THE HUNTER AND THE CAIPORA

There is a very ancient legend of the Brazilian backwoods about a being protector of wildlife: the Caipora. According to the legend the Caipora is a small, dark being with sharp teeth, always mounted on a wild pig and wielding a whip of rawhide with which usually it punishes the hunters or their dogs. It was in the midst of these stories that Joseph grew up in the backwoods of Bahia...

After almost twenty years working as a bus driver without a vacation, Joseph was really stressed out and decided to travel and revisit his native Bahia. After a few days visiting relatives and friends, drinking lots of rum and eating lots of "Buch" and "chicken", Joseph was invited by some friends for a hunt... It would be there in the woods that Joseph knew very well, since he grewn in the region. After the preparations, shotgun cartridges and loaded the dogs "leashes", he got a warning of an uncle already very old that had spent his whole existence in that region:

- Are you taking smoke to Caipora? If you do not take it you won´t get anything and will be at risk of meeting with it...

- Come on uncle, these things do not exist! That is the story that father and mother listened to Grandpa and told to scare us... - Joseph replied

- He who warns is a friend... - Said the old man.

At dusk that day they went into the woods fearlessness without taking the "smoke"... After some hours of walking without bumping into some hunting the dogs began to bark, and they were released into the forest. Joseph and his friends were running like crazy trying to catch the dogs.

- Is must be something big! - Asked Joseph

- For the barking of the dogs must be a wild pig. - Replied the friend.

After a few minutes, they heard the dogs give the signal and shortly thereafter the same grunting loud and painful... They came close and the dogs ran to near the hunters with their tails between their legs... In examining the dogs, they noticed marks on the back lash from them.

- That's from Caipora! - Said one of his friends.

- There is no such thing as Caipora, this is something of people who have nothing to do... Let´s shot them! - Shouted José firing at random into the woods.

After the shooting the woods got a gloomy silence and the dogs were even more restless, shadows were seen passing between the trees, more shots were fired to no avail, then they decided to return... they got lost... 

They spent till dawn in the woods being chased by the shadows every now and then casting a whipping in the dogs. With the sun already high they could find the trail and discovered they had been walking in circles all night with the track was very close to where they were. Upon arrival, the old uncle took a look at the dogs, smiled and replied cynically:

- In the next hunt do not forget to take the smoke...