| Description |
Traditional stories "MOHEII" in Sulka in voices of the elders (Tubuna meri)
SG1-008-01: Mokpelpel (Witch).
Mokpelpel, has been terrorising villages for years and the people have never been able to catch her as she is too smart.
So the village elders called a meeting to discuss ways of catching her. And so the agreed plan was to continuously monitor and track the Witch movements. Untill one day the trackers found out the Witch has a new baby, and so a plan was conceived to kidnap the witch baby and lure her to a place where she can be attacked and killed.
And so one day the trackers saw the Witch diving for shells for its baby girl. The witch would race up the river, leave her baby on a rock and go back the river to collect the river shells. Once she reached her baby, she would pick her baby up and feed her with the shells and again race up the river, place her on another rock and then go back down the river to collect more shells.
All the while she was collecting the shells she would be singing a song. Meanwhile the trackers were monitoring her movements. As soon as she leaves her baby again on a rock, the trackers picked/kidnap the baby and ran away with it to the village.
As the witch got up the river to where she left her baby, she was gone.
Upset and angry, she started sniping up and down the river to catch the smell of her baby and any one who may have taken her. She eventually found the track taken by the trackers with her baby, all the while she would be singing calling her baby's name till she reached the village.
At the village, as soon as the men got home with the witch baby, they cleared out a house with strong timber walls and place the Witch baby inside and close the door shut. Every able men were armed with spears, clubs and stones ready to attack the witch as soon as she breaks down the door to get her baby. The plan is to attack the witch and cripple her, then set the house on fire to burn her and her baby to death.
As the witch entered the village she could smell her baby and snipped her way to house where her baby was and started to break the door down. As soon as she was inside the house, the armed men surrounded the house and started to attack her with spears, clubs and stones. At the same time the house was set on fire killing and burning to death both the witch and her baby.
The villages thereafter lived in peace and a trouble free life.
SG1-008-02: Children Initiation Feast Gone Wrong.
Long, long time ago lived a newly we'd couple. After bride price payment been settled to bride's family, couple decided to build their own home and start a family of their own. Years later the couple decided to organise an initiation feast ceremony for their children. Which is a normal customary tradition.
So first thing is to build houses to accommodate guests and make gardens. Months later, food crops ready for harvest and invitations sent out to friends and extended families living far and near.
The nominated feast day arrived and guests started to arrive and the singing begins. Initiation of the children complete followed by serving of food and pork. Half way through serving their guests, they ran out of food. Guests and spectators attending the initiation ceremony start to complain about being hungry. They started to pressure the couple for entertainment. So as punishment for running out of food and as punishment, the crowd force the couple to sing and dance the whole day and night to entertainment them with this initiation song.
SG1-008-03: A-Tumrek (Child without live parents).
There lived a boy that both his parents have died. So he had to go and live with his grandmother. Growing up with his mother wasn't easy for the boy. The grandmother was always very strict on him and growing up without any other siblings makes it very on his developing character into adulthood.
He feels easily embarrassed, ashamed and timid when in the presence of young girls. This made it very difficult for the grandmother to marry him off to any women having an interest in him or for him.
It therefore came to the stage in his life where no girl or woman is interested in him anymore, which got his grandmother very worried that he will never be able to get married or the grandmother will never be able to find him a wife.
So one night the grandmother after sitting up thinking about her grandson love life, or lack of a love life and going to bed. During her sleep, the parents of her grandson appeared in a dream with a plan for her to find a wife for their son. Also, in the dream they taught her a song the grandson has to learn to sing.
So early the next morning when she woke up she started singing the song and getting the grandson to sing along with her.
Once the grandson has mastered the lyrics of the song and can sing the song on his own. The grandmother said to the grandson tomorrow we are taking a trip into the hills and walk to the next village.
The next day early in the morning, grandmother & grandson took off into the hills behind the village. Walking for several kilometres to the head of a free flowing river next to a very big village. There they rested and the grandmother said to the grandson, we have to build you a raft. So they got to work building the raft out of bamboo. Once raft was built, the grandmother said to her grandson, your journey to find a wife for yourself is about to start grandson. I want you to paddle you raft to the mouth of the and whilst you paddling you have to sing the song I thought you. Good luck grandson. The grandson started paddling down wards towards the mouth of the river whilst singing.
Meanwhile at the mouth of the river, there were two beautiful sisters having a swim. All of a sudden the younger sister said to the elder sister, can you hear what I am hearing. What a beautiful voice, where is it coming from. The elder sister said in reply, must be a bird. But as the raft was getting closer, the singing voice was getting louder and louder. The two sisters both got out of the water focusing their search for the voice upstream. And then turning the corner upstream was a raft with the most handsome man, both have ever seen. The younger sister starts waving and telling her elder sister, he is mine, I heard his singing first. The elder sister in return said no he is mine. The two sisters were still arguing when the boy banked his raft next to them.
The elder sister felt embarrassed and give up surrendering her claim. The younger sister took him home and got married to the boy and they lived happily ever after. Later his grandmother came to live with them.
(Paul Tevlone, April 2021) |
| Cite as |
Steven Gagau (collector), Steven Gagau (depositor, researcher), Paul Tevlone (consultant, translator), John Katal (recorder), Martha Tatal Psigo (speaker), Anna Kelpalne Nandre (speaker), 2020. Traditional Sulka "MOHEII" Stories. MPEG/VND.WAV. SG1-008 at catalog.paradisec.org.au. https://dx.doi.org/10.26278/78tj-f730 |
