The First Banana Plant

There once lived a couple in a village by the sea. They had a beautiful daughter named Juana. Under the loving care of her parents, Juana grew up and, because of her beauty, many suitors vied for her.

One of Juana’s suitors was a fellow named Aging. At first Juana and Aging were just friends. But friendship soon turned to love. Juana’s father came to know of the love affair. He told Juana not to entertain Aging. In spite of this, the two lovers found ways to see each other.

Early one evening Juana’s father arrived from the field where he had been working all day. To his surprise he saw Aging by the window of the house. The sight of Aging made the father angry. Quickly, he reached the window and, with his sharp bolo, he struck Aging on the arm. Down fell the arm of Aging. Then Aging rushed out of the house, followed by Juana who kept crying and calling Aging’s name at he same time.

Juana was not able to find Aging. After she had comforted herself, she went back to the house, took Aging’s Arm, and buried it in the yard.

The next morning Juana’s father went to the garden. What did he see? Near the spot where Juana buried Aging’s Arm, there was a small green plant pushing it self up. The plant had wide green leaves and yellow fruits shaped like clusters of fingers. He shouted in surprise. Then he called Juana to come down.

“ What plant is this?”  asked the father. “I’ve never seen one like it before!”. Upon seeing the plant, Juana remembered the arm she had buried on the spot the night before. The name of Aging kept lingering on her mind. Then Juana said, “That pant is Aging! It is the arm of Aging!”.

From that time on, the plant with clustered fruits came to be known as Aging, which was later changed to Saging.