A national hero who slaughters monsters with his eyes

Schematic diagram of primitive peoples in hunting. (Image source: Adobe Stock)

In the legends of the aborigines, there are many magical characters and monsters, in the distant past, in the mysterious era, the inhabitants of the tribe will appear some people with magical powers, they may be dangerous people who make foreign tribes and clans taboo, or they may be heroes who fight monsters and protect tribes, these legends are full of fantasy and humanity.

Poison Eye Barry, in the legend of the Taiwanese aboriginal Paiwan people, is a person with magical functions in the eyes, who has great power, but also seems to be accompanied by a curse, often ushering in a tragic ending and dying. He was born with a pair of red eyes like a fiery fire, and it is said that as long as the person who is seen by that pair of red eyes will die, if he sees an object, it will start to burn, and there are many legends in the Paiwan tribe that Bari will burn nearby boulders.

In addition to referring to the name of the person, Barry also has the meaning of "person with special abilities in the eyes" or "something like electricity", and in many versions, Barry actually has his real name, but he is always called Barry because of the powers possessed by his eyes. Except for the version whose abilities were tabooed by those around them and were eventually killed. With the story of using his abilities to fight monsters for the tribe and become the hero of the tribe, the legend of Bari was publicized by the nobles about the special strength and contribution of their families, and many noble families claimed to be the descendants of Bari.

In the legend of the Rawalya tribe of the Paiwan people in Taiwan, there is a monster named Kapl, it is rumored that it is very fond of eating people, every time it eats, it swallows people alive into its own body, and until the second day after swallowing, it will be digested in the stomach, sometimes even wood will be swallowed together, and the people of the tribe at that time are very afraid of it.

It is said that Kabul haunted the area of the Busyarya tribe to eat people, causing a great deal of panic among the people, and when there was nothing they could do, the tribesmen thought that there was a man named Sagayi in the Old Taisha tribe, who had the Eye of Bari who could kill people and burn everything, so they decided to ask him to come to the crusade against Kabhul.

In the process of crusade against Kab' plo, because Saqayi did not want his ability to hurt others, he sealed his eyes with a cloth, and then the tribesmen took him to Kabul's face and then took down his blindfold, and then Sagayi activated his ability to use his eyes and successfully killed Kabul, and the surrounding tribesmen quickly went forward to cut open Kab's stomach and rescue the people who had not yet been digested. Later, in gratitude to Sagayi, who killed Kabul, the people of the Bucaorya tribe would give him the pig's offal and some crops at the annual harvest festival. In some versions, however, Sagayi ends up being killed by the Rukai people, who are considered a threat.

The legendary Bari of the Paiwan and The Hibida of the Rukai legend, both possess powerful eyes, and their descriptions are similar, as if they all point to the same person, this coincidence is like the legend of the Great Flood around the world, perhaps he is not a myth, but a tragic hero who once existed in the long river of history.

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