Translated from Filipino
by Dempster P. Samarista
Copyright 2004

In Barrio Tomana Este, there lived a boy named Teofilo. Teofilo was a diligent, dutiful, bright and brave boy.  His parents were too poor to send him to school even though he truly wanted to study.  Instead, they had him do chores in the land they farmed. Teofilo would envy the other children every time he would see them go to and return from school.

Teofilo’s grandfather was a master storyteller. One night, he told a story about the tikbalang.  He said that if you rode a tikbalang, it would scare you off its back. And if you fell off, it would trample you to death. Now if you managed to hold on, it would bring you to the scariest of places. But if you were brave and held on tightly to its mane, firmly digging your heels into its neck, the tikbalang would bring you back where you had found it. 

Teofilo saw this as his chance to travel for free and visit different places. In their barrio, the elders spoke about a tikbalang which lived on the elevated bank of the Agno river.  That place lay very near Teofilo’s house.

One bright moonlit night, Teofilo slipped away from home and went to the tikbalang’s lair. He found the tikbalang seated down, leaning against the tall bank of the river. It was asleep, and snoring loudly. It embraced its long legs and rested its chin between its knees.

Like a cautious cat, Teofilo slowly approached behind the tikbalang then leapt onto its shoulders.  He held on to its thick mane and dug his heels into its neck.

The tikbalang awoke in surprise. Teofilo marveled as the tikbalang’s whole body suddenly began to glow golden.

When the tikbalang felt the small heels dug into his neck and the small hands grasping his mane, he knew that a child rode upon his back.

“A child!” he said. “This one must have some guts. Hmm, let’s see how brave you really are!”

He jumped around and somersaulted then neighed loudly so that Teofilo would fall off.  Instead, the boy stuck like a gecko and dug his heels deeper into the tikbalang’s neck.

To frighten Teofilo into falling off, the tikbalang rushed into a thick and deep forest. By the tikbalang’s golden glow Teofilo could see the wild birds, animals and snakes as they passed.  The tikbalang would also purposely brush Teofilo onto them. Teofilo’s hair stood in terror. But Teofilo easily regained his confidence, tightening his grip on the tikbalang’s mane everytime digging his heels deeper into its neck.

 “Hmm, this child’s something!” the irritated tikbalang said. “Now, let’s see…”

They left the forest and went to sea. He dove deep and brought Teofilo to the navel of the sea. Teofilo saw strange sea creatures and spectacular sights in the deep. The tikbalang would at times stop, and let the fearsome sharks, octopi, and whales brush against Teofilo. But the brave boy held on.

“Really, can nothing I do scare you?”  asked the angry tikbalang.  He decided to bring Teofilo into the bowels of the earth and by its sights and sulfuric fumes terrify him into letting go.  And so they left the sea and went into the earth.

The tikbalang followed the large, long and deep caverns.  Teofilo saw buried treasures, long lost cities of the ancients, skeletons of men, animals and birds, gold and gem stones, oil deposits, underground lakes and rivers and falls, and boiling magma…

Teofilo screamed as the tikbalang suddenly leapt and dove into the boiling magma.  He was astonished that he neither got scalded nor burned.  This brought back his confidence.

“If I cannot scare you below, I will terrify you above!” announced the tikbalang. 

They emerged from underground. The tikbalang leapt up to the mountains and jumped from peak to peak, from Mt. Apo in the Philippines, to Mt. Aconcagua of Argentina, to Mt. McKinley in North America, to Mt. Kilimanjaro in Africa and to Mt. Everest in Nepal.  Teofilo’s stomach flew and yet he did not let go.  His stare grew larger and his mouth gaped more and more as he watched the magnificent vistas they passed below.

“Well, well, still won’t let go!” the tikbalang said. “The last test…into outer space!” From the peak of Mt. Everest, the tikbalang launched into flight.

Like a comet they shot upward and left the Earth behind. Teofilo felt both awestruck and elated as he witnessed the marvels of the universe filled with countless moons, planets, stars, and comets. They traveled into different galaxies.

In the end the tikbalang gave up in exhaustion. “Okay, fine! So I cannot terrify this child. He’s truly brave!” he said.

They returned to Earth, to Teofilo’s Barrio Tomana. The tikbalang  swore allegiance to Teofilo and from then on pledged his service to the boy. But Teofilo preferred that they remained friends.  All he wanted was for the tikbalang to bring him to more places to visit.  The tikbalang agreed.

With the tikbalang’s help, Teofilo visited the large cities of the world including New York, Paris, Rome, London, Moscow, Hong Kong, Tokyo, Kuala Lumpur and many others. They also roamed other towns and cities in other regions of the world. They went into the depths of the Pacific, Atlantic, Indian and other oceans.  Sometimes, they traveled into different galaxies.

And so, although Teofilo was unable to go to school, he became a very bright boy.

Copyright 2002 Juan S.P. Hidalgo Jr.

All Rights Reserved.

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Bannawag, April 1, 2002 issue; page 16; Vol. LXVI, no. 22.

Posted with permission from the Author.