The Two Brothers
- Sahing chaba machil manao -
- Animal Fables-
Fungawari Singbul by B. Jayantakumar Sharma *
Art Work - Phurailatpam Banti
Animal Fables:
Funga Wari Singbul: Page 18
Sahing chaba machil manao
Once upon a time a cat and a tiger were born to same parents. The cat was a little weak so he remains home and does the household chores most of the time and the tiger goes out and hunt for the family.
The cat cleans up their house all the time but his brother ruins it all over every time he comes back from hunting. It hurts the cat a little and he had also spoken about the matter to his brother. The tiger never pays any heed on his advice.
They stay in a cave where it was very comfortable. It can withstand from rain, storm and anything. The only missing thing to them was fire.
Fire was only available to the human's house but going and taking it from them was not a very good idea. But at last the tiger made up his mind on going for the fire.
However, the cat said to his brother, "Brother you have big body, the humans can easily spot you and if they attack you, you will be an easy target, I am small so please let me go". It hurt the tiger's ego but agreed to it.
So one day, the cat came out of the forest and entered human’s house to steal some fire. On entering the house, he could smell the aroma of the tasty curries being kept in the kitchen.
He really wanted to taste cooked food so he ate half of the food being kept by the humans. And then he left the place with a torch on his mouth.
As he came home he remembered the taste of the food he had and suddenly the fire got extinguished.
So he came back again and ate the remaining food that he had left. Then he thought, "My brother must be very angry with me so i will not go back to the forest but stay here instead and eat the tasty food from today".
So when the humans came back home, the cat said to the human, "Oh humans, you are master of all the animals but the mouse eats up your stored food and destroys your fields and grains.
Let me stay in your house and I will kill and eat all the mouse and they will never come to your house when I am around".
The humans agreed to the cat's proposal. The cat tried very hard to control his eating habits and wild nature.
Even though it was hard at first, he eventually got over it in time and became a domesticated animal.
The tiger waited for his brother in the forest for a long time and when he never came back he left for the forest to hunt his food.
Motto: One's nature can always be known from an early stage.
* This is a Manipur folk tale translated from a Book in Manipuri "Fungawari Singbul" compiled by B. Jayantakumar Sharma. E-pao.net thanks B. Jayantakumar Sharma for giving permission to be reproduced in this website. Translation done by Team e-pao. This was webcasted on October 24, 2011.
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