Chapter I

The Golden Age.--Ifugao knowledge of the prediluvian period is
very vague. It is known, however, that the Earth World was entirely
flat except for two great mountains, one in the east called Amúyao
and one in the west called Kalauítan. [61] This level country was
heavily forested, and all of the people lived along a large river
that ran through the central plain between the two great mountains.

The period was something like a Golden Age, when things were much
better than they are now. The people were demigods whose life
was a happy one and their country a sort of Garden of Eden. To
obtain rice, all that they needed to do was to cut down a stalk
of bamboo, which was plentiful, and split open the joints which
were filled with hulled rice ready to cook. Stalks of sugar-cane
were filled with baiyax, [62] and needed only to be tapped to
furnish a most refreshing drink. The river was full of fish, and
the forests were filled with deer and wild hogs which were much
easier to catch than those of the present day. The rice grains
of that time were larger and more satisfying, and a handful of
them was sufficient to feed a large family.

But this Golden Age, like others, was not destined to last.