The Legend of the Owl's Origin (Original translation of Filipino fiction)

                                                     The Legend of the Owl

Once upon a time there was a young man who truly fell in love with nature. His name was Tiago.

Tiago lives at the foot of an enormous mountain. Tiago's vocation is to watch over the mountains and its forests.

He makes sure no one prey on the forest animals, no one chop the forest trees and destroy the forest plants.

One day, Tiago noticed the nearby forest. A black smoke is coming from one part of the forest and after a few moments, it turned into a red color, a fire.

"The forest is burning!" he exclaims and also troubled on what to do next.

Because of what happened, Tiago promised himself that he will never abandon the mountain, he swears to protect it with his life.

Day and night passed, Tiago no longer sleeps. Furthermore, there's a  spread of news that a group of bandits is actually burning the forest.

Tiago knows some acquaintances who have volunteered to watch their mountain and its jungles but they can only keep guard during day time.

Because they have their own family to take care and accompany when the darkness fills in.

Because of this, Tiago made a habit of sleeping during daylight and staying awake at night.

Even when he was sick, he did not stop to keep watch at night. He thinks that during darkness is when the bandits will try to attack, knowing no one is guarding the forest.

After the death of Tiago, someone has succeeded him in safeguarding its forests. It is a bird with big eyes and always awake throughout the long night. As a memory to Tiago, the people called the bird "Kuwago"(Owl in English) which until now guards the forest overnight.

This story was translated to English from our local Filipino language.  

Image Reference: [1]

Tagalog Folklore Reference: [1]

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