CAGAYAN CULTURE THROUGH NARRATIVES

What Is This Module About?

By reading this module, you could tell and share a lot of things on what you

could discover about Cagayan Folktales.

The folktale is a story passed down verbally from generation to generation.

Each storyteller added something new to the stories, making them more interesting

and fascinating as the ages passed. Different folktales bear the characteristics of the

culture, folklore and customs of the people from which they originated.

Like other provinces, Cagayan is very much distinct particular in its folktales.

These folktales have become part of the culture and traditions of the Cagayano

people. Also, these are incorporated in the study lessons of children in school.

Indeed, Cagayan has lots of stories which are unique, thus making it worth reading

for the young ones as well as the olds. Truly, Cagayan has many stories to tell which

we can be proud of and learn much.

Today, we seldom see children reading folktales of their own beloved

province. When given home reading selections, folktales are most often neglected.

It is timely that we have to review the stories in the past that have helped us

developed today.
 These folktales have something to do with the cultures, traditions and beliefs

of the Cagayanos.

Furthermore, come and enjoy study this module. Surely, through this, you will

have a chance to explore deeper about it especially on Cagayan series, which could

touch your life and the lives of other people around you.

Hence, there are two modules for you to study:

Lesson 1: The Birabid

Lesson 2: Why There Is High Tide During Full Moon

 What You Will Learn From This Module?

After studying this module, you are able to:

1. Ask and answer questions to demonstrate understanding of the text, referring
explicitly to the text as the basis for the answers.

2. Recount stories, including folktales and myths from diverse cultures;

determine the central message, lesson, or moral and explain how it is
conveyed through the key details in the text.

3. Describe characters in a story (e.g., their traits, motivations, or feelings) and

explain how their actions contribute to the sequence of events.

4. Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text,
distinguishing literal from non-literal language.

5. Explain how specific aspects of a text’s illustrations contribute to what is

conveyed by the words in the story(e.g., create mood, emphasize aspects of a
character or setting.)

6. Recognize, interpret and make connections in drama to other texts, ideas,

cultural perspectives, personal events and situations.
 Lesson 1
Overview
In view of the importance of folktales in our culture, Cagayanos are very much
particular with the stories and myths and its significance in their actions, beliefs and
character traits.
It has been observed that the young generation nowadays are becoming less
knowledgeable in terms of their hometown’s legendary myths and stories, more so,
in their own province. When asked by their teachers, students do not have ideas on
the basic stories which they supposed know. This is a manifestation that the young
people today lack plethora of ideas in terms of beliefs and practices of their own
place. Their expertise in technology not even help them to discover the beauty of
their own culture. Instead, it wanders them away from the reality of what a Cagayano
person believes and why he acts that way. It is therefore but right to study some
Cagayan Folktale. By doing so, we learn much and appreciate more our old
customs and beliefs.
After studying this lesson, you should be able to:
1. Describe how parts of a story build on one another;

2. Describe the characters in a story and explain how their actions contribute
to the sequence of events;

3. Explain how specific aspects of a text’s illustrations contribute to what is

conveyed by the words in a story; and

4. Recognize and make connections in narratives to cultural perspectives,

personal events and situations.
 Let’s Try This

Look at the pictures below. Which of the following are you familiar with?
Describe each of them. Where do we usually see these? Are these edible? If yes,
who takes them? Write your answers on the space provided.
1.

2.

3.
 Pre- Test
How well do you know the following terms? Choose the correct answer from the
pool of words below.
1. Birabid 6. inhabit
2. Lid 7. oval
3. Shellfish 8. created
4. Disturbance
5. grumbling

Pool of Words
A. a cap or hat E. an egg like shape
B. aquatic inverterbrate having a shell F. design or invest
C. an interruption G. fish
D. to live H. snail

Read the following titles of stories. Put a check mark before the title if you believe
it is a folktale. If not, put a cross mark before the number.
______1. Maria and the Tulwato
______2. The Legend of Two Cities
______3. Why There Is High Tide During Full Moon
______4. The Man with the Coconuts
______5. In Search of God
______6. Why the Fish has Scales
______7. The Necklace
______8. The Story of Pina
______9. The Carabao and the Shell
_____10. The Man with the Coconuts
 Let’s Learn
Do you know what a birabid is? Where do we usually see birabid? List down
your answers on a sheet of paper. What makes them distinct to other shellfish?
Let us read the story about the birabid, a Cagayan folktale.

