Foot and Fire

At the house. One day, Bulawanon engaged the help of Tikum Kadlum, a hunting dog with the gift of sensing the spirits, in cooking rice for his husband Paiburong and his brother Dumaraog who will be going hunting. When the rice was cooked, the brothers ate fast. Then, while Bulawanon packed the betel nut for her husband, Paiburong and Dumaraog dressed themselves, with Dumaraog suggesting they match their sashes and belts, since he is his brother's loyal protector. To complete their hunting preparations, the two brought out their long-bladed sharp knives, shields, spears, and lances from their gold chest and wall hanger. When everything is set, Paiburong bade goodbye to his wife, Bulawanon, who reminded her husband to be careful as he might meet in the forest one named Makabagting, who is accompanied by a man-eating woman called Muwa. Makabagting is a nobleman and a warrior who is widely known as having tasted human flesh. Paiburong went out of his house, and he heard a sound. It...

Tikum Kadlum is the first epic out of ten epics of Panay as told by the Panay Bukidnon of Calinog, Iloilo. This is my first read. There are ten (10) books all in all which are all interrelated. I believe each epic can be told independently of the others but the whole story can be appreciated if read according to the sequence of the series. Like when I finished Tikum Kadlum, another character Amburukay is introduced and thus, the book two is titled in her name. The book is presented as a transcription of the chants as told/sang by GAMABA Federico Caballero and his sister Teresita Caballero-Castor in archaic Kinaray-a. In a table form, the archaic kinaray-a is then translated to contemporary kinaray-a, then Filipino, then English. The single best accomplishment of this book is that it is a published documentation of the chant in archaic language. I am not sure if it can hold the interest of those who reads in Filipino or English because as for me, I appreciated the reading...