The two sibling ( Machin moupa )

Manganleibi Loktongbam *

An illustration for The two sibling (Machin moupa) :: Art by Bidyarani Th

Long years back, there lived a widow who had a daughter and a son. The widow earned their living by selling vegetables, fruits to the market (Keithel).

Every day, a widower bought vegetables from the widow's stall (Potfam), one day; he asked the widow "Hey Sister, You seem very tired and exhausted of your life. Is your husband (Ebungo) no more?"

The poor widow hesitantly replied "What do I say; brother (Tada). Your brother died a year ago. He left two children. I thought, coming out to the market would help me feed my children", the widower felt pity hearing the widow's problems that she faced in her life.

He thought for a while and left the market. The widower when he reached his home thought of keeping the widow as his second wife and even thought of adopting her children.

The next morning, the widower came to the widow's stall and requested her to be his wife (Taloi) forever, so that they could live a happy life together.

The widower again asked her "Dear Sister (Echal Ebemma), Let me adopt your two children". On the other hand, the widow changed her mind, thinking of herself she cheated the widower and said that "Brother (Tada), Let my children stay with their grandparents".

Believing in the widow's words, that night the widower elopes the widow. But on one hand, the lonely two children waited for their mother but she never comes back. The next day, they drink some water and move on to search their mother.

Sometimes, the younger brother asked " Elder sister (Eche), where is our Mother (Ema)?", the poor sister console him by saying that " We will find our mother", While they were climbing the tall bridge (Thongjao), they saw an old man coming towards their direction , the poor sister asked the old man "Grandfather (Epu), Have you seen our mother ,a woman here".

The old man replied, "Hei Nupimacha, I don't who your mother is, but I heard a woman eloped yesterday. If you want to know, cross over the bridge and go straight, you will find a house, and asked them".

Following the advice given by the old man, the little children went inside the compound of the house, and from the far, they show their mother husking the paddy. As soon as they saw their mother they run towards her and said "Mother...Mother (Ema...Ema), come to our house, we are very hungry and tired".

Hearing the children's' cries, the selfish mother shouted to them "Who are these children. Go away. I am not your mother". Meanwhile, the husband of the widow comes out and asked the woman, "Sister ‘Echal', Are these children, not your babies", the woman hesitantly said, "I don't know them, my children are with their grandparents".

The man feels pity for the children so, he said "You bigger one (Achoubi), you can stay in my house and help my wife", but "You, boy (Nupamacha), you cannot stay here, leave your sister and go".

Both the sibling cried, the elder sister told her brother "My dear younger Brother (Enou Ebungo), don't go too far, stay near the weed plants, I will bring your eatables, but never let our evil mother know this".

One day, while the brother was sitting near the weed plant, he saw some Black kite (Umaibi) flying across the weed. The young boy runs towards his sister's house and asked her to give some long hair of his sister to make a net, so that he can catch the Umaibi. The sister gave some of her hair and he runs away.

The little boy catch the Umaibi and thought that, "Let my sister cook the Umaibi, Let my father eat the head of the Umaibi, Let my sister eat the middle part of Umaibi and I will eat the last part", but the clever Umaibi knows his plan, so the Umaibi said to the little boy "Hei Ebungo, Do not eat me instead I will give you a magic stone, You can make wish for anything. But let me free from your net".

TThe young boy took the magic stone and later free the bird saying "Hey Umaibi fly freely". The little boy out of his curiosity made a wish of a fish meal, suddenly it came out, then again he made a wish of a beautiful house, and it came out one by one.

One day, he thought of teaching a lesson to their mother and the man, so he invited his sister, mother and the man to have lunch in his house. When his sister saw the house, she cried and said "My dear brother, what had happened to you? You did not even have a pinch to eat, but from where did you get all these things".

After the lunch, the boy asked the mother and man "Let my sister stay here for someday. But before you go, please have the Bamboo stick filled with eatables (utong), and drink while when you cross the big bridge. But before drinking please remember to close the eyes".

Giving the two utongs to them, the man and woman led towards the bridge, they close their eyes and drink the Utong fill with poisonous bee like “Khoibi ningthou, Khoiren".

In this way, the greedy man and woman lost their lives. The sister and brother lived happily ever after. It is believed that "We should never look our biological children as our enemy, and should treat our children equally (Echadi echaoina ugadabani)".

Reference:
Tomba, Soram. Personal Interview. 28 December 2016.