DOMAIN NAME:
pagsanjan.org
Reg'd: 05/05/00

HOME

CHAPTER 1
Page 1
Page 2
Page 3
Page 4
Page 5

CHAPTER 2
Page 1
Page 2
Page 3

CHAPTER 3
Page 1
Page 2
Page 3
Page 4
Page 5

CHAPTER 4
Page 1
Page 2

CHAPTER 5
Page 1
Page 2
Page 3
Page 4
Page 5
Page 6
Page 7
Page 8
Page 9

CHAPTER 6
Page 1
Page 2
Page 3
Page 4
Page 5
Page 6
Page 7

CHAPTER 7
Page 1
Page 2
Page 3
Page 4
Page 5
Page 6
Page 7
Page 8
Page 9

      Once upon a time a giant church bell from Mexico arrived in Pagsanjan. It was a gift of the Mexican people who learned from the old friar missionary, who had served as a parish priest in Pagsanjan and had retired to the Franciscan monastery in Guadalajara, that in the town of Pagsanjan, in the distant Filipinas, there was a shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe, who was also Mexico's beloved Patroness. Unfortunately, the town church had only a little church bell which was not worthy of the Holy Virgin. The Mexican catholics, who were fervent devotees of Our Lady of Guadalupe, generously raised the necessary funds and ordered the foundry men of Puebla de los Angeles to cast a giant bell.
      As soon as this gargantuan bell was finished, it was carried by a pack of ten hardy burros to the port city of Acapulco, where it was loaded on the galleon, the San Carlos. This galleon crossed the Pacific Ocean safely and arrived in manila in 1773.
      From Manila, the giant bell was transferred to a big casco which navigated the Pasig River, sailed across Laguna de Bay, finally reaching Pagsanjan, which was then the capital of Laguna Province, the Pagsanjeños happily received the bell, the biggest they had ever seen, and installed it at the church belfry.
      The bell was really so big that when it was rung, its booming echoes reached as far as Majayjay and Pakil. Several pregnant women in town were frightened by the thunderous sounds of the bell so that their babies were born prematurely. The children, too, were terrified and cried every time the bell was rung.
      The town folks soon urged their gobernadorcillo (town executive) to change the giant bell with a smaller one. The gobernadorcillo brought their complaint to the friar cura. "Padre," he told the cura, "our people are complaining about the big bell. Its booming sounds are causing our pregnant women to give premature births and frightening our little children. Let us change it with a smaller bell."
      The friar cura heeded the people's complaint and directed the gobernadorcillo to dismantle the giant bell. With the help of many able-bodied Pagsanjeños, it was loaded on three large bancas tied together as a raft and ferried up near the Bumbungan River. Upon reaching the Kawa-Kawa, near the entrance of the gorge leading to Pagsanjan Falls, the huge bell was hurled down the deep and dark water. Owing to its massive weight, it quickly sank to the muddy bottom of the river.
      Since then, the giant bell has remained buried in Kawa-Kawa. It no longer rings to frighten the pregnant women and the children of Pagsanjan.

The Legend of the Golden Cow

      Once upon a time there lived a golden cow in the verdured hill of San Isidro. This hill, looming high in the north was then a superb pasture land.
      For numberless years the golden cow roamed in San Isidro Hill. She grew fat because of the nutritive grasses which sprouted abundantly on the hillsides. There was something strange about this cow. Every time she ate she faced the east, directions of the rising sun, with her tail facing the west, the direction of the setting sun. in other words, she ate in the east and unloaded her excreta in the west.
      It is this peculiar eating habit of the golden cow that explained why the families in the ibaba section (east side) of Pagsanjan were getting poor, while those in the ilaya section (west side) were growing rich. The old folks in town said that, to all intents and purposes, the golden cow devoured the wealth of the families in the ibaba and deposited it in the ilaya. So it came to pass that the families living in the ilaya were rich, while those in the ibaba were poor.
      The families living in ilaya were the affluent mestizos (descendants of Malay-Chinese ancestors) and those in ibaba were poor naturales. Angered by the ever-growing prosperity of the mestizos, the naturales rushed to the hill one day to catch the golden cow. Their intention was not to kill the cow, but simply to tie her permanently to a huge tree so that she would eat in reverse position, that is face turned toward the west and tail toward the east. If this could be done, the families in the ibaba would become rich and those in the ilaya, poor.
      Unfortunately for the ibaba hunters, they could not find the golden cow. This strange cow disappeared somewhere in the hill of San Isidro. Day after day, the men from ibaba searched everywhere, but in vain.
      Until the present day the affluent Pagsanjeño families are in the ilaya, west side of the town and the poor ones, in the ibaba, east side. Someday, the old folks predict, the mysterious golden cow will reappear in San Isidro Hill. Should she happen to reverse her position while eating, the presently wealthy families of the ilaya may become poor and the currently poor ibaba families may become rich. Que sera, sera!