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.
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