The Origin of the Rocks of Sagada

Many years ago there lived only a few people in this place. These people gathered one day and one of the men said, "Let's elect a man who is very brave to rule over us. But first of all, let that man fight the thunder."

One proud man rose and aid, "I had better be the one". Then he went home and got his big club and his stone ax and started on his journey to fight the thunder.

Not more than a kilometer away from the village, he remembered something that could anger the thunder. He came to the brook where there was a cave that was wide enough for his body to fit in and it was about ten meters long. As everything as now ready to fight that huge person who could shout and his voice could be heard to the corners of the earth, he went out and challenged the thunder. At his challenge, the thunder began to shout and come down from the sky and dashed at the cave where the man was hiding, but the thunder couldn't get him. A second time the thunder was successful and the man in the cave was smashed to pieces.

After this great but short war between these two, there grew along the brook many white stones like castles. These stone castles were the bones of the man who had been defeated in the fight. In these castles there were beautiful caves and inside them you could still see many beautiful stones hanging down. In addition to this, the blood of the man became the red clay that in this place is mixed with natural clay.

(As told by Alipio Owaten)