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"Long, long ago there lived a fairy with two very
beautiful daughters. Araw, the older daughter, was very amiable, and had a
kindly disposition; but Buwan, unlike her sister, was dishonest, cruel,
and harsh. She was always finding fault with Araw. One night, when the
fairy came home from her nocturnal rambles and saw Buwan badly maltreating
her elder sister, she asked God for help against her unruly daughter.
"Before this time god has prepared very valuable
gifts for the two sisters. These gifts were two enormous diamonds that
could light the whole universe. When God heard the prayer of the fairy, he
descended to earth disguised as a beggar. On learning for himself how
bad-tempered Buwan was, and how sweet and kind-hearted Araw, God gave the
older sister her diamond as a reward. Buwan was greatly angered by this
favoritism on the part of the Almighty, so she went to the heavenly
kingdom and stole one of God's diamonds. Then she returned to earth with
the precious stone, but there she found that her jewel was not so
brilliant as Araw's.
" When God went back to heaven and leaned what Buwan
had done, he sent tow angels to punish her. But the angels abused their
commission: they seized both sisters and hurled them into the sea. Then
they threw the two stones upward into the sky and there they stuck. But
Araw's diamond was bigger and brighter than the one Buwan stole.
Thereafter the bigger jewel was called Araw ("day" or sun) and
the smaller one, Buwan ("moon").
* D.S. Fansler, FPT, No. 70, pp.404-05. A Tagalog Story
narrated by Francisco M. Africa.
This legend was taken directly out of:
"Philippine Folk Literature: The Myths"
Compiled & edited by Damiana L. Eugenio
Published by the University of the Philippines Press,
copyright 1993.
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