an were concealed there.

At last the man came to the lemon-tree called kabayawa, that has
long, sharp thorns on its branches. And the man cried out to the
lemon-tree, "Could you protect me, if I were to hide among your leaves
and flowers?"

Instantly the lemon-tree answered, "Come right up, if you want
to." Then the man climbed the tree, and concealed himself in the
branches, among the flowers. Very soon the Buso came under the
lemon-tree, and shouted to it, "I smell a man here. You are hiding
him."

The Kabayawa said, "Sure enough, here's a man! You just climb up and
get him."

Then the Buso began to scramble up the tree; but as he climbed, the
thorns stuck their sharp points into him. The higher he climbed, the
longer and sharper grew the thorns of the tree, piercing and tearing,
until they killed the Buso.

It is because the monkey sometimes turns into a Buso that many Bagobo
refuse to eat monkey. But some of the mountain Bagobo eat monkey to
keep off sores.

How the Moon Tricks the Buso [119]

The Moon is a great liar. One night long ago, the Buso looked over
the earth and could not discover any people, because everybody was
asleep. Then Buso went to the Moon, and asked her where all the people
were to be found.

"Oh, you will not find a living person on the earth!" replied the
Moon. "Everybody in the world is dead."

"Good!" thought Buso. "To-morrow I shall have a fine meal of them."

Buso never eats living flesh, only dead bodies.

Next morning, Buso started for the graveyard; but on the way he met
the Sun, and stopped to speak to him.

"How about the men on earth?" he questioned.

"They're all right," said the Sun. "All the people are working and
playing and cooking rice."

The Buso was furious to find himself tricked. That night he went
again to the Moon and asked for the men, and, as before, the Moon
assured him that everybody was dead. But the next morning the Sun
showed him all the people going about their work as usual. Thus the
Buso has been fooled over and over again. The Moon tells him every
night the same story.

The Buso and the Cat

The cat is the best animal. She keeps us from the Buso. One night the
Buso came into the house, and said to the cat, "I should like to eat
your mistress."

"I will let you do it," replied the cat; "but first you must count
all the hairs of my coat."

So the Buso began to count. But while he was counting, the cat kept
wriggling her tail, and s