The Legend of the Banana (Her Heart)

Long ago, before Philippines was invaded by other countries, the only religion
Filipinos know is Paganism. They know no God until it was invaded by the Spaniards
and killed everyone who refuses to give their riches. In the town of Vigan (in
Philippines), one rich family planned to hide their beautiful daughter named Corazon
because they heard that the Spaniard captain wanted their child. Corazon was one of
the most beautiful maiden in their town. Every man there wants to have her hand in
marriage.

One day, when a group of Spaniard soldiers tried again to gather all the riches and
properties and everything people have in every house, the parents of Corazon
panicked knowing their daughter is missing. Corazon was helping other families to
escape from the Spaniard soldiers because the soldiers where trying to kill them.

When Corazon headed back to her parents, a Spaniard eventually caught her and
brought her to their captain. The captain want Corazon as his bride but Corazon
refused and the captain ordered to kill her and throw her body on the street.

When her parents heard the news that their daughter was slaughtered, they gave
Corazon a funeral. Because there were no coffin in their time, the townspeople buried
Corazon's body underground.

The next day, the second ceremony is about to start, when the graveyard where
Corazon was buried was very crowded. When the parents of Corazon arrived, they
saw a plant growing from the soil. They were curious with the plant because they
haven't seen such plant. As the days pass, the plant grew and grew until a fruit came
out. The people didn't know exactly if it is a fruit or not because it was very unusual to
them. The parents of Corazon concluded that it is their daughter and called the plant,
Banana.

When the Spaniard heard about unusual happening, they fled the town hurriedly. They
were scared to death because they thought it was a curse or something.

The thing that the invaders don't know is, Banana was formed with pure heart. The
townspeople don't know why the parents of Corazon named it that way. But wise men
of the town came to a conclusion why the plant was named Banana, it's because the
letters "ana" in the word Banana means "his/her or ownership of an individual" and
the heart shaped fruit that came out from the plant was Corazon; and Corazon means
"heart". That's why Banana was translated as "Her Heart"
 The Legend of Sampaguita
A long time ago, there were neighboring Baranggays named Balintawak and Gagalangin. Between
the two baranggay, is a very sturdy fence made up of dried bamboo. Every five years, they destroy it
and build a new fence. Sometimes, the guardsmen from Balintawak watch over the fence,
oftentimes the guardsmen from Gagalangin. Everything is working according to the rules of each
datu.

The datu of Barangay Balintawak has a daughter with incomparable beauty and kindness. Her name
is Rosita. Her mother died when she was young, however, she has four maids to assist her every
need. There are a lot of handsome young men who admires her. But the only man who captured her
heart is the son of Gagalangin’s datu, whose name is Delfin.

The conflict between their parents did not stopped Delfin and Rosita from loving each other. At the
end of the bamboo fence lies there secret lair. Every night when the moon is bright, they meet at the
end of the fence and stroll along with Rosita’s maids. Their relationship is hidden from both of their
datu parents.

One day, the datu of Gagalangin heard that the fence is being destroyed by the servants of datu
Balintawak so that they can build a new one. He asked one of his guards to watch at the said fence-
making. When the guard came back, he told the datu that the new fence was moved. He was mad
because the datu of Balintawak took five meters of their land. Immediately, he sent a man to the
datu of the neighboring baranggay.

”Tell the datu of Balintawak to put the fence back where it is supposed to be. They are being
unlawful and stealing one’s land is a crime!” said the datu of Gagalangin.

When the datu of Balintawak heard about it, he became furious and asked the servant to give a
message to their datu. “Tell your datu that I never stole anything from him. I just placed the bamboo
fences at its right place according to the documents that I discovered, written by my ancestors.”

Delfin’s father was very much displeased with the other datu’s response. This kind of conflicts
usually results bloodshed among the two baranggays.

The datu of Gagalangin prepared his unit for the upcoming battle. He needs to get their baranggay’s
stolen land even by violent means.When the news reached the datu of Balintawak, he eagerly
prepared his battle unit as well. The two leaders are now ready for a never-ending war.
A few days before Gagalangins planned to attack the Balintawak, the datu got sick. He became
seriously ill that lead him to his death. The responsibility was then handed to Delfin. He will be the
one to lead the battle troops of baranggay Gagalangin.

The female servants told Rosita what was about to happen and she started to become frightened.
Delfin is so young and does not have any experience when it comes to war. His father, on the other
hand, had been trained to fight since he was still a child. She worried too much. She wanted to talk
to Delfin and ask him to forfeit the war and simply talk to his father and settle the conflict peacefully.
However, they do not have time to converse anymore. Tomorrow is the start of an endless battle
between the two baranggays.

Both parties lost so many lives. Delfin was badly hurt and shed a lot of blood. He started to be blurry.
He was half conscious when he fell to the ground. Before his last breath, he told one of his
comrades to bury him near the end of the fence where he and Rosita used to secretly see each
other.

Nobody can ever tell what really happened to the young lovers or the result of the war. All they knew
is that Rosita became seriously ill when she knew that Delfin died in the battle. Her father called for
so many doctors to make her feel well but neither one of them can treat Rosita. When she was about
to die, Rosita told her father to bury her near Delfin, at the end of the bamboo fence. Though it is
hard for the datu to do, she still obeyed her daughter’s last wish.

Many years had passed and the existence of baranggays gradually disappeared. Spaniards came
and the city of Manila was established. Balintawak and Gagalangin became populated. But all the
people living in these two places were having a mysterious experience. During the month of May,
especially when the moon is bright, they hear a mystical sweet voice of a lady saying “Sumpa kita!
… Sumpa kita!” (I swear, I swear) but nobody can see from whom it is coming from. It seems as if it
comes from the bushes where little white flowers grow. Although the flowers are so tiny, it bursts out
a different kind of scent that everybody loves to smell. That’s what usually happens every month of
May, each year.

Because everyone was so curious about the voice, they all decided to dig up the spot and uncover
the mystery behind it. To their surprise, they found the roots of the bushes where the lovely flower
grows, comes from the mouth of the two bodies buried not so far from each other. The elders
remembered the memoir of the two lovers – Delfin and Rosita.

The story spread fast. The words “Sumpa kita” evolved as “Sampaguita” that signifies an everlasting
love of Delfin and Rosita.
Submitted by:

CHRISTIAN N. RAZON
Grade 7-St. Luke