Banana trees abound in the Southeast Asian landscape and are enjoyed by Filipinos in a multitude of ways. Whether it’s eaten as is, cut and dried into chips, or cooked into native delicacies like nilupak, the banana is one fruit you can always find a use for.
There was once a farmer named Mang Pedro who had a beautiful daughter. Mindful of their only child’s extraordinary beauty, Mang Pedro and his wife forbade Juana from consorting with young men. Since Juana was as dutiful as she was pretty (and didn’t have Facebook), she found it easy to obey her parents’ wishes. But one day, she chanced upon a handsome young farmer named Aging. The two quickly became enamored with each other.
Like any forbidden couple, Juana and Aging found ways to meet in secret. One day, Juana’s mother left to run some errands in town while Mang Pedro was out working the fields. Aging took the opportunity to visit Juana. The two were so engrossed in each other (doing God knows what) that neither noticed the sky growing dark. When Mang Pedro arrived home and saw Aging inside, the young man’s arm resting on the windowsill, he was enraged. Mang Pedro severed the unfortunate suitor’s arm with one swing of his razor sharp bolo.
“I feel you, bro.”
Reeling from blood loss and shock, Aging ran out of the house. Juana chased after her suitor, but was unable to catch up with him. Night fell and the only sign of Aging that remained was his bloody, severed arm. Juana took it and tearfully buried it in their yard. Her act of devotion was rewarded the next morning, when a strange new tree sprang from their garden. It had a tall green stalk, graceful branches, and long yellow fruits that curved like fingers. The fruits came to be known as saging (the Tagalog word for “banana”), after the first guy in Philippine history whose hand (but thankfully, not any other part) got chopped off by his girlfriend”s angry father.
Luzon 2 