Aetan Lit

Literary Arts

Aeta literary arts include riddles, folk narratives, legends, and myths
preserved through
oral tradition.

Riddles recorded among the Aeta of northern Cagayan province usually come in two
lines with assonantal rhyme (Whittle and Lusted 1970):

Muminuddukam
A ningngijjitam. (Pinnia)

It wears a crown but isn’t a queen
It has scales but isn’t a fish. (Pineapple)

Assini nga pinasco ni Apu
Nga magismagel yu ulu na? (Simu)

There is a cave with a bolo in it
Full of bones it isn’t a grave. (Mouth)

Ajjar tangapakking nga niuk
Awayya ipagalliuk. (Danum)

When you cut it
It is mended without a scar. (Water)

There is an Aeta creation legend which is also known to the Mangyan: In the
beginning,
there was no earth, only a vast ocean. A winged king named Manaul esc...