Week 5, Reading Diary A: Khasi Folktales

This week I chose to read the Khasi Folktales. The first half is full of stories about animals. Some are sneaky, some are lazy, and some are spoiled.

The Tiger and the Monkeys
The Tiger was once appointed king of everything and was a very self-centered animal. One day he was once taking a nap in the shade and woke up to a beautiful voice singing. He couldn't see where the voice was coming from so he asked the monkeys near by. A monkey, wanting to joke with Tiger because of his ignorance, told him it was their sister, even though it was actually the most famous singing bug in the forest. The Tiger then said he wanted to marry there sister. The poor monkey didn't know what to do since his joke backfired on him. The made up a story about their sister not being ready to meet the king and made a date for a week later for them to meet. The monkeys, not wanting to be torn limb from limb by the Tiger, decided to make a "sister" out of clay. They put all kinds of adornments on her to hide the fact that she was a statue. The Tiger had made a necklace and put it on the statue. When the statue didn't respond, the monkeys told him to pull on the necklace. The statues head fell off since it wasn't attached very good. The poor Tiger was beat up because he dared to "kill" their sister.

How Dog Came to Live With Man
In this story, there was once a fair that was held each year by all the animals in the forest. The Dog, U Ksew, was very lazy and hunted for something to acquire so he could sell it at the fair. He stumbled upon a house where humans were cooking their dinner. They invited the dog to come eat with them. Even though it was stinky, the beans were very good. The dog bought a pot full from the man and went back to the fair. The next day after opening his pot, all the animals made fun of him and broke his pot and stomped on the stinky beans. The dog, being sad about what he thought was going to make him a lot of money, wandered back to the mans house. He lived there with the man and helped him hunt the other animals, which were easy to find since their feet still smelled like stinky beans. One day the man came home and saw the pig and dog being lazy together so he decided to put them to work in the field. The pig spent all day digging while the dog played in the shade. When they were done, the dog walked all over what the pig had done. After a couple of days of dealing with the dog, the pig told the man what was happening. When they went to the field, though, the dogs footprints were everywhere making it look like HE was the one doing all the work. So that's how the dog came to live in the house of the man and not have to do any work.

Pointer Dog with Duck. Source: Wikimedia Commons