TABUNUWAY AND MAMALU

In the region of the skyworld, there lived a long time ago, a lovely Maguindanao goddess named Sitli Paramisuli. This goddess was the daughter of the great Sharif Awilya, one of the original inhabitants of paradise who was left in Madinat, Mindanao, when the angels moved the ethereal garden to Mecca.

Paramisuli married an unknown god by whom she had two children:Tabunuay and Mamalu.

One day, Paramisuli suddenly became ill. Before she died, she instructed her sons to bury her comb underneath the window of their heavenly home. This the sons obediently did. Three days after burial, Tabunuay and Mamalu noticed a tender plant growing on top of the grave. They tended the plant in deference to their departed mother's last wish. The plant grew to be tall, gracefull bamboo. As years passed, the bamboo shoots grew into tree. soon there was a group of lovely trees swaying gracefully with the wind



One day Tabunaway and Mamalu went to the graveyard to visit their mother's tomb. They noticed that the Bamboo had grown more shoots and that one had grown over the grave. Mamalu took his knife and started cutting the trees. He was able to cut all the bamboos except one large tree growing in the middle of the tomb.



Since it was already late in the afternoon, Tabunuway called to Mamalu. "Finish your work and we will go home.But before you leave cut that tree. It is not good to leave your work uncompleted. It will bring our fish corral badluck. Mamalu obediently cut the trees and he found a girl inside the severed node. They blow had wounded the girl's finger and blood oozed from it. Mamalu dressed the wound and brought the girl to his brother. Tabunuway told Mamalu to adopt the child as his own because he was not so busy himself. The two gods named the girl Putri Tunina because they thought she was their mother who came back to life.



About this time a mortal man named Kabungsuwan came to live in Mindanao. One day he met Tabunuway fishing there. Tabunuway brought Kabungsuwan to his brother,MAmalu. The latter introduced the newcomer to lovely Putri. Kabungsuwan, stuck by the beauty of the maiden asked to marry her. The two gods consented and the young man married Putri.



Out of the union of Kabunsuwan and putri Tunina came three daughters. The first daughter was named Mamuranda, she married PULWA, the dark lord of Bwayan. The second was called Milagandi, and she married the fair skinned Malang-sa-Ingud. The third daughter was Putri Batitla and she married an unknown man. From the union of these three beautiful maidens came the Maguindanao group, as well as the rest of the mankind.