The Legend of Tulinda

Some two kilometers west of the barrio of Napo, in the southeastern town of Carcar, is a barrio named Tulinda. It is situated on a mountain overlooking a green valley. The barrio is named after a small spring which flows from an opening in a big rock. The spring in turn is named after a woman who at the time of our story was the beauty of the place.

Tulinda was the daughter of one of the native couples who had been driven to the interior parts of Carcar by the atrocities of the Spaniards. She was so pretty that many suitors vied for her hand, and these included chieftains, maharlikas and rich men.

There was one suitor, however, who stood out from the others. This was Kiko, a slave, who was ugly in looks and awkward in ways. Despite these defects and shortcomings, Kiko aspired to win the hands of Tulinda. He courted her, and for some unexplained reason, Tulinda fell in love with him.

Perhaps it was Kiko’s funny mannerism or his good-natured ways that captivated the girl’s heart. The other suitors, for their part, claimed that Kiko used a “lumay” (a magical potion) to win Tulinda’s love. They were understandably angry with Kiko and plotted to kill him.

One night while Kiko was on his way to the house of Tulinda, the suitors attacked and killed him, and then threw his body into a cliff. That night Tulinda waited for Kiko in vain. She had eventually fallen asleep waiting for her lover and in a dream she saw what happened. She woke up and ran to the spot she saw in her dream, hoping to find Kiko there.

And true enough, she saw the lifeless Kiko there. Tulinda poured out her grief as she hugged and mourned for her lover. Suddenly a thunderbolt exploded and hit the lovers. In an instant, they were transformed into a huge mass of rock.

The following morning Tulinda’s parents found the mysterious rock as they went in search of their daughter. A crevice had formed on one side of the rock and out of it a clear spring was flowing. They named the spring Tulinda, believing that the flowing waters were the tears of their daughter mourning for her hapless lover.