Don Juan is sent on a quest to find the magical Ibong Adarna bird to cure his ailing father, the King. He succeeds where his two older brothers failed, avoiding their fate of being turned to stone. After many adventures, including rescuing princesses from dangers in an underground world accessed via a deep well, Don Juan continues his journey to find the kingdom of Delos Cristal and the beautiful princess said to be even lovelier than his love interest, Princess Leonora. He seeks information from increasingly older hermits, the latest being 800 years old, who he hopes can provide directions to the elusive kingdom.

1. Prepared by:
Ancel Lopez
Prepared for:
Sir Macdon

2. Introduction
• Ibong Adarna is an epic about a
legendary bird which is said to be
found in Mt. Tabor, where it
perches on the shimmering
Piedras Platas at night (Piedras
Platas is Spanish for silver
stones). During the daytime, the
bird goes off somewhere but it
comes back at night to roost, and
it sings before it sleeps.

3. Ibong Adarna
• The Ibong Adarna is a narrative
poem with the full
title, Corrido at Buhay na
Pinagdaanan nang Tatlong
Principeng Magkakapatid na
Anak nang Haring Fernando at
nang Reina Valeriana sa
Kahariang Berbania (Corrido
and the Life of Three
Princes, sons of King Fernando
and Queen Valeria from the
kingdom of Berbania).

4. Ibong Adarna (cont)
• The poem has no exact date
of origin and its author
remains unknown.
However, it is believed that
the poem was composed by
Huseng Sisiw, pseudonym of
Jose de la Cruz.
• Some says it was composed
by Francisco Balagtas
(Francisco Baltazar)

5. Ibong Adarna (cont)
• It contains 1,722 stanzas (8
syllables per line, 4 lines per
stanza
• it is a corrido or metrical
romance that involves the
struggles of a heroic character.
• It tells of the adventures and
magical powers, the romance
and love, the courage and
piety, and the treachery and
betrayal of highborn characters.

6. Ibong Adarna(cont)
• At present, Ibong Adarna is an
important Filipino literary classic
that is being studied in secondary
school (in the first year) in the
Philippines, in accordance with the
curriculum set by the Commission
on Higher Education.

7. Major Characters
• Ibong Adarna (Adarna bird)
• An enchantress bird. It has a very long
fancy tail with numerous shiny metallic
colors.
• It knows a total of seven songs that are
believed to lull anyone to sleep as well
as cure any type of afflictions and it
changes its feathers into more colorful
hues and shades after each song.
• After the last song, it excretes
waste, then finally, sleeps with its eyes
wide open. When Adarna bird is sad, it
looks very ugly and hopeless. It is
believed that its droppings can turn any
living things into stone.

8. Major Characters (cont.)
• King Fernando
Great ruler of Berbania kingdom.
• Queen Valeriana
Faithful wife of King Fernando
and a loving mother to her three
sons : Don Pedro, Don Diego and
Don Juan.

9. Major Characters (cont.)
• Don Pedro
Eldest son of the King and
Queen. He is a deceitful man, very
envious and greedy of power.
• Don Diego
The second son, he does not have
his own decision. He follows
whatever his older brother, Don
Pedro tells him to do.
• Don Juan
The youngest of the siblings. He is a
man of integrity and
compassion. These good qualities
makes him the King's favorite child.

10. Minor Characters
• Old leper
The old man who advices Don Juan
to seek for the hermit’s cottage and
ask for an advise on how to get the
Adarna bird without any harm.
• Hermit
The old man who advices Don Juan
on how to successfully get the
Adarna bird.

11. Minor Characters (cont)
• Princess Juana
The princess whom Don Juan
rescues from a giant who holds
her in custody.
• Princess Leonora
Younger sibling of Princess
Juana. Don Juan also rescues
her from the serpent with seven
heads.

12. Minor Characters (cont)
• King Salermo
Ruler of the kingdom of De los
Crystal with black magical
powers. He is the father of Doña
Maria Blanca.
• Princess Maria Blanca
The princess of De los Crystal
kingdom. She has white magical
powers, which is greater than her
father, King Salermo.

