[53]
And one diwata spit from his mouth the isse [54] that he had finished
chewing. When Lumabat saw the isse coming from the mouth of the god,
it looked to him like a sharp knife. Then Diwata laid hold of Lumabat,
and Lumabat thought the god held a sharp knife in his hand. But it
was no knife: it was just the isse. And Diwata rubbed the isse on
Lumabat's belly, and with one downward stroke he opened the belly,
and took out Lumabat's intestines (betuka).
Then Lumabat himself became a god. He was not hungry any more, for
now his intestines were gone. Yet if he wanted to eat, he had only
to say, "Food, come now!" and at once all the fish were there, ready
to be caught. In the sky-country, fish do not have to be caught. And
Lumabat became the greatest of all the diwata.
Now, when Lumabat left home with his brothers and sisters, one sister
and three brothers remained behind. The brother named Wari felt sad
because Lumabat had gone away. At last he decided to follow him. He
crossed the sea, and reached the border of the sky, which immediately
began to make the opening and shutting motions. But Wari was agile,
like his brother Lumabat; and he jumped quick, just like Lumabat,
and got safe into heaven. Following the same path that his brother had
taken, he reached the same house. And again Diwata took the isse, and
attempted to open Wari's belly; but Wari protested, for he did not like
to have his intestines pulled out. Therefore the god was angry at Wari.
Yet Wari staid on in the house for three days. Then he went out
on the atad [55] that joined the front and back part of the gods'
house, whence he could look down on the earth. He saw his home town,
and it made him happy to look at his fields of sugarcane and bananas,
his groves of betel and cocoanuts. There were his bananas ripe, and
all his fruits ready to be plucked. Wari gazed, and then he wanted to
get back to earth again, and he began to cry; for he did not like to
stay in heaven and have his intestines taken out, and he was homesick
for his own town.
Now, the god was angry at Wari because he would not let him open
his belly. And the god told Wari to go home, and take his dogs with
him. First the god fixed some food for Wari to eat on his journey. Then
he took meadow-grass (karan), and tied the long blades together, making
a line long enough to reach down to earth. He tied Wari and the dogs to
one end of the line; but before he lowered the rope, he said to Wari
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