The Birabid
Why does the “birabid” have no lid?
Long, long ago when God finished creating animals, birds and plants to
inhabit the land, he decided to make some fish and other things for the bodies of
water. He created fishes of different sizes and colors. He created other sea animals.
Then, he started making shellfishes.
Getting the soft clay from which He created things, He molded shellfishes of
different shapes and sizes. Some were big and some were small. Some were round
and some were pointed. Others were flat and oval. Then He breathed life into each
one of them.
The Creator’s work was almost through. He lined all the shellfishes in front
of Him and started to cover them up with lids. He had just begun the work when He
noticed a disturbance at the end of the line. It was caused by a tiny shellfish who was
very impatient. He was trying to get ahead of the others.
The Creator told him to wait for his turn, but no sooner had He returned to His
work when the little shellfish started grumbling and pushing the others. Wanting to
teach him a lesson, God picked him up and said: “Since you are in a hurry, begone,”
Then, He threw him into the nearest pond. Today, we see the impatient little
shellfish, called “birabid” by everyone, floating on ponds and lakes without any lid.

Let’s Talk About It

COMPREHENSION QUESTIONS
1. What is a birabid?

2. What characteristic does the birabid have?

3. How did the God create the birabid?

4. What caused the disturbance at the end of the line?

5. Why was he so impatient compared to the other shellfish?

 6. What lesson does the Creator want to give him?

7. Where do we see birabid nowadays?

8. What is the moral of the story?

After reading independently the story, write your responses to the following

questions below.

1. What do you like most about your independent reading book so far?

_____________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________.

2. Based on what you have read, do you think you would recommend this story

to a friend? Why or why not?

_____________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________.
Let’s Study
Folktales are traditional story or legend that is common to specific culture and

is often passed along orally. They often contain a lesson to be learned and can take

many forms, like fables, tall tales or even ghost stories.

Since they are handed down from generation to generation, many folktales are

not set to specific time and place. Other particulars are changeable too. That way,

whoever is telling the tale can add or change details to make the story more relevant

to his or her culture.( NYS Department of Education, 2012 )

The main purpose of folklore is to convey a moral lesson and present useful

information and everyday life lessons in an easy way for the common people to

understand. Folk tales sugarcoat the lessons of hard life in order to give the audience

pointers about how they should behave. It is one of the best mediums to pass on

living culture or traditions to future generations.

Currently, many forms of folk literature have been transformed into books and

manuscripts, which we see in the forms of novels, histories, dramas, stories, lyric

poems, and sermons. Folk literature is, however, not merely a carrier of cultural

values; rather, it is also an expression of self-reflection. It serves as a platform to

hold high moral ground without any relevance to present day reality. Instead, writers

use it as a commentary or satire on current political and social reality. In the modern
academic world, folklores and folktales are studied to understand ancient literature

and civilizations.

Modern-day folklore often takes the form of “urban myths.” Although these

stories are usually not actually myths, they are very popular. One common urban

myth tells of a couple travelling to a foreign country where there are many stray dogs

roaming the streets. They see one sick puppy and decide to adopt him, but upon

bringing him back home they soon discover that they’ve rescued a rat instead of a

dog.(Julie Johnstone, 2006)

LET’S READ FOR FURTHER APPRECIATION

Before you read the next story, ponder on the following words which you will
encounter as you read the selection.
Chariot jealous
Kingdom reflection
Restless law
Immortal
In this next story you will have an opportunity to apply what you have
learned from the previous lesson like the characteristics of narratives.