apparently relinquishes his duties in the sky and goes to live in
the village of his people. With him goes his wife Aponibolinayen, who
had been carried above by a vine. While at his post in the heavens,
Aponitolau is closely associated with the big star, whose duty it is to
follow him in the sky. Again we are told that Aponitolau is taken up
by the spirit Kabkabaga-an, whom he marries and by whom he has a son
(p. 114). In some instances this hero and his son Kanag converse with
thunder and lightning, which appear at times not unlike human beings
(p. 100); but in the eighth relation the two kinds of lightning are
pictured as dogs who guard the town of Dona.

These people enjoy unusual relations with inanimate things, and we
find them conversing with spears and with jars. [32] In one case the
latter appear to be pastured like animals, and surround Aponitolau when
he goes to feed them with lawed [33] leaves and salt (p. 51). Weapons
weep blood and oil when taken down for the purpose of injuring certain
persons (p. 43). A nose flute, when played by a youth, tells him of
his mother's plight (p. 152), while a bamboo Jew's harp summons the
brothers of its owner (p. 162). Animals and birds are frequently in
communication with them: The hawk flies away and spreads the news of
the fight at Adasin [34] (p. 90); at the bidding of Dalonagan a spider
spins a web about the town (p. 124); and Aponitolau is enabled to
fulfill the labors assigned him by the ten-headed giant only through
the aid of spiders, ants, and flies (p. 101). [35] During certain
dances the water from the river flows over the town and fish come
up and bite the feet of the dancers (p. 59). Crocodiles are left to
guard the sister of Aponibalagen, and when they fail to explain their
negligence they are whipped and sent away by their master (p. 87). A
great bird is pleased with Aponitolau and carries him away [36] to its
home, where it forces him to marry a woman it had previously captured