In The Song from the Mango Tree, Dr. Wrigglesworth presents a selection of five narratives from the oral narrative repertoire of Ilianen Manobo raconteur Ampatuan Ampalid. Manobo narratives are not only a rich repository of cultural knowledge and belief but are also used in the argumentation process, as in the settlement of Manobo custom-law cases. When these narratives are employed as 'parable' sempità in establishing precedent in the settlement of Manobo custom-law cases, their reiterative force is unexcelled in Manobo oral tradition. The narratives are presented in diglot form with English translations done directly from performances by the Manobo traditional storyteller in his own language. Comparative notes are provided, illuminating the oral literature classifications (according to Aarne & Thompson classification of world oral literature) and the diaspora of the narratives. An Introduction deals with Mr. Ampalid's acquisition of his narrative repertoire as a result of his travels with his chieftain father in the settling of Manobo custom-law cases. His style reveals a control of rhetorical devices that prove him to be a master in the art of maintaining the emotional involvement of his audience throughout an entire night. Audience-interaction is documented for one complete narrative performance, revealing the narrator's involvement of his audience as Manobo society's folk-jurors as they respond with moral assessments of the story-participants' character. As a narrator of Manobo traditional oral literature, Mr. Ampalid fills an important role in his society, for his repertoire embodies the very Manobo cultural heritage that has thus far been successfully preserved rut te kelukesan te enenayan ne melimbag rut te langun dut te sikami ne Manuvu 'from our very first ancestors created down to all of us Manobos today'. That such a heritage bears continuance constitutes a sacred obligation upon every Manobo.
Hazel Wrigglesworth is a linguistic researcher with the Summer Institute of Linguistics, Philippines. The Song from the Mango Tree is documented with more than thirty years experience in oral literature research. It is the first in a two-volume set of narratives from the oral narrative repertoire of Ampatuan Ampalid.
2004. Manila: LSP. xi, pp.281. ISBN: 971-780-015-4 (Linguistic Society of the Philippines Special Monograph Issue, 50)
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