Reading Notes: Middle Eastern and Indian, Reading A
1. Khasi Folktales: How the Dog Came to live with Man, by Mrs. K. U. Rafy (1920).
Already, I thought it was interesting that there was an important fair that consisted of only animals and even with a tiger appointed as the leader of the fair. The reason that humans were excluded was because they hunt animals, but then this story is how a dog, U Ksew, left the jungle to be with Man.
U Ksew is a lazy dog and does not want to work for his merchandise to sell at the fair, so instead he scavenges for something but has no luck. It so happens that he comes across a kind family who offers him food, ktung rymbai, fermented Khasi beans. He then realizes that he could sell these at the fair, however when he opens the jar at the fair it releases an absolutely foul stench and causes him to be ridiculed and casted out from the fair. The animals had stomped on the ktung rymbai, staining their feet with the stench that ends up never leaving. The dog then tries to talk to the tiger, U Khla, about the incident but the tiger only reacts the same way and says U Ksew deserves that treatment for bringing such a bad smell into the fair. U Ksew leaves the animal world angry and retreats to the house of the kind humans who had offered him the food originally, where they pity him and offer him to stay. After this, Man and Dog become a great hunting pair together, with the dog being able to sniff out the scents of other animals by the smell of ktung rymbai from their tracks.
Then there's a snippet about how Man tamed Pig, U Sniang, and Pig was taught to furrow the field by Dog had messed up Pig's hard work. When Pig went to tattle on Dog, Man did not believe him and then punished Pig by saying Pig has to eat Man's food scraps from now own and live in a small sty while Dog gets to live indoors with the family and share his food. So that is how Dog came to live with Man.
Bibliography:
Folk-Tales of the Khasis by Mrs. K. U. Rafy (1920).
Already, I thought it was interesting that there was an important fair that consisted of only animals and even with a tiger appointed as the leader of the fair. The reason that humans were excluded was because they hunt animals, but then this story is how a dog, U Ksew, left the jungle to be with Man.
U Ksew is a lazy dog and does not want to work for his merchandise to sell at the fair, so instead he scavenges for something but has no luck. It so happens that he comes across a kind family who offers him food, ktung rymbai, fermented Khasi beans. He then realizes that he could sell these at the fair, however when he opens the jar at the fair it releases an absolutely foul stench and causes him to be ridiculed and casted out from the fair. The animals had stomped on the ktung rymbai, staining their feet with the stench that ends up never leaving. The dog then tries to talk to the tiger, U Khla, about the incident but the tiger only reacts the same way and says U Ksew deserves that treatment for bringing such a bad smell into the fair. U Ksew leaves the animal world angry and retreats to the house of the kind humans who had offered him the food originally, where they pity him and offer him to stay. After this, Man and Dog become a great hunting pair together, with the dog being able to sniff out the scents of other animals by the smell of ktung rymbai from their tracks.
Then there's a snippet about how Man tamed Pig, U Sniang, and Pig was taught to furrow the field by Dog had messed up Pig's hard work. When Pig went to tattle on Dog, Man did not believe him and then punished Pig by saying Pig has to eat Man's food scraps from now own and live in a small sty while Dog gets to live indoors with the family and share his food. So that is how Dog came to live with Man.
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| Man's Best Friend. Source: Pixabay. |
Bibliography:
Folk-Tales of the Khasis by Mrs. K. U. Rafy (1920).
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