When the Clouds Kiss the Mountain

Mount Mayon is an active volcano in the Philippines. How did this volcano come to be?

There was once a beautiful maiden by the name of Daragang Magayon. She was a princess, the daughter of Rajah Makusog, King of the Rawis. Her exquisite beauty and pleasing manner were well known and suitors from far and near approached the rajah, seeking her hand in marriage.

But the wise king decided that it was his daughter alone who would choose her groom and left it at that. So when the arrogant chief of the Iriga tribe, Pagtuga, approached him, bearing many gifts, Makusog politely declined. When the chief sought Magayon’s attention with even more expensive gifts, he was met with a similar reaction from her too. Pagtuga was angry, very angry.

One morning, Magayon was playfully splashing about on the banks of the Yawa River. Seating herself on a large boulder on the riverside, she immersed her dainty feet in the waters. It had rained the previous night and the river was in full flow. Suddenly, Magayon lost her balance and slipped off the rock and into the water.

Magayon screamed as the current carried her down the river. Luckily for her, Panganoron, a prince from far-off Tagalog, was passing that way. Hearing her cries, he plunged into the swirling waters and rescued her. Panganoron, like all men who set their eyes on the beautiful Magayon, was smitten right away. Thereafter, he met her several times and before long, Magayon, too, returned his affections.

As was custom, Panganoron thrust his spear in front of Rajah Makusog’s palace, denoting his intention to marry the princess. When Makusog came to know his daughter loved the handsome prince, he gladly gave his consent. Panganaron returned to Tagalog to make preparations for the wedding.

Just a few days before the wedding of his daughter, Rajah Makusog went out to the mountains on a hunting trip. And who should waylay the king there but evil Pagtuga who had been spurned by both the rajah and his daughter. ‘Aha! So you think I don’t qualify to be your son-in-law? I won’t let you go unless you give your precious daughter Magayon to me!’ Pagtuga laughed wickedly.

The rajah remained calm. ‘Who am I to decide? It’s up to Magayon to choose whom she should marry.’ Soon, his men brought Magayon before Pagtuga. ‘Unless you consent to marry me, I am going to put your dear father to death. Choose, what will it be? Death for your father or marriage to me?’ Pagtuga asked the frightened Magayon. Poor Magayon! What choice did she have?

‘We shall be married in seven days,’ announced Pagtuga and rode off with Rajah Makusog.

Meanwhile, word reached the kingdom of Tagalog where Panganoron was busy with the wedding preparations. Abandoning everything, Panganoron rushed to Rawi with a band of his bravest warriors. A fierce battle ensued between them and Pagtuga’s men. At the end of it, Panganoron managed to kill the ruthless Pagtuga.

Magayon, who was watching the battle from the sidelines, rushed to her beloved’s side, relieved and happy. Once again, the brave Panganoron had come to her rescue, and her father’s as well. But as she ran to Panganoron, a stray arrow from Pagtuga’s camp pierced her from behind and the princess fell forward.

Panganoron held the dying Magayon in his arms and wept inconsolably. At that moment, Linog, one of Pagtuga’s men, hurled a spear at him and Panganoron, too, fell down dead. Rajah Makusog, who had managed to free himself, killed Linog but it was too late. Both his daughter and the prince were dead.

The entire kingdom of Rawi plunged into mourning. Instead of a wedding, they now had a funeral. Rajah Makusog himself dug a grave where he tenderly placed the bodies of both Magayon and Panganoron and buried them. At least in death they shouldn’t be parted, he thought.

Many days later, the people of Rawi saw that the land where the two were buried had begun to rise like a cone, towards the sky, forming Mount Myon. The old people say that Magayon became the mountain while Panganoron lives in the clouds. When the Mayon volcano spews out red-hot boulders from time to time, they say it is an angry Pagtuga and his minion Linog, trying to retrieve all those expensive gifts, which, according to custom, were buried with Magayon.

And on some days, the top of the volcano is shrouded in mist and clouds and people say that it is Panganoron and Magayon kissing. Afterwards, raindrops trickle down the mountain, tears that Panganoron sheds for his lost love.