Ibong Adarna

King Fernando and his wife Queen Valeriana rule the Kingdom of Berbanya. They have three children: Don Pedro, Don Diego, and Don Juan. One night, King Fernando dreams of Don Juan being murdered by two traitors (which would turn out to be his two older sons), and becomes so frightened and depressed that he would not even eat nor rest. He becomes ill and none of his constituents are able to cure him. An old doctor advises that the Ibong Adarna, a mythical bird, would be the only creature that could restore his health by its marvelous songs. He initially sends out Don Pedro to look for the Ibong Adarna. After three months of wandering through the forests and thickets, Don Pedro arrives at a golden tree, known as Piedras Platas. At the foot of the tree, he falls down tired and thirsty; but what he does not know is that the golden tree is where the Ibong Adarna roosts for the night. By nightfall, the bird flies into the air and sings the first of its seven songs; its melody is so softly sweet that everyone, including Don Pedro, is lulled into a profound sleep. After emitting its seventh song of the night, the bird excretes droppings on the sleeping prince that turn him into stone.

With the disappearance of Don Pedro, King Fernando then sends his second son Don Diego to search for the bird. Don Diego undergoes the same hardships (but ventures for five months, two more than Don Pedro) and meets the same fate as his older brother. After three whole years without hearing any more news, Don Juan, the youngest and most favored son is (unwillingly by King Fernando) sent forth also. Don Juan, however, has the fortune to meet on his way an old hermit who is impressed by the virtues and good manners of the young prince. The old hermit, knowing the mission on which Don Juan embarks, puts him on guard against the treacheries of the bird.

The hermit tells of the golden tree where the famed bird roosts every night after singing seven songs, warning of the spells in its seven songs which lulls the hearer to sleep and the excretion which petrifies anyone. He provides Don Juan with a knife and calamansi lemons,[3] both of which Juan must use to cut seven wounds on his hands and distill into them the juice of the fruits to create pain that will prevent him from being lulled by the seven songs. The hermit then gives Juan a golden rope that the prince must use to bind the bird's legs while it is asleep and take it inside a cage. Before Juan leaves, the hermit provides him with a bucket which he must use to scoop water from a well near the tree and pour over his two petrified brothers to restore them. Don Juan did as was bidden and soon finds himself in possession of the desired bird and on his way back to his home country with his two brothers, Don Pedro and Don Diego. Don Juan's venture in search of the Ibong Adarna lasts for four months in total.

However, on the way back, with his brothers and the Ibong Adarna in tow, Don Juan's older brothers grow envious; after all, Don Juan has obtained what they were not able to. Therefore the two older brothers conspired between themselves to do away with him. Don Pedro suggested that they should kill him, but Don Diego, who was less brutal, convinced Pedro that it was sufficient to beat him, which they did. After beating Don Juan to whom they owed their lives, they left him unconscious in the middle of the road as the two brothers continued on their way to the palace. Once there in the palace, they convinced the king that they never knew what happened to Don Juan, but the bird was disheveled and did not sing for it awaits Don Juan, the true captor of this bird. Don Juan woke eventually, but could not move due to the pain caused by the beating. He prayed fervently for the health of the king and the forgiveness of God to his brothers. The same hermit who gave him advice before catching the bird arrives and heals him magically. Upon return to the palace, everyone was happy except his two brothers, worried that Don Juan might tell what happened to the king. The bird then started to sing. Its enchanted song revealed to the king that Don Pedro and Don Diego beat up Don Juan and that he was the true captor of the bird.

The two were sentenced to being cut off from the royalty and banished, but they were reprieved due to Don Juan being forgiving and asking to give them another chance. They were given one, however, any consequent fault would mean death. They enjoyed the bird, they did not treat it as a pet, but rather like a person. So they made the three princes watch over the bird for 3 hours each every day. Don Pedro wanted revenge, so he conspired again and forced Don Diego to go on board with it yet again. They planned to trick Don Juan into thinking that under his watch, the bird escaped. They successfully did it and Don Juan set out to find the bird before the king wakes up. The king finds the bird missing and so is Don Juan, so he asked the two to find the bird and their brother.

The story of Ibong Adarna is known all over the Philippines[4][5] and has been told in different languages and media.

LVN Studios produced the first two commercials "Ibong Adarna" films. The first one, made in 1941, starred Mila del Sol, Fred Cortes, and Ester Magalona. It had a magical sequence that showed the singing of the bird. That used a painstakingly hand-painted process called "Varicolor." That pre-war version was directed by Vicente Salumbides and "Technical direction by Manuel Conde." Fifteen years later, in 1956, LVN produced a second version, this time under the full direction of an older Manuel Conde, and starred Nida Blanca, Nestor de Villa, and Carlos Salazar. The 1956 film was the first Filipino commercial film shot and shown in its entirety in Eastman Color.

Roda Film Productions produced 2 movies: "Ibong Adarna" (1972) and its sequel "Ang Hiwaga ng Ibong Adarna" (1973) starring Philippine Comedy King Dolphy as the lead Prince Adolfo and comedians Panchito Alba as Prince Alfonso, Babalu as Prince Albano and Rosanna Ortiz as the Ibong Adarna.

Tagalog Pictures, Inc. produced the movie "Si Prinsipe Abante At Ang Lihim ng Ibong Adarna" in 1990 starring comedian Rene Requestas as the lead Prince Abante, Paquito Diaz as Prinsipe Atras, Joaquin Fajardo as Prinsipe Urong-Sulong and Monica Herrera as Princess Luningning/the Ibong Adarna.

In 1996 Star Cinema produced the movie "Ang TV Movie: The Adarna Adventure". Jolina Magdangal played the Ibong Adarna. In 2013, GMA Network produced Adarna, a contemporary television series adaptation starring Kylie Padilla in the title role.

During the mid-1970s, the Nutrition Center of the Philippines (NCP) found itself in need of a series of storybooks to supplement their mental feeding program.[6] They approached Virgilio S. Almario, a well-known poet and literary critic of that time, to spearhead the production of this series. He then recruited authors, editors, illustrators, and researchers for the series, which he would call Aklat Adarna. The Adarna bird is a fictional creature which had the ability to cure any sickness with its song so the name was chosen to evoke the healing power of education and knowledge against the struggle of the Filipino against poverty-causing ignorance.[7] When NCP concluded the storybook program, Almario carried on with the project through the Children's Communication Center.[8] Soon enough, with its increasing number of publications, CCC needed a distributor and publisher and a decision was made to found Adarna Book Services, later renamed to Adarna House, Inc.

Local publisher Vibal Foundation brings the Philippines' first interactive e-book, Ibong Adarna, which aims to relive classic Filipino stories through full-color illustrations, animations and high-quality sound. The e-book was launched at Apple iBookstore.[9] Project Gutenberg also has a version of the epic in its library.[10]