Dragon Stories and My Antique Dragon Bracelet
Posted on Sunday, 1 January 2017
Dragon Stories and My Antique Dragon
Bracelet
By Apolinario Villalobos
The reason, perhaps, why the armadillo
scales command the highest price among the considered medicinal wildlife is
their resemblance to the scales of the dragon. I thought about this while
looking at the dragon bracelet just given to me by a Chinese friend. Without
asking any information about it, except being told that it is antique and got
health benefits, I presumed that it is made from “copperized” antique Chinese
silver wires intricately woven into round “scales” and intertwined to resemble
the dragon, complete with a head whose extended tongue locks with a small loop
that serves as its tail.
From among the pages of a hundred year old
book about the history of nations, I came across an item about how an early
Chinese empress paid for the expense in the laying down of a railroad track by
Russia, across a portion of the vast Chinese territory, tore it up and dumped
the iron segments into the sea, because it offended the earth dragon. Eclipse
according to the Chinese legend occurs when the dragon swallows the moon or the
sun. Among the Christians, the mention of St. George is never complete without
the dragon. Practically, many cultures
around the world are made intriguing and colorful by the dragon. Legends are replete
with heroic stories that revolve around them, although, some had to be subdued
in order to be transformed from being bad to good. Even popular motifs and
designs are tainted with dragon form such as the “sarimanok” and “naga” of
Southeast Asia.
In reality, modern relatives of the dragon
are thriving around us. The gecko is among them, as well as, the
innocently-looking house lizards that with extended tongue can put the bigger
cockroach to flight. Their bigger relatives are the crocodiles (crocs) and
alligators (gators), the strength of which earned respect from the early
Egyptians who revere them very much. By contrast, in the Philippines, they
represent greedy government officials and politicians voted to their positions
in the halls of the Senate and Congress.
On the Caramoan Peninsula of the
Philippines’ Bicol Region, can be found the “caramoan dragon”, which in time
has become rare. And, on an island of Indonesia can be found the “komodo
dragons” which are being taken cared of because of the discovered medicinal
value of their saliva.
Back to my dragon bracelet, I almost
relegated it to the drawer because it seems too vulgar and eye-catching, until
the day I wore it. While strolling along Roxas Boulevard, a tourist stopped me,
pointed at my wrist with the bracelet and asked if I would like to part with
it. To check its value, I asked the guy, how much he was willing to shell out
for my bracelet just in case I decided to part with it. He asked me if USD100
was okey but if wanted more, we could haggle. He looked at it closely and
asked, “is it 10k?”. Surprised by his comment, I realized the bracelet’s dull
golden luster. I did not part with my bracelet. My Chinese friend who gave it
to me is the nephew of the old Chinese gentleman who gave me his tourmaline
bracelet when I brought him home from Luneta, after losing his way many months
ago. To maintain its antique look, I never had it cleaned, since the day I got
it.
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