A sourced illustration has not yet been added. This gap is included in the coverage record.

Overview

Hunters following their dog discover a large jar that repeatedly evades them. A mysterious voice tells them how to catch it; they finally follow it into a cave with only one exit. The jar is named Magsawi and is said to live at Domayco. It speaks, but a crack in its side has made its language unintelligible to the people.

Magsawi travels to visit a wife, another jar in Ilocos Norte, and a smaller child jar at San Quintin, then returns home. Cole’s note names Cabildo of Domayco as its owner and records his refusal to sell. The account combines an identified valued object with narrative personhood and movement; the reported speech and journeys are not independently verified behavior of pottery. The wife and child are not assigned names absent from the source.

Speaking, traveling heirloom jar with a family of jarsSpecific community attribution
01

Origins & earliest records

Tinguian storytelling, Philippines; particular collected witness

02

Records & interpretation

Complete relevant story, collection preface, regional introduction and attached notes directly read.

Selected bibliography

Documented works and useful reading. This is not a list of every appearance.

  1. 01

    Philippine Folk Tales

    Mabel Cook Cole, compiler and annotator · 1916

    Tinguian; Magsawi, pp. 68–70; notes77–80

Family & connections

A source-supported family tree or inspiration record has not yet been compiled for this profile. Related reading below indicates a connection in subject matter, not a proven lineage or creative influence.

Primary records and illustrations

Direct primary record

Mabel Cook Cole, Philippine Folk Tales (Chicago: A. C. McClurg, 1916)

Tinguian section. Magsawi, pp. 68–70; notes77–80

Full story, relevant regional introduction and preface read; attached notes checked. Collection mediates oral accounts and earlier print sources without a named individual narrator here. No scientific taxonomy inferred.

Inspect the digitized plate · Source collection manifest

References

Sources supporting this profile. Linked pages have their own scope and editorial standards.

  1. Historical collected narrative and editorial notesCole, Philippine Folk Tales (1916), Magsawi, pp. 68–70; notes77–80Research access: 2026-10-05

Image credits

A sourced illustration has not yet been added. This gap is included in the coverage record.

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