13. Ibong Adarna (cont)
The “Ibong Adarna” has five parts:
• Part1. Stanzas 1 – 256
• Part2. Stanzas 257 – 492
• Part3. Stanzas 493 – 858
• Part4. Stanzas 859 – 1298
• Part5. Stanzas 1299 – 1722

14. Part 1: Stanzas 1 – 256
• The kingdom of Berbania is ruled by the king, Don
Fernando. His wife is Doña Valeriana and they
have three sons (from eldest to youngest): Don
Pedro, Don Diego and Don Juan.
• Don Fernando’s favorite is his youngest son, Don
Juan. He falls ill after having a bad dream about
his favorite son being attacked by two people
before being thrown down a well. None of the
healers in the kingdom could cure him. His
condition worsens.

15. • One day, an old doctor arrives in the Berbania
and says that the illness of Don Fernando, which
was brought about by a nightmare, may be cured
only by the song of the Adarna bird. This bird can
be found on Mt. Tabor, where it perches on the
Piedras Platas tree at night. During the
daytime, the bird goes off somewhere but it
comes back at night to roost, and it sings before it
sleeps.
• The old doctor warns that the “Ibong Adarna” is
actually an enchantress, and it must be brought
back to Berbania immediately to help heal the
ailing Don Fernando.

16. • Don Pedro journeys to Mt. Tabor and reaches
it after three months. He is mesmerized by the
Piedras Platas tree with its leaves shimmering
like diamonds. Unfortunately, the Adarna
comes late in the evening. Since Don Pedro
was tired from the journey, he was asleep by
the time the bird perched on the tree.
• The Adarna sheds its feathers and sings seven
times, poops, and then falls asleep on the
tree. The poop lands on the head of the
snoring Don Pedro, and instantly turns him to
stone.

17. • Twelve months pass with no word from Don
Pedro, so Don Diego goes to Mt. Tabor. He suffers
the same fate as Don Pedro.
• Three years pass, and Don Juan offers to look for
his missing brothers as well as the Ibong Adarna.
Don Fernando tries to stop his favorite son from
leaving, but is convinced by Don Juan.
• Don Juan brings five pieces of bread and decides
to eat just one piece a month. After four
months, he reaches the top of Mt. Tabor where
he meets an old leper. The leper begs for
alms, and the compassionate Don Juan gives his
last piece of bread.

18. • The old leper asks Don Juan what he was
doing on Mt. Tabor, so Don Juan tells him. The
old leper admonishes Don Juan to listen
carefully and follow his advice, lest he turn
into stone just like his two older brothers.
• Here’s the advice:
1. Avoid the beautiful tree and just keep
walking until you see a hut.
2. Enter the hut and talk to the old hermit
there. He will show you where the bird is.

19. • And here’s what the old hermit gave Don Juan:
1. Seven pieces of dayap (some kind of lemon-y
fruit)
2. Straight razor blade (labaha)
3. A golden rope
• Each time the Ibong Adarna sings, Don Juan will
become sleepy. To stay awake, he should use the
razor to make a cut on his palm, and then
squeeze some dayap juice on the wound. The
pain will keep him awake so that he can easily
avoid the bird’s poop when it finishes its seven
songs

20. • (The Ibong Adarna sleeps with his eyes open and
its wings spread apart, so you should give credit
to Don Juan for having the guts to climb the tree
even though he had several razor cuts.)
• The golden cord was used to bind the legs of the
Ibong Adarna so that it could not escape.
• Don Juan brings the bird to the old hermit who
promptly puts it in a cage. He also instructs Don
Juan to pour water on the stone figures under the
Ibong Adarna’s tree. The two older brothers are
thus saved, and they are fed by the old hermit.

21. • After the three brothers rest and recover from
the ordeal, the old hermit sends them home
and advises them not to betray one another.
• The two older brothers attack Don Juan on the
way home. So much for following good
advice, right?

22. Part 2 (Stanzas 257 – 492)
• The brothers Don Pedro and Don Diego grab the
Ibong Adarna from Don Juan. They bring it back
to Berbania hoping to get credit for the feat.
Unfortunately for them, the Ibong Adarna refuses
to sing for the king.
• With a mute Adarna and no favorite youngest son
in sight, the king’s condition worsens.
Meanwhile, the badly beaten up Don Juan can
hardly crawl. He prays to the Blessed Virgin Mary
for help. Fortunately, an old person comes to his
aid. Don Juan eventually recovers and goes back
home to Berbania.

