The Story The Origin of the Ao
s
Chuchuyimlang Village
Storyteller: Mr. Ubola Nokpoloksup
Translated by Latong Meren Ao
This is the story of the origin of the Ao clans of Nagaland. The Aos never had a written language so everything we know is through word of mouth. We believe that we originated from a place called Chunglimti which is an hour and a half’s drive from the district headquarters of Mokokchung. There are three clans amongst the Aos known as thePongoners, the Longkumers and the Jamirs, and this story tells of the origins of these clans.
The place that these clans emerged is known as Longdzuk by the Aos, and this means six stones, while our mother village is known as Ungma. The first clan to come into the world was the Pongoners, previously known as the Tongpok, (this was the original name of the clan). In Ao language Tongpok means something that you burst out of and it is believed that the first clan, the Pongoners burst out of a cave. Tongpok was the first man to burst out of the cave. He had a sister called Longkatokla; (Longkatokla means "one stone that burst”. They might have had to struggle to get out of the cave, and perhaps Longkatokla helped her brother to emerge from the cave. Now the second clan, the Longpok, also known as the Longkumers was the next to exit the cave. Longpok means to burst out of a cave that has already been opened (by the Pongoners). Now the first man from this clan, Longpok, was assisted out of the cave by his sister called Yungmonchila. After them came the Jamirs also known asLongchakrap which means to come from a place where boulders have already been broken. After the Pongonersand the Longkumers had come out, the Longchakrap, or the Jamirs came out using the path that had already been cleared for them. The Longchakrap are therefore, the sons of the broken stones. Longcakrap also had a sister and her name was Ilongshi. So now you see that there were six of them, the three males and their younger sisters. So even today when you go to Chunglimti you will see the six stones that we Aos originated from. I believe I originated from this place, though of course Christianity has brought new beliefs…..
The Story of the Rat and the Chicken
Chuchuyimlang Village
Storyteller: Mr. Ubola Nokpoloksup
Translated by Latong Meren Ao
This is a story of the rat and the chicken. Rats get the best of our grain store and this story explains why. In the beginning the rat and the chicken were good friends and one day they decided to go fishing together. On that occasion the rat did not have any luck. Although the rat did not get a single fish, the chicken caught many. The rat was envious of the chicken’s catch and he begged his friend to give him a few of the fish as he had not caught any. The chicken, in all innocence and with a feeling of friendship gave the rat some fish. But the rat was not satisfied, he wanted more and he kept asking for more fish until the chicken was only left with the single largest fish of his catch. The rat demanded that fish too, but the chicken insisted that he wanted to give that fish to his own family. The rat was extremely greedy and he now threatened the chicken that if he did not give the fish to him, he would cut the chicken’s leg off. The chicken still refused, and the rat cut off the leg of the chicken.
The chicken had a family; he had brothers and sisters, and when they heard what had happened, they went out to get revenge on the rat. The rat was afraid and he hid in the darkest corner of the house, but the chicken’s relatives managed to find him and punish him. They sent him off to Mululang which is at the furthest end of the earth to bring some type of food that they had never seen before. The rat had to obey and he traveled for many days to the place where the sun sets. There he found a unique plant and it was rice. He plucked some of the rice plant thinking saying to himself, "the chicken’s relatives will be happy with this”. He then returned and offered the rice to the chickens, thus atoning for his crime. But the rat was greedy and he laid down a final condition which was that no one would be able to eat the rice without giving him the first bite of it. The chickens were so awe struck by this new food that they agreed to give the rat the first taste of the grain, and so it is today.
The Story of the Insect
Storyteller: Arenla Subong
Translated by Arenla Subong
Once upon a time two daughters lived with their father and their stepmother. The stepmother did not like the elder daughter but she was fond of the younger one. The elder girl was the more beautiful of the two, and she was also very talented and could weave beautiful shawls and she excelled in whatever she did, so her stepmother became envious of her.
As the years passed the two girls matured both mentally and physically, and the elder girl realized the situation she was in. She knew that her stepmother did not like her and she wondered what to do about it. She told her sister "Look, our mother does not love me and she is not in favour of me and I feel bad about being here when she does not like me. The more I do to please her, the more she dislikes me. She is so rude to me that I know she does not love me nor will she ever love me, so I am think of leaving this home.” The younger girl replied, "Sister, don’t think that way! If she loves me, one day you can win her love too because you are so beautiful and you do everything so well. You are trying so hard to please her and to win her love so surely she will love you too and then we will both be so happy here, so don’t ever think of leaving, we will all stay together here”.
