The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1901-06-02
The BankiVa's Vengeance
A Legend of the TagaIs.

Written for the New York Evening Post
by Margherita Arlina Hamn.
The beautiful Bankfva was not always
the deadly bird it is nowadays. Neither
did it always live in the forest and
jungle, and show itself to men for their
destruction.
When the Tagals first came to I.uzon,
the bird was kind and friendly. 1t made
its nest near the hosue or even in the
matched roof. It displayed it's wonderful
pIumage on the ground, like the peacock,
or i'll the air, like the pigeon. 1T sang
more sWeetly than the nina or the lark,
which the Chinese merchants bring
across the sea.
It played with the children, ard it pro
tected the helpless chicken and clumsy
duck against the hawk and Inc eagle,
IT watched the house by night, and called
loudly in the darkness when strangers
approached. 1t sang early and late, and
was loved by all lovers.
No one ever hurt it or refused it food,
This was because they were fond OF the
bird, and also because it was the faVoF-te.
OF the Lord of the Winds. Old men said
that there was a magic spell over the
Bankiva, and that whoever broke it
would bring misfortune and ruin upon
himself, on all his kindred, and on all his
people So long as the Tagals We're
poor, they remembered what the old men
said and obeyed their commands. Out Of
this obedience came prosperity and
power Out of the power came wealth
and pride. And ont of the pride came
sorrow and the vengeance of the Ban
kva.
1t did not take place suddenly. First
they begrudged the Bankiva food and
called it a lazy and gluttonous bird; yet
none hurt it or laid on it an unknown
hand Then they drove it away from
their houses and the rooms, and said that
it robbed the tame fowl Of their rice
Some hurt it with sticks and stones The
bankiva showed no resentment, but
played and sang to the children as be-
fore.
A new generation grew up which forgot
the sayings of the wise men or recon-
mended them as dreams. Another gem
Grafton came which forgot the sayings
altogether, and new sultan over South
ern Luzon.
He was warlike and cruel, selfish and
wicked. He had gold and Jewels, strong
Moro armor and Jolo weapons. He had
cooks and many slaves. TIE food of his
fathers was not good enough for him,
and he had strange dishes prepared in his
palace His people marveled at the
meats which were served. There were
devil-fshes and sea-slrgs, sharks'-tails
and tree-cats, young antelopes and tim
arao-calves.
One day the sultan ordered his servants
to catch all the Bankivas, and 1T was
done. They were still very tame, and
when the men approached did not try TO
escape When captured some were smut
up in the houses and others wee tether-
ed with cords to trees or posts. They
were fed with rice and water an entire
moon, and then the sultan decreed a
catapusan or great feast, for three days,
in which the Bankivas were to he killed,
cooked and eaten.
The decree was carried far and WiGce
and the people came in from the cum
try to take part in the festival. Hunters
and soldiers brought game of all sorts
from the forest and wild country; f15Eer-
men brought live fish from the sea, rivers
and lakes, and farmers brought poultry
and cattle from the farms.
On the morning of the first day of the
feast, when the sultan was looking at
the cooks as they started the great fires,
an old man whom none had ever seen
came before him, saying:
30 your highness, I have come to beg
mercy for the Bankivas you are aeout
to STAY for the feast. They are sacred to
the lord of the winds, and whose harms
them shall surely suffer"
The sultan was astonished at the old
mans boldness, and called his scld ers to
seize and behead the stranger. But when
they approached him, he faded away into
air and was gone A third of the Ban
kivas were killed and cooked, and b aUti-
full indeed were they when served at the
feast. But when the people at, empted
to eat them, they turned to black Goals.
Those who saw it wondered, and come
remembered that their grandmothe-s had
told stories long before about the Ban
kiva, yet they could not remember what
the stories were. But the sultan was
filled with wrath. He swore vengeance
upon the old man, and had several slaves
beaten with bamboos for no reason what
ever
On the morning of the second day OF
the feast, as the cooks were repl nisbing
the fires and the sultan and his wives and
courtiers we're looking at the wcrk, the
old man suddenly appeared before them
and again begged mercy for the Ban
kivas. Some of the people trembled, be-
cause the stranger looked larger than on
the day before. and because a terrible
light was in his eyes. But the sultan was
not troubled. The sight of the old man
doubled his wrath, and he again called
his guard to seize and benead the strang-