23. • Upon his arrival, the Ibong Adarna sheds its
feathers and begins to sing! It sings seven times.
(It’s not clear whether it pooped at the end of its
performance.)
Anyway, the king recovers from his illness. Since it
was obvious that the two older brothers harmed
their brother, King Fernando (after consulting
with his council of advisers) orders Don Pedro
and Don Diego into exile.
Don Juan, being the compassionate fellow that he
is, asks his father not to punish his two brothers.
The king accedes to Don Juan’s request.

24. • King Fernando orders his three sons to guard the Ibong
Adarna. He warns that anyone who allows the bird to
escape will be executed.
During Don Juan’s watch, he falls asleep at dawn. Don
Pedro frees the bird.
Don Juan wakes up later, and is surprised to see that
the bird has escaped. He realizes that he will be put to
death, so he heads for the hills.
King Fernando wakes up and discovers the bird is gone.
He asks the two brothers about it, and they say it was
Juan who watched the Ibong Adarna.
The king orders them to look for Don Juan.

25. • Don Pedro and Don Diego find Don Juan in the
mountain of Armenia. They decide not to return to
Berbania because they were certain Don Juan would
tell the king what really happened. They agree to just
stay on the mountain.
One day, the three brothers find a deep well. Juan
wanted to explore what lay at the bottom of the
well, but Pedro (the eldest) says he should go down
first.
They find a rope and they lower Don Pedro. After going
down 30 feet, however, Don Pedro tugs on the rope
signaling his wish to be pulled out of the well.
•
•

26. Part 3 (Stanzas 493 – 858)
• The three brothers find a dark and deep well. The
eldest, Don Pedro, is lowered into the well by his
two brothers. He grows frightened by the dark
and asks to be hoisted up after going down only
30 feet. Yes, fear is a factor for him.
Don Diego attempts but also fails.
Don Juan gives it a try and reaches the bottom
(100 feet below).

27. • He finds a golden door and quickly enters a place filled
with crystal-paved roads, sweet-smelling flowers, and
palaces made of gold and silver. He also meets the
beautiful Princess Juana.
Since she is held prisoner by a giant, Don Juan kills the
giant. Before they could leave, however, Princess Juana
tells Don Juan about her sister, Leonora, who is being
held prisoner by a seven-headed serpent.
Don Juan battles the serpent but each time he chops
off a head, it simply reattaches itself to the serpent’s
body. Fortunately, Princess Leonora throws him some
bottled liquid which he has to pour on each cut part to
prevent the heads from reattaching themselves to the
serpent’s body.

28. • He thus saves Princess Leonora, and together with
Princess Juan and Leonora’s wolf, they are pulled out of
the well by Don Juan’s two older brothers.
Don Pedro immediately falls in love with Princess
Leonora (who’s in love, quite predictably, with Don
Juan).
Princess Leonora remembers that she left behind a
diamond ring, and Don Juan offers to go down the well
again in order to retrieve it. She tries to stop him but
he insists. Don Pedro lets go of the rope after lowering
his youngest brother only 10 feet, so Don Juan badly
falls down the 100-foot well.

29. • Princess Leonora throws her wolf down the well and
instructs it to look after Don Juan.
Pedro, Diego, Juana and Leonora return to Berbania.
Diego and Juana get married, while Leonora asks the
amorous Pedro to wait first for seven years because
she has a religious pact to fulfill.
(There is no such pact. She was simply stalling and
hoping that Don Juan would return soon.)
In the meantime, the wolf finds the injured Don Juan
and heals him with water taken from the Jordan river.
After recovering from his fall, Don Juan finds the
diamond ring of Princess Leonora and walks back to
Berbania.

