How a Dog Scared the Buso

How a Dog Scared the Buso

Long ago, the Bagobo tell, the Buso lived in the great forests. They were night spirits who hid high in old trees.

They hardly ever showed themselves during the day. But when dusk fell, they liked to rustle the leaves, call to one another in strange voices, and frighten anyone who had stayed too late in the forest.

One day, a hunter traveled far from his village. He took his faithful Dog with him.

Dog was big, strong, and shaggy. When he walked beside the hunter, the man felt safer, even in the thickest brush.

They walked all day. When the Sun began to hide behind the trees, the hunter realized he would not make it back to the village in time.

“Well, my friend,” he said to Dog. “We’ll spend the night here.”

He found a dry spot beneath a big tree, made a little shelter from branches, and lit a fire.

Dog lay by the fire, rested his head on his paws, and soon dozed off.

The forest grew dark.

The crickets sang louder. Far away, a night bird called.

Then the hunter heard whispers above him.

“He’s come again,” someone said in the treetop.

“He has,” another voice answered from a nearby trunk.

“Our leader told us not to bother him.”

“I wonder why he isn’t afraid at all…”

The hunter froze.

“The Buso,” he realized.

More voices chattered in the darkness. Some advised everyone to stay quiet, while others giggled and began getting ready to climb down.

The man looked at Dog.

He was asleep by the fire. From a distance, he was so big that he really did look like a person curled up beneath a blanket.

Then the hunter thought of a trick.

He quietly took off his wide cloak, covered Dog with it, and whispered:

“Lie here, my friend. I’ll hide behind the shelter.”

Dog only twitched an ear and went on snoring.

The hunter crouched nearby.

Soon the Buso began climbing down from the trees one by one.

They were very cautious.

“There he is!”

“He’s asleep!”

“He doesn’t even know we’re here!”

“Quiet!”

The Buso came close to the fire. A large mound showed beneath the cloak.

“He doesn’t look scary at all,” whispered the boldest Buso.

“Let’s give him a fright!”

They tiptoed closer.

One step.

Then another.

The boldest one reached toward the cloak.

Just then, Dog woke up.

First, a black nose poked out from beneath the cloak.

Then two shining eyes.

And then Dog sprang up on all four paws.

The cloak flew aside.

“WOOF!”

The Buso froze.

“WOOF-WOOF-WOOF!”

“Aaaaah!” cried the night spirits.

They had not expected to see a huge, shaggy dog at all.

One Buso leaped behind a bush.

Another dashed for a tree.

A third was so frightened that he ran the wrong way, turned around, and nearly bumped into a fourth.

Dog, thinking this was a wonderful game in the night, raced after them.

“Woof! Woof!”

“Run for it!”

The Buso scrambled up the tree trunks so fast that leaves rained down to the ground.

One had almost reached a branch when he heard below him:

“WOOF!”

Startled, he tucked up his legs and climbed even higher.

“Get that terrifying beast away from here!” he shrieked from above.

Dog stood beneath the tree, wagged his tail, and barked one more time.

The treetops fell very, very quiet.

Not one Buso dared to climb back down.

Then the hunter stepped out from behind the shelter.

“Well done, my friend,” he laughed, scratching Dog behind the ear. “It seems they didn’t frighten us tonight—we frightened them!”

Dog happily lay down by the fire.

No one bothered them for the rest of the night.

In the morning, the man put out the fire, packed his things, and set off for the village.

Dog trotted cheerfully ahead.

High in the trees, the Buso whispered among themselves for a long time:

“Has he gone?”

“The man has.”

“What about Dog?”

“Dog too.”

“Are you sure?”

“I’m sure.”

Only then did they dare peek out from the leaves.

They say that ever since then, the Buso have remembered: before you frighten a traveler, you should check whether a big, shaggy friend is sleeping beside his fire.

May this story leave a little light in your heart ✨