MARINELA

She was a seductive goddess and the sight of her filled me with a longing so primitive and compelling- I simply had to possess her! Before I realized what I was doing, I was already in deep water cavorting with a complete stranger.

M A R I N E L A

(Kadios and the Mermaid)

 At the wake of my mother’s cousin in Valladolid, Negros Occidental, I was told this enchanting tale by Tito Robin over cups of steaming salabat (ginger tea) and crunchy galletas ( a local biscuit popularly served during wakes in rural areas) in an effort to keep me from falling asleep. It is a story of how a handsome barrio swain fell in love with a sea siren and decided to join her in her world below the sea. Tito Robin narrates:

     Lolo Kalaw was the most sought after person in this seaside community. People didn’t seem to mind that he was already blind in one eye and hard of hearing because of advanced age. At 89, his mental faculties remained as sharp and as clear as that of a man of 50. Barrio folks and “outsiders” continued to flock to the octogenarian’s nipa  (a palm tree that grows in mangroves) hut  for medical assistance.

     Claudito “Kalaw” M. was an old bachelor. He was a fun-loving guy in his youth, but when his sweetheart suddenly died from a misdiagnosed ailment, he never went courting again – preferring to dedicate his entire life helping people who needed medical attention. He was kind and generous to everybody, refusing to charge anything for his services.

     “ I am happy to be of service to my friends. And thank you but I already have everything I need in life.” was Lolo Kalaw’s stock reply.

     If a patient insisted in giving him something, he would smile and say…” O sige, if you have some eggs or vegetables to spare, just give me enough for one meal and that would be more than sufficient.” And true enough, gifts of rice, fish, eggs, vegetables and occasional poultry provided the old man enough food for his day-to-day subsistence.

     What made people seek out Lolo Kalaw when in fact he had no medical training and did not even finish the primary grades because of dire poverty? The reason was his extra-ordinary gift of  healing. He could “snatch” terminally ill patients on the brink of death and slowly nurse them back  to health. There was no explanation for his so-called “powers” and the doctors who came to observe him could offer no medical or scientific explanation. But grateful patients who had been cured by his “healing hand” gratefully spread the news in exaggerated superlatives. When questioned about his healing powers, the octogenarian attributed it to the bronze medallion he constantly wore around his neck. He claimed it was a  powerful  antinganting (talisman), a merman had given him.  

     Of course  very few believed him, preferring to credit the healing to the saints and to the other religious icons that filled his room. But Lolo Kalaw insisted his story was true because the merman was no other than his cousin Kadios. And to anybody who cared to listen, the octogenarian willingly tells  the story of Kadios and this siren from the deep.

     Kadios was a rakishly handsome swain who lived with his widowed mother in a neat wooden cottage by the shoreline of Barrio Baybay in the early 1900s. Unlike most young people  of his barrio who were  unable to go beyond the elementary grades, Kadios was a highschool graduate of a parochial school run by priests.  Having spent four years of his life with his well-to-do aunt in the city , he was noticeably different from most of his friends.

     His main preoccupation was fishing and partying. He would take the family banca (a traditional Filipino watercraft)  out to the sea before sunrise and would come home before sunset – his boat loaded with fish. Kadio’s had obviously inherited his father ‘s fishing prowess.   He also loved the good life and made it a point to keep his evening free for barrio socials.

     He was popular with the barrio folks who were charmed by his “educated” city ways. He was also a natural “pasikatero” (show-off) and enjoyed being the “life of the party” each time the opportunity presents itself. And his mothers friends attributed this to his being “pinaglihi sa artista”. Kadios could tap dance like Fred Astaire and croon love songs Bing Crosby style. There were those who also insisted he was a dead ringer for Error Flynn ; and like the swashbuckling hero, Kadios  was also notorious for his amorous escapes.

