Maga Cuento de Antes (Tales From the Past)

The classic story of The Monkey and the Turtle and so much more are now available in Chabacano!

Based on Mabel Cook Cole's book titled Philippine Folk Tales published in 1916, Maga Cuento de Antes is a collection of Philippine legends, fables, and other classic stories translated from English into Chabacano. It is a bilingual (Chabacano and English) edition, allowing Chabacano readers to rediscover these classic Philippine folktales in their own language.

Eight noble Zamboangueños have come together to translate selected classic stories from our ancestors. These aren't just Philippine Folktales, these stories are an important part of our identity!

Arnolyn E. Balaton, Felicidad F. Cadungog, Marlyn E. Falcasantos, EJ Franz P. Hugo, Ryan Jimenez, Charmaine A. Lim, Dominic V. Mendoza, Mary Chris Turno

As we move forward to a tomorrow that is taking shape amid all the revolutionary changes in our world today, this book looks back to a very different time of heroes, talking animals, and other worldly beings.

Although folktales are often thought of as children's stories, many of these narratives explore surprisingly mature themes. This observation actually reminds me of the Grimm Brothers' fairy tales.

From a linguistic perspective, the book is very interesting because it brings together different translation and writing styles in Chabacano. While the translations were heavily edited for consistency and to conform to the 2016 Chabacano Orthography recommended by the City Government of Zamboanga, I did my best to preserve each translator's individual style and voice.

This will be the third book I have published, following El Diutay Principe, the Chabacano translation of Le Petit Prince, and more recently, Voces del Alma: Sombra y Luz, an anthology of Chabacano poetry.

This is the first book I created where the front cover does not contain a label that it is a book in Chabacano. I don't know but for this book, it just feels like putting a language label on the front cover is apologizing that it's written in Chabacano.

The title is very plain and vague on purpose. It does not explain right away what the book is about but the synopsis on the back is enough explanation.

This book does not announce that it is bilingual. It won't be until the the title page where readers will get a clue that it is a bilingual book.

While it is marketed as a bilingual book, it is still primarily a book in Chabacano so some parts do not have an English translation.

The book features a lot of the color purple to symbolize the coming divine world order.

I hope that the book Maga Cuento De Antes encourages Chabacano speakers to stop putting the language in a box. I hope that it will spark a broader conversation about what Chabacano literature can become. I believe there is room for different writing styles and approaches to coexist, and I hope that Maga Cuento de Antes contributes to that ongoing development.

The original English text is presented alongside the Chabacano translation without modification, allowing readers to compare both versions and providing additional context where needed. Although the English text reflects the language of its time, the Chabacano translation offers readers a clearer understanding of older terms and expressions that may no longer be familiar today.

As far as I know, this is the only body of work as of this writing, that uses the latest Chabacano dictionary published by the city government of Zamboanga as the basis for its spelling. The dictionary used is the official interpretation of the Chabacano orthography released in 2016.