March 20, 2008

Guam: Legend of Two Lovers Point

Two Lovers Point is the island's most visited and famous landmark. Mula sa lugar na ito na may taas na 378 feet above sea level, matatanaw ang panoramic view of Tumon at ang west central coast ng isla.

The Legend of Two Lovers Point

When Spain ruled Guam, a proud family lived in Agana, the capital city. The father was a wealthy spanish aristocrat and the Mother was a chamorro whose father was a great chief. They owned land and were held in high esteem by all, Chamorro and Spanish alike. However, the best reason for their great pride and dignity was their beautiful daughter. She was honest, modest; her charm so natural that her beauty impressed everyone around her.
One day, a powerful arrogant spanish captain came to ask the father for his daughter's hand in marriage. The proud father decided that the captain would be his daughter's husband. When the girl discovered the pact, she was so disillusioned that she ran from the house and wandered along the shore where the sea soothed her with its silence and peace.

While walking along the shore, she met a young, gentle, strongly built and handsome chamorro man from a very modest Chamorro family. He was lost in his solitary thoughts, his gentle eyes seemed to be studying the lonely stars and seeking some meaning to them. They shared their thoughts and desires and fell in love. When the father of the girl learned about the two lovers, he became angry and demanded that she marry the powerful spanish captain. No one could keep the father from announcing the date of the marriage to the spanish captain. That day, at sundown, she stole out of the house to meet the Chamorro young man. She joined him near the high point where they had first met and watched the stars appear.

Upon discovery that his daughter was gone, the father told the captain that his daughter had been kidnapped by the chamorro boy. The father, the captain and all the spanish soldiers pursued the lovers up to the high cliff above Tumon Bay. The horsemen slowed their pace as they neared the high peak knowing that the lovers were trapped. The lovers realized that they were with few options. The young man shouted a warning for the men to stay back and the father signaled the men to halt. The couple stood at the very edge of the cliff. The young man and lady took the long strands of their hair and tied them together into a rope-like knot. The two acted as if they were absolutely alone. They looked deeply into each others' eyes and kissed for the final time. Instantly, the young couple leaped down the long, deep cliff into the roaring waves below.

In anguish, the father rushed to the edge, he peered down and only saw the floating hair of the lovers. The father understood the symbolism of their hair tied together. Since that day, the Chamorros looked to the jutting peak by Tumon Bay with a kind of reverence. They pay respect to the young couple who showed them that real love comes from the entwining of two souls, true to one another in life and in death. Forever after, the high point on the cliff was known as "Two Lovers Point."
























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