30. • It’s a long way back to Berbania, and the tired Don Juan
rests under a tree. The Ibong Adarna perches on the
tree and sings. Don Juan wakes up and listens to the
lyrics of the Ibong Adarna’s song.
It probably sounded like a popular OPM song, because
Don Juan discovers from the lyrics that Leonora always
thinks of him. The song continues, however, and
reveals that there is a woman who is prettier than
Leonora.
She is Doña Maria Blanca, daughter of King Salermo of
the Crystal Kingdom (Delos Cristal). The song also tells
Don Juan that he can proudly present Maria Blanca to
his father, King Fernando.
•

31. Part 4 (Stanzas 859 - 1298)
• Don Juan has been journeying on foot for three
years now, but has still been unable to find the
kingdom of Delos Cristal. He can't figure out
where in the world is Delos Cristal.
Anyway, he meets an old man and asks him about
Delos Cristal, but the old man is equally clueless.
The old man, however, advised Juan to go to the
seventh mountain where he will find a 500-year
old hermit. The old man gives Juan a piece of
cloth.

32. • Juan goes to the old hermit, and shows him the piece
of cloth. The hermit is amazed by the cloth and
exclaims: "Jesus Christ, my Lord, it is only now that I've
seen your clothes!"
(What I can't get is, if the old man Juan met along the
way was Jesus Christ, why didn't He know where Delos
Cristal is? Then again, perhaps He wanted Juan to see
the 500-year old hermit. Also, if that was the first time
the hermit saw the clothes of Christ, how did he
recognize the
Juan asks the hermit about Delos Cristal, but the
hermit does not know where that kingdom is. He even
asked the animals in the forest, but neither did they
know about Delos Cristal.

33. • You can already see what's coming, right?
As you've correctly guessed, the 500-year old
hermit asks Juan to travel to the seventh
mountain (from where they were), so that Juan
can consult the 800-year old hermit there.
The even older hermit consults with the birds and
one eagle. Fortunately for Juan and his weary
feet, the eagle knows where the kingdom of
Delos Cristal is. At last, Don Juan will meet the
beautiful Doña Maria Blanca whom the Ibong
Adarna crowed so much about.

34. • Juan rides on the back of the eagle, and they fly
towards the East for one month before they reach the
kingdom of Delos Cristal.
(Whew! You've only traveled nine paragraphs and
you're probably weary. Imagine how tired Juan is.)
The eagle gives Juan some advice before flying away:
"At 4:00 in the morning, three princesses wearing
dove's clothes will arrive, and will bathe. Hide and do
not show yourself."
As expected, the three princess arrive on time. Don
Juan has no trouble guessing who Maria Blanca
is, because she is the prettiest. Don Juan hides Maria
Blanca's clothes which used to be hanging on a pear
tree.

35. • After a few minutes of bath time, Maria Blanca gets angry
and homicidal because she cannot find her clothes.
After one hour, Don Juan appears like a meek lamb before
Maria Blanca, gets down on his knees, and tells her that
he loves her. He also explains how his love for her made
him steal her clothes, and that he is ready to accept
whatever punishment he deserves because of the deed.
Maria Blanca, overcome with compassion, is longer angry.
She asks him to stand and gently speaks with him.
She asks Juan to look at the stones surrounding the
palace. Those used to be princes, horsemen and counts
who tried to court Maria Blanca, but were turned to stone
by her father after they failed his tests.

36. • She continues: "My father will wake up at 5am and he
will see you. If he asks why you are here, tell him
you've come to ask for the hand of one of the
princesses in marriage. When he invites you into the
palace, decline the invitation for you will surely die. If
you wish to continue, accept whatever tasks he asks
you to perform. I'll take care of everything!"
The princesses leave and King Salermo awakes. As
expected, he sees Juan and invites him to the palace.
Juan declines, states his marital intentions, and says
that he is ready to serve the king.
King Salermo asks a servant to bring some wheat for
the first task.

37. • "Flatten that mountain, scatter the wheat, harvest it
tonight, and turn it into bread. I want that bread served
on my breakfast table tomorrow morning.
Juan takes the wheat and waits in the concierge's
house. After everyone had gone to sleep, Maria Blanca
goes to Juan who then explains to her what the task is
all about.
King Salermo knows the dark arts or black magic, but
Maria Blanca is well-versed in white magic. She is more
powerful than her father, so Juan is able to accomplish
the task easily.

