The Legend of Vulture, a Scavenging Bird of Prey (a Filipino folklore)

A long time ago, a girl named Bereti was condemned by her own parents. 

But why?

Bereti was from a rich family with a comfortable life. Her parents own a broad extent of lands. They had many crops. They also had many animals under their care.

Bereti was the youngest and her father's favorite. But Bereti was still looking for something in life, the fact that she already has achieved everything. She wanted to experience something different from what she has grown up with.

A helper named Juana was in involved in washing the clothes of the family. She always brings her daughter every time she takes care the laundry. Her name was Karing. She has almost the same age with Bereti, they easily got along and bonded together. Karing uttered that she was jealous of Bereti because she can get everything she wanted. Bereti replied that she was also jealous of Karing because she has a lot of experiences that Bereti never encountered.

Since then the two were inseparable. The family of their helper, Juana, were kind so the parents of Bereti were confident.

Bereti noticed that her friend Karing was late most of the time. If Karing's family don't have food to eat, they dig for taro, yam or any other root crop so have something to fill their hungry stomachs. The family also resort to picking edible leftovers that can still be eaten.

Bereti could not understand what it was but she was still excited with the life of Karing's family. She joined them in digging root crops and picking leftovers. She ate with the family and she was very satisfied with it.

Bereti's father was enraged when he heard the news that her daughter was picking and eating leftovers. He went out to search for Bereti.

Her father was shocked when he saw Bereti with several other children hauling a fresh corpse of a goat. Bereti stated that the goat was bitten and killed by a large dog. She said they are going to cut the goat so they can eat it.

Her father got furiously angry. He scolded Bereti and asked her to go home but his child refused.

"If you like to eat leftovers and meat of dead animals, go ahead, you feast on it. And for you to be happier, you shall only eat that way in your lifetime!" her father said.

The next day, Bereti was gone. Instead, a new bird resembling an eagle was seen eating a dead cow.

According to many, the bird was Bereti who was cursed by her father.

They were called the bird Bereti but because a child does not quite know how to pronounce it, they called it Bwitre. Since then, the bird was called Bwitre or "Vulture" in English.

This fiction was translated from local fictional stories handed over time by the awesome brains of our ancestors.
 

Image Citation: [A]

 Peace!