     For years, the tall, good-looking fisherman was the heartthrob of the barrio girls who shamelessly vied for his attention. And then one day, for a reason nobody knew,  Kadios lost his zest for life, preferring to sit by the large, protruding boulders that lined the shoreline, playing his harmonica way into twilight. His fisherman friends also noticed that he had become more daring with his fishing exploits. While he used to shun night fishing, now he didn’t mind setting out into the dark sea alone even on moonless nights. He also lost all his fears of the sea and even dared to go fishing despite strong winds and dangerously big waves. There was nothing his mother could do to stop him from sailing once his mind was made up.

     These daring sea excursions went on for sometime until one fateful afternoon, Kadios insisted on going out to sea  despite the choppy waters  and the ominous, dark clouds in the horizon. It was obvious to everybody that a storm was brewing. His mother, fearing for her son’s life pleaded in vain for him to stay home. And true enough that night, an unusually fierce storm hit the island, leaving in its wake a devastated barrio.

     For days, friends and relatives helped to look for him and other victims believed to have been carried out to sea by the gigantic waves that had pummeled the shoreline community. Kadio’s body was never found but his mother never gave up hope. Tiya Pinang believed her son was alive somewhere…she felt it in her bones, in her heart.

     And so each day, at the crack of dawn, his mother would go wading in the shallow waters calling for her son. This she did for years until finally old age and infirmity caught up with her. She would now just sit in her rocking chair, sadly looking out to the sea and whisper her son’s name..”Kadios, Kadios, hijo, diin ka na?” ( Kadios, Kadios, son, where are you?)

     And then, one bright beautiful day Tiyay Pining requested Kalaw, the orphaned son of her sister whom she had taken under her wing after Kadios disappeared, to bring her rocking chair by the seashore so she may bask in the sun for a while. She knew her final hour was at hand.

     “ How I wish I could see my son again before I die,” she whispered to the waves as she gently rocked herself. “Kadios, I wish you’d come home before its too late.”

     No sooner had the dying mother said this when she caught the faint lilting notes of a harmonica. It was a familiar Visayan lullaby and it seemed to come from the depths of the sea. She immediately recognized the favorite harmonica piece of Kadios!

     Her son had not aged at all; time had seemingly stood still for him. The mother gasped at the sight of him - he was so handsome and so princely looking he could have been the young Poseidon  himself rising from the sea!

     Kadios was dripping wet and his perfectly formed body glistened with moisture. His gloriously tanned skin glowed in the morning sunlight. As he came nearer, she noticed that his arms and legs were covered with tiny scales that glittered like flecks of gold. His once glossy, jet black hair was now sun-bleached and it stood out like a halo against his tanned skin.  Tiya  Pinang was was speechless with joy and amazement .

     “Nanay..” he gathered her in his strong, wet arms. “Please do not worry about me. I am happy where I am.”

     “I’ve been calling and calling for you but you never came.”

     ” Please forgive me ‘Nay. I hadn’t realized it’s been that long. In our world, time has no meaning. I was alarmed when the sea breezes whispered to me you were very sick. I immediately rushed here when I heard the news.”

     Kadios smiled tenderly at his mother and she noticed how cherubic he looked with his macopa-pink cheeks and lips…even his teeth had never been this pearly white.

     “Where did you go hijo? Please tell me. I want to know.”

     And so with his old, dying mother cradled in his strong, muscular arms, Kadios told her about the maiden he saw bathing by therompe olas (break water). He beckoned his cousin Kalaw to come nearer so that he may also get to know his story:

     I had just finished digging for clams and was resting on a large boulder that protruded on that part of the shore where the undercurrent is dangerously strong, when I espied this unusually fair maiden with hair like spun gold bathing in deep waters. I was startled for a moment because nobody ever mentioned we were expecting tourists in these parts.

    I had never seen a woman bathing in the nude before and to my embarrassment, she made no effort to cover herself. She must have stood in some sand dune because I clearly saw her upright torso, her beautiful heaving breasts, her tiny waistline, her flat belly with this star-like thing clinging to her navel. The rest of her body was hidden by this swirling tide.

