When they were all killed, the widow’s son was so crazed with fighting that he thought no longer of returning home, but started out to find more to slay.

In his wanderings he came to the home of a great giant whose house was already full of the men he had conquered in battle, and he called up from outside: 

“Is the master of the house at home?  If he is, let him come out and fight.”

This threw the giant into a rage, and seizing his shield and his spear, the shaft of which was the trunk of a tree, he sprang to the door and leaped to the ground, not waiting to go down the notched pole which served for steps.  He looked around for his antagonist, and seeing only the widow’s son he roared: 

“Where is the man that wants to fight?  That thing?  It is only a fly!”

The boy did not stop to answer, but rushed at the giant with his knife; and for three days and nights they struggled, till the giant fell, wounded at the waist.

After that the widow’s son stopped only long enough to burn the giant’s house, and then rushed on looking for someone else to slay.  Suddenly he again heard the voice which had bade him fight with the seven men, and this time it said:  “Go home now, for your mother is grieved at your absence.”  In a rage he sprang forward with his sword, though he could see no enemy.  Then the spirit which had spoken to him made him sleep for a short time.  When he awoke the rage was spent.

Again the spirit appeared, and it said:  “The seven men whom you killed were sent to kill you by the spirit of the great stone, for he looked in your hand and saw that you were to marry the orphan girl whom he himself wished to wed.  But you have conquered.  Your enemies are dead.  Go home now and prepare a great quantity of wine, for I shall bring your enemies to life again, and you will all live in peace.”

So the widow’s son went home, and his mother, who had believed him dead, was filled with joy at his coming, and all the people in the town came out to welcome him.  When he had told them his story, they hastened to get wine, and all day they bore jarsful to the widow’s house.

That night there was a great feast, and the spirit of the great stone, his seven warriors, the friendly spirit, and the giant all came.  The widow’s son married the orphan girl, while another beautiful woman became the wife of the spirit of the stone.

MORO

Introduction

About the year 1400 something happened which changed the beliefs and customs of many of the tribes of the southern Philippines and made of them a powerful and dreaded people.

It was about this time that Arabian traders and missionaries began to establish themselves in the Islands, and soon these were followed by hordes of Mohammedan converts from the islands to the south.  Among the newcomers were men who became powerful rulers, and they, in time, brought together many of the settlements which formerly had been hostile to each other and united them under the faith of Islam.  Those who accepted the new faith adopted the dress and many of the customs of their teachers and came to be known as Moro.