Now this house belonged to the sun god, Ini-init, but Bolina could not have known that. At that moment the god was busy shining in the sky, because it was daytime. Bolina explored the house and found everything she could possibly need. She cooked rice, then put a stick in a pan with water. Lo! The stick became a fish. She ate the fish with her rice, then found a bed and lay down on it. Soon she was asleep.

At sunset, the sun god came home. He went to his pond, caught a fish, and took it to his kitchen to cook it. There he discovered that rice had already been cooked. So he went in search of the cook. Eventually he found Bolina sleeping in his bed. She was so beautiful that he fell in love with her. When she opened her eyes she saw a tall man standing nearby, watching her. He had a radiant countenance and was handsome in a way that she had only seen in her dreams.

Ini-init gave her betel nuts to chew, and they told each other their names. Ini-init asked Bolina if she would like to marry him, and she readily consented. So they were married. Every night when Ini-init came home, Bolina had cooked his supper of rice and fish. Even though the fish she cooked had once been a stick, it was always nice and soft. The sun god perceived that Bolina possessed great magic powers, and, before a year had passed, the woman asked her husband to pierce the tip of her left little finger. He did so, and at once a baby boy popped out. The child soon grew up healthy and strong.

Evil Creatures

Asuangs are evil creatures that look human. But they are not. They are spirits that eat human flesh with gusto. Once a human woman agreed to marry an asuang. Of course, he had not revealed his true nature to her. The couple had a daughter, and the woman was very happy except for one thing: Her husband was away all day and often at night as well. So the woman grew suspicious, thinking: “My husband has another woman with whom he spends his nights.”

So one day she followed him. As she walked behind him, keeping her distance so as not to be noticed, she suddenly saw him take off like a bird and fly away. She walked on, following the direction that he had taken.

After a long time, she came to a house in the wilderness. There was no one at home but she suspected that it belonged to her husband and the other woman, though she did not know that the other woman was also a man-eater.