     Kadios, take off your clothes and join me, “ the stranger teased, giggling coquettishly. I was astounded. How did she know my name? But before I could react, she laughed and swam away. She was a powerful swimmer.

     I found myself going back to the same place every morning, hoping she’d show up again. I dreamed of her every night – they were strange, erotic dreams that lasted till dawn. I was completely obsessed with finding her again and for a while I thought I was slowly losing my mind.

     Then unexpectedly, one late afternoon she reappeared. This time she was seated on my favorite spot among the rocks.  She was singing a hauntingly beautiful song while stringing some flowers to form a garland of sorts. Her luscious’ golden hair was swept to one side of her head revealing a slim neck and creamy white skin that glowed like porcelain in the dying light.

     Fearful that I might frighten her away, I carefully inched myself towards her. She must have heard me for she suddenly turned and smiled, a dazzling smile that made my heart skip a beat. She shifted her position and swung her long shapely legs in my direction. Without a word she arched her neck backward so that her cherry-tipped breasts were thrust forward, her legs parted wide in a wanton invitation for me to claim her.

     She was a seductive goddess and the sight of her filled me with a longing so primitive and compelling- I simply had to possess her! Before I realized what I was doing, I was already in deep water cavorting with a complete stranger.

     She gave herself to me with complete abandon, encouraging me with her moans of pleasure to possess her time and again. With the melting sun, the seawater had slowly turned frigid. I was now trembling with cold and yet I couldn’t seem to extricate myself from her embrace, from her body. She was insatiable and I continued to pleasure her until I lost consciousness. I found myself in my bed the following morning, wondering if everything was just a dream.

     I lived only for our trysts by the sea. I had fallen in love with Marinella. As time went by, I surprisingly lost all my fear of the sea. I also noticed that tiny scales had begun to appear on my arms and legs. For a while I thought they were just freckles. But when a web-like skin began to grow between my toes, I panicked. I planned to tell you everything, Nanay, but before I could do so, that fierce storm hit our village.

     My banca had capsized at the height of the turbulence. We were suppose to rendezvous  in that little islet five nautical miles from here. But I lost my way and would have drowned had Marinella not rescued me. She brought me to her world beneath the sea and it was there I learned the truth: I had fallen in love with a mermaid princess.     Only half of her body was human, the rest was scaly fish. I was told that had I caught sight of her through a telescope, I would have seen her for what she really was. But in my case, I was always in the circle of her hypnotic powers and so she had complete control of my mind.

     Can you imagine me making love to a fish, ‘Nay? Mermaids, like most aquatic animals require multiple couplings. I was lucky I was an exceptionally strong and healthy male.  It’s a wonderland down there…a world so different from ours where time holds no meaning.

     Tiyay Pinang smiled at her son as if to say she understood. Then without a word, she closed her eyes and died. And as Kadios wailed in grief, the brilliant blue sky became ominously dark and the tranquil sea turned choppy. But this lasted only for a while.

     The merman took his mother’s body to a hilly mound overlooking the ocean, not too far away from the shoreline. With the help of Kalaw they buried her beside Kadio’s father, marking her grave with a huge, stone cross.

     “From here, I shall be able to see her cross when I come surfacing from the depths,” the merman explained. “Take care of her grave, Kalaw.”

     Before Kadios returned to the deep, he removed from his neck a large, bronze-like medallion and gave it to his cousin.

     “For as long as you wear this, you will always be safe from the dangers of the sea. You will live to a ripe old age and your basic needs will always be taken care of. You will have the power to heal most people  except for those whose time has come. For what has been written cannot be undone.

     You have been a good and loyal companion to my mother and for that I shall always be grateful. If you should ever need me or should you ever decide to join me in my world, just go to any shoreline and call my name.

     The day he turned 90, Lolo Kalaw asked his nephew who had been his companion during the last few years of his life, to bring him to the beach so he may soak in the early morning sun. When the young man returned from the house to fetch the old man  about an hour later , he was no longer in his seat.

     People in the area believe he had wandered into deeper waters and drowned, his frail body carried away by the early morning swell.