But the elder sister could not stop her thoughts because the harassment she was experiencing was really taking its toll on her and she had the deep conviction that she could be independent and manage on her own so she became more firm in her decision. So one day, when their parents had gone to work in the field she said, "Look, I want to leave this house before our parents return”. She then went over to the bamboo basket, we call it the "akat” and she looked through the cloth that she had woven, because she was a very accomplished weaver. She took out a "mekhla” (a wrap around) and a shawl and she wore one around her waist and the other around her shoulders, and then she said, "I am ready to leave home, I am going to leave this house forever!” The younger sister tried to stop her and even tried to grab her clothes as she was putting them on but she did not succeed. Then the elder girl announced, "I am leaving!” and she just took off. She walked so fast and the younger girl followed along, still trying to convince her to stay. "Come back, I know mother is going to love you too, I can’t live without you”, she said. "Please, I am going to miss you, don’t leave!” She begged. The sister replied, "If you want to come, follow me!” And she walked so fast that all of a sudden they were deep in the forest, with the sounds of the birds and animals. "Sister, lets go back home! We cannot go anywhere from here, we don’t know the place and we will be lost!” The elder girl replied, "I have decided! If you don’t want to come, then go back, that’s up to you but I know that from here I can go on somewhere and make a new life”. When they were shedding tears and arguing they heard voices, "Look! Look! I think they are over there!” When the girls looked to see where the voices were coming from they saw their father and stepmother who had come out looking for them as by now it had become dark. When they saw their parents the elder daughter ran, and as she went her mekhla and her shawl flew open like wings. The younger girl tried to grab her but the sister flew up and rested against the top of the tree trunk.
Fearing that she would be unable to escape, something supernatural occurred and the shawl and mekhla transformed into wings and she was able to fly right up to the top of the tallest tree. The younger daughter was astonished, "What happened to you?!” she exclaimed. At that moment the parents reached the spot and they demanded, "What happened? Where is your sister?” They were furious. "Come back home. What are you doing here, and where is your sister?” At that moment the other girl, who had become an insect – we call it the "atatangula” – started making this loud noise that it makes during daytime in the spring and summer.The younger daughter told her parents that her sister was up there at the top of the tree and had become an insect. The stepmother grabbed her hand and said, "Come come, no need to think about her. You come back home!” The insect up there on the tree started its call again, "Chang, chang, chang”. The stepmother pulled the younger daughter with her and then she turned and spat up at the elder daughter in the tree. At that moment a tiger sprang up from the jungle below them, growled at the stepmother and pounced on her and that was the end of her life. The father and the younger daughter traveled and went somewhere else where they met some villagers. They settled there and the girl got married to a rich man and every spring time when the warm weather starts this insect – the sister – would come outside her sister’s house and give that sound announcing her presence. The married sister would then say, "Ati! (This is the respectful way of addressing our elder sister), You are here at this time of year! I am going to give you something special”. And she would put something special that she had prepared on a plate for her sister, and the sister would open her wings to gesture thanks. So life went on like that without the stepmother. It was a new beginning
The Story of the Prawn and the Crab
Storyteller: Arenla Subong
Translated by Arenla Subong
Once upon a time the prawn and the crab lived together in the river. They would laugh and make fun of each other, and yet they were great friends and they could not do without one another.
In the winter, the water flow was low in the river and the crab felt cold, so he decided to sunbathe near the river bank. The prawn suddenly appeared and started jumping about teasing the crab, "Oh crab, what are you doing? Can you jump like this? See how fast I am! See how smart I am!”
The crab replied, "Yes, I know you can jump about, but can you rest like this? Can you be out of the water like me and enjoy it for a while? Come friend, come and enjoy with me!” The two would make fun of each other like this, and whenever the crab wanted to rest, the prawn would come and disturb him saying, "Hey, look, look” Look at me! Can you do like this?” It was very irritating indeed. "Can you do like this? Look how smart I am!” the prawn would boast to the crab, and she would never let him rest.
In the olden days we would sing in rhyme, and the crab sang something like this, "Just look at me my friend! We are just for the people you know, those people will come and get us and eat us for dinner, so no need to make such a fuss, let us be happy while we are living.” So when the crab had finished telling the prawn that their purpose was to be there for other people’s supper, some villagers appeared carrying baskets made from bamboo which they would use in those days, and still today, for fishing. They came in a group, singing and the removed the stones, and dammed the water and when the water was low, they took everything from it. They took all the crabs from under the stones and the prawn and the crab from our story were picked up. Having taken everything from the river, the villagers went home and cooked and ate their catch- including both the crab and the prawn. So that was how their life ended, just the way the crab had predicted, making other people happy.
No comments:
Post a Comment