The Good Bride

AND THERE SHE IS. Not in a sham marriage but one with a hairy roasted wild boar. "Although the courtship period has a varied set of rules and ceremonials, the marriage itself is as simple as possible. After the consent of the parents has been obtained, the unceremonious first sleep of both the spouses together is considered as wedlock itself," according to Mangyan Heritage Center. And true to her nature as a shy, self-effacing Mangyan girl, she chooses a quiet life deep in the jungle, far from the prying eyes of land-hungry lowlanders.

The groom was waiting

And here came the bride

This hidden wedge high up the branches seemed like the spot

Where she could make a happy home, singing an ambahan. Maybe to a baby?

Ako gabay putyukan

Ako dayo mangaptan

Baliti nan gubayan

Nakan kis-ab sugutan 

Bunglo kasagunsunan

Ho bay si dis mangaptan

Sa sanga panulusan

Bilog bag-o sangbayan

I'm a common honeybee.

I don't want to settle down

at the side of the fig tree.

The reason: because I saw

many marks of ownership.

The place where I'll settle down

is a branch close to the top.

Only there will I be glad.

                    

                    --Ambahan 216 ("Marriage" from Treasure of a Minority, trans. by A. Postma)