RTZNL RTZNLOnce upon a time, there lived in the wilderness of Suruagan, the southern tip of the island of Pan-ay, a diwata named Kasanag. Diwatas are kindly fairies of Pan-ay.
One day, Diwata Kasanag wove, in her leisure time, a set of beautiful wings. It was made from the enchanting flowers of Kapaw-an. Kapaw-an is the divine place of the high God, Makaako, at the peak of Mount Madyaas.
With magnanimity Diwata Kasanag called all land creatures of the island and addressed them,
"I will place these wings on top of a layog, the ancient giant coconut tree of our island. Any creature that gets the wings will have the privilege of wearing it permanently."
When the creatures saw the towering layog, they were dumbfounded.
"The tree seems to touch the clouds," they groaned.
That day, all land creatures went home with wings on their dreams and weight on their feet.
After some time, Bahol, a large animal with a pronounced nose and two sharp tusks, finally took courage.
"My strength will help me get those wings!" he boasted. "It's not by accident that I am the king of the jungle."
Bahol wrapped his considerable nose around the layog and tried uprooting it. He pulled with all his might and mightily he tried - but to no avail. He tried it every day until he gave up, but not before his nose became a long trunk.
Because of shame, Bahol deserted the Island of Pan-ay and hid in the deep forest of the southern tip of the continent to the west of Pan-ay.
After Bahol gave up, Madayaw, a tall animal with beautifully spotted skin also gave it a try.
"There's no harm in trying. My long legs will surely help me," she mused. "If I get those wings, I will be the most beautiful land creature. I will fly around every day, and males will court me no end. Oh, it will be lovely having those wings."
And so, every day she pushed the tree, jumped and stretched her neck to reach the top of layog, but was not able to get the wings. Instead, her neck and legs grew unnaturally long.
For a long while, Madayaw became the butt of jokes until she decided to swim to the continent at the far west, the dry and parched land across the ocean.
After Madayaw's failure, the land creatures seemed to have considered the task impossible. The monkeys and other climbing animals tried but dropped down exhausted. The layog was indeed towering in height.
Then one day, the wings were seen to be falling. Every land creature gathered around the tree in the hope of catching it; even Diwata Kasanag was there to see who would be the lucky catcher.
The wings floated for six days and during those times no creature dared to go home, eat, or sleep. Then on the seventh day there was a great uproar, for then they realized the wings were not falling; rather they were fluttering. A land-crawling creature, Talna the green caterpillar, was wearing them!
A great silence fell when Diwata Kasanag addressed the victor. "I will keep my promise. From now on, you will wear these wings permanently," the diwata pronounced.
"Yes, indeed," Diwata Kasanag agreed. "Tell us, lucky one, how did you achieve it?"
"Kamahalan, truth to tell, I did not really intend to climb the layog," Talna answered meekly. "But I was on Bahol's nose when he started pulling on the coconut tree. You see, Bahol and Madayaw were my friends. I was almost crushed and I had to scramble up the trunk to avoid my untimely death."
The gathered crowd roared in laughter. Even the gracious Diwata Kasanag could not help laughing at the caterpillar's confession.
"When Madayaw started pushing on the tree, I was forced to crawl up some more.
"Then, I realized there would be no harm in trying to scale up the giant coconut tree. No one knew I was already there. So, I climbed some more. It took me a long time to reach the top."
"That was surely hard for you since the tree was more than a thousand times longer than you!" Diwata Kasanag interjected
"Well, all I did was to climb one crack of the bark at a time."
For a while there was deep silence. The creatures looked at the tiny caterpillar with amazement. Then, the creatures began murmuring "one crack of the bark at a time… one crack of the bark at a time...one crack of the bark at a time!" until the mantra was booming through the forest.
Diwata Kasanag was so delighted with Talna and indeed she fixed the wings on the caterpillar. The latter was also delighted that Diwata Kasanag kept her words. And thus, Talna, the caterpillar, later known as the butterfly, lived fluttering ever after.
