Tip:
Highlight text to annotate it
X
The Legend of the Bat Story by Segundo Matias, Jr.
Illustrated by Ghani Madueno
(MUSIC)
In the beginning of time, there were only as many kinds of birds flying through the skies as one could count on his fingers.
Each kind of bird has its own family.
The Bat Family was regarded as having the most beautiful and colorful wings.
They had long tails, and they also possessed soft glowing eyes.
In the forest one day, the goddess appeared bearing terrible news:
"There shall be endless rain for three days and three nights.
Birds of my creation, let us be prepared.
Store up on food."
In the tallest balete* tree in the center of that forest, all the birds,
led by the Eagles, gathered together with their families,
like the Warblers, the Crows, the Pigeons, the Herons and the Bats.
"We must work together to gather food," advised the spokesman of the Eagles.
The birds came to an agreement that the food they collected would be brought to and stored in the balete.
Everyone would contribute food in preparation for the three days of endless rain.
* balete - banyan tree
Before nightfall, all the birds would come to meet at the balete.
They would wrap the food they collected with banana leaves
and hung them from the branches of the balete.
The Bat Family alone was unable to bring food.
"Chief Eagle, we apologize, but we really have nothing to contribute.
We are already famished from searching the entire forest,
but we could not find any food," said the father of the Bats.
Secretly, each night when the other birds were asleep, the Bats carried out their search for food.
They put away the food they found inside a big cave they discovered far away from the balete tree.
Before long, the three days and three nights of never-ending rain were upon them.
The birds took shelter under the thick branches and leaves of the tall balete.
Out of pity for the Bat Family, their fellow birds gave them a share of the food they had collected.
There they happily ate whenever they were hungry.
But when the three days of endless rain was over,
all the birds were surprised when they detected a foul smell.
The Chief Eagle tracked down the source of the smell.
When he came to a distant cave, he was horrified when he saw the spoiled, rotten food.
These were no longer of any use.
When the goddess learned about the spoiled food, she became angry.
"Who is responsible for this?"
The young bat was frightened and could not help but speak up.
"Father told us to hide the food we collected here,
and not to tell the other birds about it.
If the food ran out at the balete, we would still have some and would not be out of it."
The father Bat was ashamed and miserable.
"Forgive me, Beloved Goddess."
"I cannot forgive you, Bats, for your shrewdness.
I shall punish you for what you've done," the goddess replied through gritted teeth.
At that same instant, the appearance of the Bats was suddenly transformed.
Everyone was stunned when their beautiful, colorful wings had been replaced by furry black ones.
At the spring, the Bats caught sight of their reflection of the new wings changed by the goddess.
They were greatly shocked at what they saw.
"Please forgive us. Give us a second chance.
We will not be shrewd anymore," pleaded the father Bat.
The goddess thought for a moment.
"All right, I shall give you one more chance.
But, next time you repeat what you have done, I will not ever forgive you again."
"We promise," answered the Bats in unison.
The goddess immediately took back the curse.
She gave back their beautiful wings.
One day, the goddess called again the birds to another meeting.
"The King Sun and Mother Moon will hide in the sky for seven days and seven nights.
Ask the King Sun to give you light so you can collect it.
You will need this store of light to guide you through the forest when the seven days of darkness comes," she commanded.
The birds again worked together.
Under the leadership of the Chief Eagle, they all asked the King Sun for the light.
The King Sun put the light he gave to the birds inside the dried branches of a madre cacao*.
The birds then hung them from the great balete.
* madre cacao - a species of the timber tree
But just the same as before, the Bats again pleaded with the other birds.
"Forgive us, but we could not get any light," said the father Bat.
"Why?" the Chief Eagle sternly asked.
"The sun's light is too bright," said the father Bat.
"It hurts our eyes and we cannot go near it," said the mother Bat.
The Chief Eagle approached the young Bat.
"Are your mother and father telling the truth?"
He nodded.
"Never mind," said a Dove.
"Chief Eagle, we will gather the light by ourselves.
We'll just share with them some of it."
To avoid any dispute, all the birds agreed with the Dove's proposal.
Again all the birds, except the Bats, made their way to the King Sun to ask for the light.
The Balete tree glittered brightly when it was filled with lights.
But without the knowledge of the other birds, at nightfall,
when everyone was asleep, the Bats were collecting lights.
They asked for it from the Mother Moon.
Again, the Bats family hid the light they gathered inside a distant cave.
When the King Sun and Mother Moon finally hid behind the clouds in the sky,
all the birds carried light to guide them on their way.
The Bats depended on their companions to provide them light.
But before the seven days of darkness were completed, all the birds,
except for the Bats, had ran out of light.
The birds became suspicious and headed for the cave.
They were shocked for what they saw inside: the lights the Bats had stashed away all along.
The Chief Eagle turned to the Bats and cried, "You Bats, are shrewd by nature!"
"You began hoarding again so that when all our stores have been used up,
you would still have something for yourselves," said a Dove.
"You are deceptive!" said a Heron.
"Selfish!" said a Parrot.
"Stingy!" shouted a Crow.
"Liars!" yelled a Warbler.
The goddess heard what happened, so she went to see the birds.
"Please forgive us," the father Bat pleaded once again.
"I cannot forgive you this time for what you have done, Bats.
You will come to regret this."
The words of the goddess were gentle but firm.
With just one wave of her hand, she transformed the appearance of the Bats.
The other birds were stunned by what they saw.
The beautiful, colorful wings of the Bats were again turned into hairy black wings.
Their bodies were covered in black fur as well.
And not only that, their faces had also changed: large ears slowly sprouted from them,
their snouts and noses bulged out, and their soft glowing eyes became glaring and fierce.
When the Bats saw their reflected faces in the Spring, they were horrified by their new appearance.
"From now on you can only fly and search for food at night.
You will continue to be afraid of the King Sun's rays.
That is what you deserve!" said the goddess.
"Have pity on us!" all the Bats said together.
"From now on as well, you shall not be counted among the birds that I created.
You are a different kind of animal now," she said in conclusion.
The Bats were about to turn to the goddess again to ask for forgiveness,
but she had already vanished.
"Chief Eagle, we are sorry.
We will give you the light that we collected.
Help us convince the goddess to give us back our old appearance," begged the father Bat.
"Have pity on us, help us," begged the mother Bat, too.
"I told you so, Father, Mother, what we were doing was wrong.
What will happen to us now?" the young Bat tearfully said.
"What the goddess says is final.
There is nothing we can do," said the Chief Eagle.
Then he flew away.
The other birds went to follow their leader.
Since then, what ever happened to the Bats family became a frequent subject of conversation among the birds.
"I feel sorry for the Bats," said a Dove.
"Why would they deserve pity?
They tired us out when they had food and light after all!" replied a Heron.
"That's right, they are not pathetic. They deserved to be punished," a Crow cut in.
"The goddess gave them another chance after their first offense, but they had only taken it for granted.
Regret always comes too late, my friends," said the Chief Eagle.
From then on, the Bats never mingled with the other birds again, for they only flew at night to look for food.
But they developed one remarkable habit.
Whenever they perched on the branches, they hung upside down with their heads towards the ground.
According to the birds, it is because they are ashamed of their appearance,
and that it is their way of showing remorse for their sins.
By their own free will, they changed their traits completely by choice.