The First Clouds

In the old, old days when the world was young, the days were always sunny and bright. The people were just as impeccable. They knew no vice nor sin.

But as the people grew in number, they came to gamble, cheat, rob, fight, and even murder each other. And with all these degradations, there also came the laziness. People who used to be up and about in their fields at sunbreak slept all day, since all night they drank and reveled and brawled. They neglected their fields and did not water their plants as they used to do. Plants and trees began to wither and die, more so when a long drought came.The great god Bathala’s worries multiplied. He was saddened not only by the spectacle of his creatures debasing themselves but also by the sight of his trees and plants withering from lack of rain. So he sent his trusted aide, minor god, Laon, to fetch water from the streams on earth. But once with the people on earth, Laon forgot his mission. He drank and gambled with the ordinary mortals.

Bathala wondered what was taking Laon too long to fetch water. He looked down and saw the faithless Laon reveling with the people. He raged and fumed and would have sent some catastrophe to destroy his debased creatures and his own beloved Laon. However, his own bigness of heart held sway. If his people and Laon failed him, he could do no less than forgive. Moreover, he decided that he himself would cause the rain to come to stop the drought. He made the sun shine clear and bright. The heat drew the water from the ponds, rivers and seas on earth, and formed dark masses suspended in the sky. It was early morning but the sky suddenly grew dark.

The few people on earth who were awake could not understand the phenomenon. It was the first time that their clear skies darkened. They awakened their still sleeping folk in alarm. Had Bathala sent the darkness to punish them? Was this the end of the world?

Then in a moment, torrents of rain fell. It watered the fields, the trees and plants, and flowed back to the ponds and streams and seas. After the downpour, the sun shone again and the sky was clear as before. The leaves grew green once more.

A penitent Laon returned to Bathala. The people likewise were repentant. They returned to their fields, and to their old virtues of industry and kindness. But every so often, Bathala still hangs out dark clouds in the sky, not only to remind them about the evils of vice and sin, but also to bring rain to their fields and trees.