Mount Makiling in Laguna is a legendary mountain that has inspired numerous tales, poems and legends owing to its mystical dweller and protector - Maria Makiling. The contour of the mountain is said to be the sleeping/reclining profile of Maria Makiling. Our national hero, the great Jose Rizal himself, published an article in La Solidaridad about Maria Makiling:
"According to eyewitness, she was a young woman, tall and graceful with big black eyes and long and abundant hair. Her color was a clear pure brown, the kayumangging kaligatan, as the Tagalogs say. Her hands and feet were small and delicate and the expression of her countenance always grave and serious. She was a fantastic creature, half nymph, half sylph, born under the moonbeams of Filipinas, in the mystery of its ancient woods, to the murmur of the waves on the neighboring shore. According to general belief, and contrary to the reputation imputed to the nymphs and goddesses, Mariang Makiling always remained pure, simple, and mysterious as the genius of the mountain. An old maid servant we had, an Amazon who defended her house against the outlaws and once killed one of them with a lance thrust, assured me that she had in her childhood seen her passing in the distance over the reed grass so lightly and airily that she did not even make the flexible blades bend." ("Maria Makiling" by Dr. Jose Rizal published in La solidaridad, Dec 31, 1890.)
No comments:
Post a Comment