38. • The following morning, the king is amazed that Juan
was able to perform the task. He then gives
instructions for Task Number 2. He shows Juan a wine
bottle that contains 12 negritos. The king then frees
the 12 into the sea and instructs Juan to catch the 12
and return them into the wine bottle.
As in the previous evening, Maria Blanca meets
Juan, gets instructions, and performs the task for him.
The following day, King Salermo gives Juan the third
task: "Juan, put that mountain in the middle of the sea.
Build a castle there. I want to see it by tomorrow
morning. Build a road from my palace to that castle."

39. • As expected, the task is performed. King Salermo
inspects the castle while wondering where Juan is
getting his powers. During the ocular inspection, King
Salermo's ring falls into the sea. This gives the king an
idea on how to ask for an even more difficult task.
He asks Juan to remove the castle from the sea.
Juan, with the help of Maria Blanca, performs the task.
The king then asks Juan to find his missing ring. The
king also requires that he wants to find the ring under
his pillow.

40. • Juan relays the message to Maria Blanca, who for
the first time says that the task is quite difficult.
They ride a raft to middle of the sea. Maria
Blanca asks Juan to chop her up and drop the
pieces into the sea. She cautions him not to lose
any of pieces, and that he should be alert and
stay awake so that he will be able to get the ring
once Maria Blanca's hand emerges from the
water.
He does as instructed and the pieces of Maria
Blanca turn into many fish.

41. • Unfortunately, Juan falls asleep and fails to get the ring
from the surfacing hand of Maria Blanca. They then go
through the whole thing again. Juan rushes and end up
losing the finger of Maria Blanca. Fortunately, he no
longer fell asleep so he was able to get the ring when
Maria's hand resurfaced.
Maria shows Juan her fingers and tells him to
remember that she is missing one of her fingers. She
asks him to remember that, so that he will be able to
recognize her when the time comes.
The following day, King Salermo finds the ring under his
pillow. He calls Juan for the final task. He asks Juan to
attach his horse in the royal stable to the royal carriage.

42. • Maria Blanca tells Juan to be extra careful
because he might die. She explains that the horse
is actually the king, the coach are her two
sisters, and she will be the brakes.
She tells Juan not to be afraid of how the horse
looks. If the horse rears, Juan should rain blows
on the horse's body. Once the horse
weakens, bring the horse back to the stable.
Juan overcomes the king. King Salermo accepts
defeat and accepts that Juan is more powerful.
•

43. Part 5 (Stanzas 1299 – 1722)
• Since King Salermo has no other tasks to
assign to Don Juan, he summons him so that
Don Juan may choose who among the three
princesses he will marry.
Since the faces of the princesses are
covered, Juan may choose only by touching
their fingers. Juan remembers that Maria
Blanca is missing a finger, so he easily chooses
her.

44. • King Salermo notices the unusual closeness between
Juan and Maria Blanca, and plans to have them
banished to England. The couple elope and are able to
escape from the king.
King Salermo breathes a curse on Maria Blanca: “You
will be forgotten by Don Juan! He will leave you and
marry someone else!” In the bewilderment of his
grief, he sickens and dies, and is unable to witness the
fulfillment of his curse.
Don Juan and Doña Maria Blanca reach the outskirts of
the kingdom of Berbania. Don Juan temporarily leaves
Maria Blanca so that he can tell his father, King
Fernando, to have a group go and meet Maria Blanca.

45. • Before he leaves, Maria Blanca warns him that if any
woman approaches him, he will forget Maria Blanca.
Juan promises that he will not allow any woman to come
near him.
Unfortunately, as soon as Juan enters Berbania, Leonora
goes near him. Can’t blame her, really, it’s been so many
years, right? Juan forgets Maria Blanca, and he makes
plans to marry Leonora.
Maria Blanca attends the celebration and requests that a
program be held before the wedding ceremony begins.
The program is dramatic play between negritos. The
female negrito hits the male negrito with a stick and asks
him if he remembers how Doña Maria Blanca helped him
in the kingdom of King Salermo, her father.

46. • Each blow does not hurt the negrito; instead, Don
Juan feels the pain each time the negrita hits the
negrito. Don Juan’s memory returns, and he
remembers all that he and Maria Blanca went
through.
The wedding is called off. Don Juan marries Doña
Maria Blanca. Don Pedro marries Princess
Leonora.
Juan and Maria Blanca return to the kingdom of
Delos Cristal, where they rule with compassion
and justice, over their people who love them.
•
•

47. The END...