Reading Notes: Part B Filipino Tales

Like Part A of the Filipino tales, Part B is a collection of short stories from the Philippines. One story read was Why Mosquitoes Hum. I was drawn to this story because I was curious to see how the stories explained the humming of mosquitoes. As I am sure many people can agree, this buzzing can often be a nuisance. Without the help of the note above the story, I probably would have not understood the characters in the story. I tried to research the character names online to see the language of origin but failed to find an answer. I would think the names are of Tagalog origin due to the presence of the language on the islands, but it is difficult to confirm my inclination. It is interesting to see how the author uses personification to bring the animals to life in the story. I was confused by the author mean when the Lamoc, or mosquitoes, were carrying fire. If perhaps the the Lamoc referred to lightning bugs, then it would make more sense, but this confusion may be due to lack of understanding of words or meanings in the Filipino culture. The setting of the story is in Bohol which is a province in the Philippines. According to my research, it is known for its coral reefs and geological formations such as beaches and coves. Thus, it makes sense why the crabs played a prominent role in the story if the setting was in Bohol. The ending of the story is unfortunate as a human having to deal with mosquitoes, but it provides a fun explanation to why humans like to hum around the ears of people. Most fairy tales and stories tend to give these explanations to basic real life aspects, so it is not surprising to see the story focus on the mosquitoes humming.

Bibliography: Filipino Popular Tales by Dean S. Fansler (1921).

Wikimedia: Bohol, the setting of the story

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