Wedding Dance Summary
The Wedding Dance by Amador T. Daguio is about Awiyao and Lumnay, a long married couple from the Mountain tribes. Awiyao is going to marry another woman, Madulimay, because Lumnay was not able to give him a child.
Awiyao went back home to see Lumnay because he didn't find her among the dancers at his wedding. He wanted Lumnay to dance at his wedding for the last time but she cannot. On their moment, there are many flashbacks about how Lumnay did her best to have a child, through offering to the god, Kabunyan; and how Awiyao and Lumnay's love was as strong as the river; but "it is just that a man must have a child", and he had to leave her. He promised her that if he fails to have a child, he will come back to her.
She wanted to protest against the written rule that a man can marry another woman, so Lumnay went to the wedding dance. But while seeing her husband married to another woman, she could not take it anymore and just went to the mountain to clear away the beans she had thought about.
And so Lumnay, waiting for Awiyao a long time, thought of Awiyao's promise as she cleared away the growing bean plants.
a. They have been married for seven harvest periods yet Awiyao and Lumnay weren’t able to produce children. * So he decided to marry Madulimay because if they cannot make children, often the masculinity of the husband was considered suspect, and there is a rule that if after seven harvests, there is no child, they are free to break their relationship and seek another. b. Awiyao asked Lumnay to go out and dance so one of the men will like her dance and marry her. * However, she said that she don’t want any other man and tell him about what she did for them. c. Lumnay told him that she has prayed to Kabunyan and sacrificed many chickens in her prayers. * He thinks that Kabunyan does not see to fit for them to have child. So he decided to marry other partner d. Awiyao asked her to get the house and the field, however she
Awiyao went back home to see Lumnay because he didn't find her among the dancers at his wedding. He wanted Lumnay to dance at his wedding for the last time but she cannot. On their moment, there are many flashbacks about how Lumnay did her best to have a child, through offering to the god, Kabunyan; and how Awiyao and Lumnay's love was as strong as the river; but "it is just that a man must have a child", and he had to leave her. He promised her that if he fails to have a child, he will come back to her.
She wanted to protest against the written rule that a man can marry another woman, so Lumnay went to the wedding dance. But while seeing her husband married to another woman, she could not take it anymore and just went to the mountain to clear away the beans she had thought about.
And so Lumnay, waiting for Awiyao a long time, thought of Awiyao's promise as she cleared away the growing bean plants.
a. They have been married for seven harvest periods yet Awiyao and Lumnay weren’t able to produce children. * So he decided to marry Madulimay because if they cannot make children, often the masculinity of the husband was considered suspect, and there is a rule that if after seven harvests, there is no child, they are free to break their relationship and seek another. b. Awiyao asked Lumnay to go out and dance so one of the men will like her dance and marry her. * However, she said that she don’t want any other man and tell him about what she did for them. c. Lumnay told him that she has prayed to Kabunyan and sacrificed many chickens in her prayers. * He thinks that Kabunyan does not see to fit for them to have child. So he decided to marry other partner d. Awiyao asked her to get the house and the field, however she