The “Legend of the Pineapple” is a Filipino folktale explaining the origin and cultivation of the pineapple fruit. This folktale falls into the genre of “how and why” tales. These tales often depict transformations of people or things by stronger and at times supernatural forces, such as curses, which are present in this particular folktale. Often the transformation of people into plants or animals results from wrongdoing or erratic behavior. These tales aim to teach lessons about the acceptable standard of conduct or explain why things are. This folktale accomplishes both of these goals: it gives an account of the origin and cultivation of pineapples and presents a moral lesson. The tale also characterizes the pineapple as a symbol of hospitality and health.
Folk tales about plants are, as a rule, products of common human experiences. They depict the relationships of people to their land and surroundings, as shaped by long periods of living in the same place. However, the “Legend of the Pineapple” is not a traditional Filipino folk tale. It seems to originate outside of the Philippines in part because the pineapple is not a traditional food of these islands. While the pineapple fruit was introduced to the Philippines by the Spanish colonization, only in the last century has it become commercially grown in the country. The larger pineapple exports came from Hawaii, where the Filipinos migrated in large numbers as contract laborers between 1906 and 1920. In 1932, when the demand for Hawaii’s agriculture dropped, the contract Filipino laborers migrated to the mainland United States, mainly the West.
In many ways the “Legend of the Pineapple” symbolically captures the stories of Filipino migration and experiences in the United States. The legend, originating as a part of Filipino oral tradition, is now a part of American literature. It was shaped to fit the demands of the market and the curiosity of the common reader as it entered print. Hence, the “Legend of the Pineapple” is really a product of Filipino American history and culture.
Two versions of the legend exist, both focused on the experiences of a little girl, Pina, and her mother, who both live on a fruit plantation in a small village. Pina is a spoiled only child, while her mother is a hard worker, trying to make ends meet. Pina’s laziness, one of the reasons for her mother’s hard life, becomes the cause of the girl’s transformation into a pineapple, the result of a curse from her mother. The story also symbolically explains “how and why” the pineapple came into existence.
The first version presents a story of common childhood disobedience. It begins with Pina’s mother asking her to get shoes from under their hut. As Pina went to look for the shoes, she found a doll and started to play with it. When Pina’s mother asked her for the shoes a second time, Pina said, “I can’t see them!” Her response upset her mother, who yelled, “May you grow dozens of eyes!” This shout made Pina disappear. Everyone on the fruit plantation searched for her, but to no avail. As Pina’s mother lost all hope, one day, while crying, she noticed an unusual plant growing in her yard. She went to observe the plant and noticed that it was covered with “eyes.” The woman realized that the plant was her transformed daughter and called it Pinya.
In the second, more elaborate version, Pina’s mother did not mind the laziness of her daughter until she fell ill one day. Worried that no one could take care of Pina and the housework, Pina’s mother did everything she could to recover as quickly as possible. She turned to Pina and asked her to make some lugaw, a kind of Filipino rice porridge. Mother was too sick to cook or eat anything solid, and lugaw was a simple dish, easy to consume. Lazy Pina refused, telling her mother that lugaw was too hard to make. After Pina’s mother pleaded and begged, Pina reluctantly obeyed. The girl managed to find rice, water, a bowl, and sugar, but could not find a ladle. Pina shouted, “Nanay (mother)! Where is the ladle?” Pina’s mother directed her to look beside the kitchen utensils, yet Pina found nothing and gave up cooking. Pina’s mother grew upset and shouted out her curse. In response the house grew silent, and Pina disappeared. Worried and still ill, the mother began to call out for her daughter, bringing neighbors to her bed. The neighbors took care of her and she quickly recovered. Yet, Pina did not return home after days, weeks, and months passed. No one saw her or heard from her.
One day, as Pina’s mother was cleaning the back yard, she noticed a strange plant growing in the spot where Pina used to play. She went over to open up its leaves, and when she did, she saw a strange yellow fruit that resembled a child’s head with thousand eyes all over. “A thousand eyes!” she yelled. “My Pina!” While the mother could not reverse her curse, she could love and care for the fruit that she knew was her daughter. She took its seeds and planted them. When the fruits grew and flourished, Pina’s mother distributed them to everyone in the village. Pina, in her fruit form, became giving and generous. Filipinos called the fruit pinya after Pina, which translates as pineapple.
Today the pineapple is a popular symbol of hospitality and health. Voyagers to the Caribbean Islands bring these exotic fruits back to America as signs of an invitation to visit them. In Hawaii, pineapples are common gifts and decorations representing hospitality.
Lauren A. Viloria and Ulia Popova
See also Corn Mother; Women in Folklore
Further Reading
de Las Casas, Dianne, and Zarah C. Gagatiga. 2011. Tales from the 7,000 Isles: Filipino Folk Stories. Santa Barbara, CA: Libraries Unlimited.
Luppi, Kathleen. 2014. “Pineapple Becomes Popular Motif.” Orange County Register, May 30.
Piccio, Belle. 2013. “The Legend of the Pineapple Fruit.” Choose Philippines website. October 21. http://www.choosephilippines.com/do/history-and-culture/783/pineapple-legend/. Accessed September 9, 2015.
“A Pineapple History.” 2013. The Land of Promise website. May 30. http://landofpromise.fairfood.org/a-pineapple-history/. Accessed September 9, 2015.