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Translation (by Rita Seng Mai)
A long time ago, there were an orphan and sons of wealthy men in a village. "Orphan" means he/she has no parents and lives alone. The son of a wealthy or great possessions man means that he's the son of very rich parents. An orphan boy wanted to be friends and play together with those sons of rich men. But they didn't let him play with them. So, he had to live alone. That orphan boy went to the forest to catch birds by setting a trap every day. Those sons of rich men also did that. When that orphan boy set the trap on the tree, those sons of rich men set the trap on the ground. When he set the trap on the ground, then they set the trap on the tree. One day, when he set the trap on the ground, he got a small deer unexpectedly. Before he saw that there was a small deer in his trap on the ground, those sons of rich men saw that first. They said, "This deer was trapped in that boy's trap, let's take that anyway." Then, they hung that deer in their trap on the tree. When that orphan boy arrived there and saw that, he told them, "How was this deer trapped on the tree?" They told him, "We don't know! But this deer was caught in our trap. So this is ours!" and they took it. He didn't say anything as he didn't have any parents or power. He just let it happen. On the next day, he set the trap on the tree and those sons of rich men set the trap on the ground. There was an eagle in his bird trap this time too. Unfortunately, those sons of rich men saw that thing first again. They took the eagle from that orphan boy's trap and put it in their trap. When that poor orphan boy came to check if there was any bird in his trap, he saw an eagle which flies in the sky got caught in the trap that was set on the ground. He thought that how strange it was and asked them about that. But they said, "How can we know?! It was caught in our trap so it's ours!" He felt so angry because it was not only one or two times, they always did like that. So he went to the wise rabbit to ask for help. He told the wise rabbit that those sons of rich men always bullied me. Then, the wise rabbit said, "Okay, I'll come and solve your problem." But that wise rabbit was being late for some time. While those sons of rich men and poor orphan boy were waiting for it for a long time, they saw it came. Then, they asked it, "Why are you so late?" The wise rabbit replied, "It's because I extinguished the fires burning on the sand with water on my way." They said, "It's impossible!" Then, the wise rabbit said, "Yeah, same like that. Why did you do something that is impossible? How could birds which fly in the sky get caught in the trap that was set on the ground? Animals which live and go on the ground couldn't get caught in the trap that was set on the tree. Think about it!" Then, those sons of rich men said, "Of course, that's impossible," and they regretted it finally.
Transcription (by Lu Awng)
Moi shawng e da, mare langai mi hta Lalaw ma hte jahkrai ma ngu nga ai da i. Jahkrai ma ngu i kanu kawa n lu sai shi hkrai nga ai hku rai nga i. Lalaw ma ngu gaw kanu kawa ni lu ai sut du ni na kasha i, e ding re ni a kasha re ai da i. Jahkrai ma gaw da shi lalaw ma ni hte kanawn mayu tim, lalaw ma ni shi hpe n kanawn shangun ai da i. Shi gaw shi na shi hkrai nga ai da. Lani mi na aten hta gaw da, shi gaw i jahkrai ma gaw shani shagu ngu na ram u sa hkam hkam re hku nga i. U sa hkam lalaw ma ni ma hkam ai da. E dai kaw i shi jahkrai ma npu kaw hkam yang i, lalaw ma ni gaw ntsa kaw hkam re hku nga i. Lalaw ma ni ntsa kaw hkam yang shi gaw npu kaw hkam re i. Lani mi na ten hta i, jahkrai ma npu kaw hkam ai i dai wa i n myit mada ai sha shi oh ra baw lu ai hku nga i e jahkyi le i jahkyi kasha lu ai da. Jahkyi kasha dai gaw i jahkyi kasha dai wa lalaw ma ni shawng sa mu hkrup ai rai nga dai u hkam hkam da ai kaw i ndai jahkrai ma na jahkrai ma kaw na she dau taw nga anhte kaw na she la ga ngu na dai jahkyi hpe la di na i ntsa de wa noi da ai da i. Rai na jahkrai ma bai sa yu yang um jahkyi wa hpe ntsa de jahkyi kasha wa ntsa de gara hku du taw i ngu na tsun ai dai gaw n chye ai ngu da i anhte na anhte kaw dau ai anhte na rai sai ngu na la mat wa ai da. Shi gaw hpa nngu ai da i shi gaw shi na i n gun ah tsan ni ma nnga shi gaw kanu kawa ma nnga sai majaw i dai hku sha lai mat wa ai da. Hpang shani bai sa shi gaw ntsa kaw bai dau sai ntsa kaw bai hkam sai da i ntsa kaw bai hkam re i oh ra ni gaw npu kaw bai hkam ai da npu kaw hkam ai dai shaloi mung galang le i galang wa shi na ntsa kaw dau taw ai wa lalaw ma ni shawng sa mu di na jahkrai ma hpe bai jahkrai ma na u hkam kaw na la di na bai shanhte na u hkam kaw bai wa tawn da ai hku nga i wa la ai da, bai sa yu yang dai jahkrai ma na dai galang wa deng npu kaw she wa nga taw nga le ngai hkam da ai ntsa kaw she re wa ngu tim dai gaw nchye ai ngu da, anhte na anhte na anhte kaw hkam ai majaw anhte lu ai ngu da, jahkrai ma gaw wa grai pawt mayu wa sai le i, kalang mung nrai 2 lang mung nrai majaw shi gaw hpaji rawng ai bangtai kaw sa sai hku nga, brangtai kaw sa di na hpaji sa hpyi ai le i, oh ra hpaji sa hpyi le i, hpaji sa hpyi ai lalaw ma ni ngai hpe ndai hku grai dang sha ai law ngu da. N ra ai ngu da ngai sa ya ngu da, sa le i, sa rai na jahkrai ma ni mung lalaw ma ni mung hkrum rai na yawng hte sa wa ai le i, gai nanhte ni hpe ngai tsun na ngu ai da, nanhte ni zaibru jang ntsa de i zaibru jang ntsa kaw arau sa mu i dai shaloi nanhte hpe ngai aw shanhte shi tsun ai i aw dai hku nre shi ai shi brangtai hpanghkrat ai da, hpanghkrat ai majaw i hpanghkrat ai majaw hpa majaw hpanghkrat ai ngu ai lalaw ma ni aten grai hpanghkrat sai majaw shi hpe tsun ai da, nang hpa na dai ram tim hpanghkrat ai ma ngu tsun yang, ngai hto zaibru jang ntsa kaw i wan grai hkru taw na i dai hka jaw sat taw ai ngu na tsun ai da. Nmai byin ai hpa na tsun ai ma ngu da, e dai hte maren da nanhte mung hpa n nmai byin ai galaw taw ma ngu da, ntsa kaw na pyen ai u ni gaw npu de gara hku na wa dau na ma ngu da. Npu kaw nga taw ni ntsa de gara hku na wa dau na ma ngu nanhte myit yu mu e ngu da, aw rai na le ngu na dai hku ngu na ngut mat wa ai da.
Notes
1. For a similar story in Kadu, see Huziwara (2020).
Reference
Huziwara, Keisuke. 2020. Kadu folktale "The Rich and the Poor Son." Journal of Kijutsuken 12: 161-174.
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