Apolaki & Mayari – The Sun and the Moon

About the legend

Being

Kapampangan Sun and Moon Myth

Cultural meaning

In this Kapampangan myth, Apolaki and Mayari are the son and daughter of Bathala, who ruled the earth, and the light of the world shines from their eyes. After their quarrel over who should rule, the brother rules the earth by day as the sun, and the sister rules it by night as the moon. The myth explains why the moon shines more softly than the sun, and it gives the sky to a brother and sister who take turns.

Fun fact

The moon has no light of its own. Moonlight is sunlight bouncing off the moon, so every night the sun and the moon still share their light.

Cultural notes

This myth was told by Leopoldo Layug of Guagua, Pampanga, and printed for the first time in Dean S. Fansler's Filipino Popular Tales (1921), as "The Sun and the Moon" in the notes to the Tagalog tale "Why the Sun shines more brightly than the Moon." Fansler spells the brother's name Apolaqui. In the same notes he printed two short cradle songs that Pampangan mothers sang to quiet their children, contributed by Lorenzo Licup of Angeles. In them the sun and the moon chase each other and get ready to fight. Fansler gave two other myths of the sun and the moon beside this one. In the Tagalog tale, the kind sister Araw is given a great diamond and her sister Buwan steals another, and the two diamonds end up stuck in the sky as the sun and the moon. In a Pangasinan myth from San Carlos, the brothers Agueo and Bulan travel across the sky in fiery palaces, until their father, Ama, throws a rock at Bulan's palace and the rock breaks into the stars. Fansler thought these stories and songs were genuine old native tradition, unmodified by Christianity. Many newer retellings give Apolaki and Mayari other powers and add other characters; this story follows Layug's telling, with the changes described in the origin note.

About this retelling

Traditional retelling of a Kapampangan myth "The Sun and the Moon," a Pampanga myth printed by Dean S. Fansler in 1921, retold for children.

The old tale gives this story its frame: Bathala and his two children, Apolaki and Mayari, the light that shines from their eyes, the people, birds, animals and fish who were their great friends, Bathala following them on their daily walks until he grew old and could not keep up, his wish that they stay with him and the games that kept them from it, his going without saying who should rule, Apolaki's wish to rule alone, Mayari's refusal, a long quarrel, Apolaki's sorrow, and the sharing of the world with equal power at different times, he by day as the sun and she by night as the moon, her light softer than his. In the old tale, Bathala falls sick and dies, and the brother and sister fight for a long time with bamboo clubs until Mayari loses one of her eyes. We changed this for children. Bathala goes away to rest, far above the highest sky, to watch over his children from there, and no one is struck: their two lights crash together in the quarrel, Mayari is dazzled but can still see, and ever since, one of her eyes has shone more softly. Bathala's goodbye and his voice in the warm wind, the dark nights before the quarrel, the children's games, the Pampanga setting with its rice fields and fishermen, the too-bright days, the owl and the mother with her child, Mayari's soft light as her gift to the night, the closing picture of both in the morning sky and all the words the characters speak were written for Filipino Tales.

Sources

• Dean S. Fansler, "Filipino Popular Tales" (American Folk-Lore Society, 1921), notes to Tale 70: "The Sun and the Moon" (Project Gutenberg, Internet Archive (1921 scan))

Themes

• Sharing
• Fairness
• Forgiveness
• Pampanga
• Kapampangan
• Sun and moon
• Bathala
• Origin myths

More stories

• Maria Makiling – Guardian of the Forest — Read the Philippine legend of Mariang Makiling, guardian of Mount Makiling, retold for children with cultural context and age-adapted reading.
• Ibong Adarna – The Singing Bird of Healing — Read the Filipino epic of Ibong Adarna, an enchanted bird whose healing song inspires a prince's courageous journey, adapted for young readers.
• Malakas & Maganda – The First People — Explore the Filipino creation story of Malakas and Maganda emerging from bamboo, thoughtfully adapted for children and families.
• Bernardo Carpio – The Strong Man in the Mountain — Discover the legend of Bernardo Carpio, the mighty Filipino hero held between two mountains, retold for children with cultural context.
• Daragang Magayon & Mayon Volcano — Read the Bicolano legend of Daragang Magayon and the origin of Mayon Volcano, sensitively adapted for children and families.
• The Manananggal's Lost Heart — Meet a gentler reimagining of the Manananggal in a Filipino tale about courage, compassion and finding your way home, written for young readers.
• The Tikbalang Who Lost His Way — Read a child-friendly Filipino story about a lost Tikbalang, friendship and finding the right path through the forest.
• The Whispering Pines of Sagada — Journey to Sagada in a children's story inspired by Cordillera landscapes, ancestral memory and the voices carried by mountain pines.
• The Giant of Guiting-Guiting — Discover a Filipino mountain legend from Sibuyan and Romblon, adapted as an illustrated story of courage and respect for nature.
• The Coconut Brothers — Read a warm Visayan family tale from Camiguin about two brothers, cooperation and the gifts of the coconut tree.
• The Turtle and the Monkey — Read the Tagalog fable of the Turtle and the Monkey, a story about sharing and cleverness first written down by José Rizal, retold for children.
• Why the Water Buffalo's Hoof Is Split — Read a Tagalog fable from Laguna about a proud water buffalo, a clever little turtle and a race over seven green hills, retold for children.
• The Hawk and the Hen — Read the Tagalog animal legend of the Hawk and the Hen, a story about a borrowed bracelet, honesty and why hens scratch the ground, for children.
• Grandpa's Blanket — Read a Tagalog tale from Malabon about a boy, his grandpa and an old striped blanket, a gentle story about respect for elders.
• Sinukuan's Animal Court — Read a Kapampangan tale of Sinukuan, the wise judge of Mount Arayat, and a sleepless little bird who learns to ask why before she blames.
• Angalo and the Salt Bridges — Read the Ilocano myth of the giant Angalo and his bridges of salt, a story of why the sea is salty, retold for children.
• The Crabs and the Waves — Read a Visayan animal tale from Panay about a town of crabs who march to the sea to quiet the waves, retold for children.
• The Monkey and the Firefly — Read a Visayan tale from Panay about a proud monkey captain and a brave little firefly who wins without a single blow.
• Why Dogs Wag Their Tails — Read a Visayan animal tale from Panay about a dog, a cat and a magic ring, and why dogs wag their tails, retold for children.