The river in Ifugao stopped flowing and people began to die of thirst. The elders told people to dig where the river used to be to find its soul. They dug for three days and struck an underground spring, but some people drowned in the rushing water. Though they celebrated with a feast, it began raining heavily and the river flooded, so people fled to the mountains but most were drowned. Only a brother and sister named Wigan and Bugan survived on separate mountain peaks with Wigan suffering in the cold without fire on his mountain like Bugan had. When the waters finally receded, the siblings were amazed by the new landscape of mountains and valleys below them.

1. IFUGAO
FLOOD

2. One year the rainy season did not come.
Month after month passed by and no rain fell.
The river grew smaller and smaller day by day
until at last it disappeared completely. The
people began to die, and at last the old men
said: “If we do not soon get water, we shall all
die. Let us dig down into the grave of the river,
for the river is dead and has sunk into his
grave, and perhaps we may find the soul of
the river and it will save us from dying.” So
they began to dig and they dug for three days.
On the third day the hole was very large, and
suddenly they struck a great spring and the
water gushed forth. It came so fast that some
of them were drowned before they could get
out of the pit.

3. Then the people were happy, for there
was plenty of water; and they brought much
food and made a great feast. But while they
were feasting it grew dark and began to rain.
The river also kept rising until at last it
overflowed its bank. The people became
frightened. Then the old men said, “We must flee
to the mountains, for the river-gods are angry
and we shall all be drowned.” So people fled
toward the mountains and all but two of them
were overtaken by the water and drowned. The
two of them who escaped were a brother and a
sister named Wigan and Bugan – Wigan on Mt.
Amuyao and Bugan on Kalauitan. And the
water continued to rise until all the earth was
covered with water excepting only the peaks of
these two mountains.

4. The water remained on the earth for a
whole season or from rice planting to rice
harvest. During that time Wigan and Bugan
lived on fruits and nuts from the forests that
covered the tops of the two mountains. Bugan
had fire which at nigh lit up the peak of
Kalauitan, and Wigan knew that there was
someone else alive besides himself. He had no
fire and suffered much from the cold.
At last the water receded from the earth
and left it covered with the rugged mountains
and deep valleys that exist today; and the
solitary brother and sister, looking down from
their respective peaks, were filled with wonder
at the sight.