Hunting Lessons

                 Once in the mountain of Madyaas, there was a young man called Maisog. He was a good hunter of his village, and he kept on honing his hunting skills until every man, young or old, revered him as the best hunter ever.

                But in his search for excellence Maisog began to feel restless.

                “I am not happy with my life. Maybe I need a wife to love me.”

                And so he began to look for a wife. He did not have to look far, since all the ladies in his village wanted to be his wife and so he took the most beautiful as his wife.

                But alas, Maisog was still not happy.

                “Maybe a son that I could claim my own will make me happy. He will inherit my skill and my name”

                So he waited for a year till they have a son. The son delighted him and Maisog enjoyed being a father. All the same, he felt there is something missing in his life.

                Maisog finally gave up. He accepted the fact that he cannot solve his problem by his own. So he went to consult the wise man of the village.

He said to the old man, “ Agorang, I searched for happiness and failed. I worked hard and became the best hunter of the village but I’m not happy. I took a wife and have a child but still I’m not happy. What should I do to be happy?”

The Agorang answered, “Teach me to hunt and I’ll teach you to be happy. “ and the two had a deal.

During the first day of the hunting, Maisog was shocked to see Agorang raced after the deer.

“Agorang, you don’t chase a deer for you’ll never outrun them. You wait quietly for them to come to you, and all the while keep your bow and arrow ready.”

The old man humbly accepted Maisog’s chastise.

“Why don’t we fish for a while? It’s fitting activity for you.” Maisog suggested.

“Alright.” 

But uncharacteristically, Agorang was ebullient that day. He kept on talking until Maisog gave up.

                “We’ll never catch a fish this way. You drove them with your noise.”

                Since it’s dark already, Maisog ventured to teach Agorang night hunting. He taught him the rudiments of detecting prey but to no avail.

                At last he had enough.

                “Let’s stop this. You don’t listen to me. I told you to keep still, stare ahead with minimum eye movement. That way you will detect every little movement in the dark but you keep glancing around.

“But you keep glancing around. You will always miss your prey.”

But Agorang simply smiled and said, “I simply imitated you. All your life you keep chasing happiness. You also drove it away by constantly grumbling you were never happy.”

Maisog was stunned.

“You’re the best hunter of the village,” Agorang continued. “you have a  beautiful wife and a great son, but you always look somewhere else. Ah, you will always miss happiness!”

Maisog saw the light. Slowly he smiled and he bowed down to the wise old man.

~ o ~ o ~ o ~ o ~

Marjonnel