit. Evil thoughts assailed his fertile imagination. The green-eyed monster reared its head. Blinded by jealousy, the young man proceeded to the mangamut tree. From afar he could he could hear the happy laughters of the young men and the giggles of the young women. He could no longer control himself. Instead of merely walking, he ran like one possessed. As soon as he reached the mangamut tree, he brandished his weapon right and left, killing the rats, the young men and women. After he killed his own betrothed, he killed himself.
“After this gory incident, nobody went to the mangamut tree to pick its fruit. Several months passed by. One day, a man picked a mangamut tree. He tasted it. To his surprise he found out that the mangamut tree was no longer sweet. It was sour and very bitter. Why? Nobody knew the answer. People avoided the tree. Even the birds avoided it, too.” (To be continued)
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