The mean Haodigam Chanu
Haodigam Chanu Phattabi
Fungawari Singbul by B. Jayantakumar Sharma

Translation by Nganthoi Lourembam *

An illustration of Folk tale 'Haodigam Chanu Phattabi' by Nganthoi Lourembam

Once upon a time there was a mean step mother called Haodigam Chanu. Haodigam's husband and his first wife died leaving behind their only daughter. Haodigam Chanu had a son. After the death of Haodigam's husband and his first wife, Haodigam raised the two children on her own.

Once, the little brother and his sister were playing Longkhonbi (catch fish using a fishing instrument called 'Long') in a pond sitting at a Thongra (a similar kind of raft which is fixed at the edge of river/pond made of bamboos or woods, kept as a stand for the people to fetch water).

The sister having thought of an innocent child, pushed her little step brother into the water. Immediately a Nga Kihom (fish) swallowed the little boy.

The sister came up from the pond and went home. The step mother asked, "Where did your little brother go?"

The little girls lied, "He had gone to play ahead of our society."

As the little boy didn't return till sunset, Haodigam Chanu searched for the little boy but failed to find him anywhere.

Haodigam didn't sleep the whole night with the sorrow of losing her son.

When she slept for a little while when it was about to be dawn, the little boy came in her dream and said, "Mother, my sister pushed me from Thongra and I fell into water. Then I have been saved by Nga Kihom. I am in its stomach. Before the sun rises, please fetch the fish using a Long and save me by cutting its stomach."

Haodigam Chanu woke up suddenly. She went along with a Long to the pond and as told in her dream she fetched the fish, Nga Kihom. When Haodigam was about to cut its stomach of the fish her son shouted "It will hurt me, mother, I'll get hurt."

Listening to her son's voice Haodigam was so happy to know that her son was alive. She removed her son from the stomach of the fish after slowly slicing the fish's stomach. The mother and son rejoiced on their reunion and lived together happily.

Few days later, Haodigam Chanu started treating badly to the little girl. "You pushed my son into pond, see what I do" Haodigam threw the little girl at a garbage dump yard.

Haodigam started punishing the little girl by feeding leftovers. If the little girl cried Haodigam would pull her hair. The little girl gets beaten up badly on her back.

From the torture of her step mother, looking at the sky, the girl cried, "Dear fair birds, Urok (egret), my lovely friends. Please drop me some feathers. Let me also fly like you. I can no longer bear my step mother's torment."

The birds felt pity for the little girl and said, "We don't have enough feathers to even embrace our little daughter so don't ask to give you." They dropped only one feather from each bird. The little collected all the feathers and stitched them. One day she waited for the birds and flew in the empty sky as one of the Urok.

Once, a prince came for hunting in a jungle. When the prince took out his arrow and aimed to shoot, a bird from the woods replied, "Please don't kill me! Please don't kill me!"

The prince was shocked.

"Not a single human is visible in this place from where this human voice is coming" and the prince started searching the human voice.

As he searched on, he finally found a beautiful girl clad with birds' feather. The prince fell in love looking at the girl.

After hearing everything from the girl, the prince took her in his horse into the palace. When they reached at the palace the prince got married to her and she became Leima Shija (princess).

Thus, the little girl who would have ended her life in the torture of her step mother became Leima Shija after meeting the prince and lived happily ever after.


** From Manipur folk tale Book called "Fungawari Singbul" by B. Jayantakumar Sharma