The Thirteenth Boy (Legends of the Sto. Niño de Cebu) - Part 4

A book entitled “Legends of the Sto. Niño de Cebu” was published in 1965. It was written originally in Cebuano by Manuel Enriquez dela Calzada translated into English by Martin Abellana.

It printed legends about the Sto. Niño handed down through the centuries by word of mouth from generation to generation, starting at the landing of Magellan in old Banawa (now called San Nicolas). Among the legends written is the “Thirteenth Boy”:

(Continued from previous article)

“The alcalde opened wide his eyes, with disbelief. He looked around and he observed the people listened to the arraez gazed at the Moro with eyes wide opened too.

“Now that I am at your mercy, Your Honor,” the arraez continued. “I may just as well, divulge everything. Our purpose in kidnapping the children was to sell them as slaves in Moroland. So after we got hold of them, we set sail for Sulu where the price for slaves was high. All the captured children were placed by us in the hull but that mysterious boy could not be controlled. He had a way of his own which I, the arraez, could not control or understand. He could make me cringe with the mere snap of his finger. He was that powerful.

“As I head, we headed for Sulu but imagine my surprise when instead of landing at Jolo, Sulu, we landed right back where we started!”

“The mayor and all the listeners cold be felled down with a leather. Who ever heard of such happening?

“Please remember, your Honor,” the arraez resumed his narration, “we were at sea for more than three years days sailing. We were afraid that the children in our hull would die of hunger and thirst”.

“But we were never hungry or thirsty,” a small boy interrupted. “We enjoyed ourselves lying down looking at the sky, at the clouds, at the stars.”

“In the silence that followed, the mayor was seen looking up heavenwards and from his lips, the people heard the words, “My limited mind cannot fathom this mystery. O Senor Santo Nino Jesus de Cebu, could this be Your Handiwork? Could You be the Thirteenth Boy?”

“Because no harm was done to the kidnapped children, and because the Moro kidnappers were penitent and promised that they would never repeat their dastardly act, the mayor with the consent of the parents whose children were kidnapped, pardoned the Moros.” (End of series)