RTZNL RTZNLOnce upon a time in the island of Pan-ay, there was a young man called Maisog.
He was a good hunter of his minuro, and he kept on honing his hunting skills until every hangkilan, that is, the great warriors of the minuro, 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 almost all the young ladies in his minuro wanted to be his wife. So he took the most beautiful, Maanyag, as his wife. But alas, Maisog was still not happy.
"Maybe a son that I could claim as my own will make me happy. He will inherit my skill and my name."
So he waited for a year until they had a son. The son delighted him and Maisog enjoyed being a father. All the same, he felt there was something missing in his life. Maisog finally gave up. He accepted the fact that he could not solve his problem on his own. So he went to consult Agurang Onyo, the mangin-alamon or wise man of the village.
He said to the wise old man, " Agurang Onyo, I searched for happiness and failed. I worked hard and became the best hunter of the minuro but I was not happy. I took a wife and had a child but still I was not happy. What should I do to be happy?"
Agurang Onyo answered, "Teach me how to hunt and I'll teach you how to be happy."
Maisog found the suggestion to be fair and the two had a deal. During the first day of the hunting, Maisog was shocked to see Agurang Onyo raced after a wild pig.
"Agurang, you don't chase baboy talunon for you'll never outrun them. And more so, they are dangerous. You wait quietly for them to come to you, and all the while keep the arrow of your bow ready."
The old man humbly accepted Maisog's suggestion.
"Why don't we fish for a while? We may catch a lot of puyo and would have a tasty dinner later on," Maisog suggested.
"All right," Agurang Onyo's replied.
However, Agurang Onyo was uncharacteristically ebullient that day. He kept on talking until Maisog gave up.
"We'll never catch a fish this way. You drove them away with your noise."
Since it was dark already, Maisog ventured to teach Agurang Onyo night hunting. He taught him the rudiments of detecting lasao, the nocturnal spotted deer of Pan-ay, 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 and stare ahead with minimum eye movement. That way you will detect every little movement in the dark but you keep glancing around. You will always miss your prey."
But Agurang Onyo simply smiled and said,
"All your life you keep chasing happiness," Agurang Onyo continued. "so, it will always run away from you."
Maisog was stunned with Agurang Onyo's reply.
"You also drove happiness away by constantly grumbling that you were never happy.
"You're the best hunter of the minuro," Agurang Onyo 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 bowed down to the mangin-alamon. "Thank you, great Agurang!" he said gratefully. From that time on, Maisog lived happily ever after.
