Ita Thaomei
- The Clever Old Woman -

High School Textbook *

Once upon a time, there lived an old widow in a village. She lived alone. She worked hard. She used to weave on the loom during daytime and spin at night. In addition to her hard work, she was wise and witty.

One dark night, a thief entered her house silently. The old widow was spinning by the fireside.

There was a thaomei burning nearby.

The thief hid himself in a dark corner. He was waiting for the old woman to fall asleep.

A little later the woman realized that there was someone hiding in the corner behind the thaomei. She was scared but she did not shout.

Instead, she pretended as if she were not aware of the presence of the thief.

She went on spinning.

Clever Old Woman spinning

But she thought of a plan to catch the thief.

Suddenly she called out, "Ita-thaomei! Ita-thaomei!".

Since there was no reply from the thaomei, she went on, "It is strange that you have not replied today. Everyday we talk to each other. What has happened today? Are you not responding because you are feeling sleepy? Or is there a stranger in the house tonight?"

The thief was surprised. The woman talked loudly, "Ita-thaomei, if you don't reply, it means that there is a stranger in the house." thief thought deeply, "A wonderful thing! A thaomei responding to a human call. Perhaps it is not responding tonight because of my presence. I cannot let the woman know of my presence. I will answer her call this time. She will think that every thing is all right."

Soon, the old woman called again, "Ita-thaomei, can you hear me?" The thief replied, "Yes Ita, I can hear you."

The widow felt quite certain now. She knew that she could catch the thief easily.

She asked, "Were you asleep a little while ago?" "Yes, I felt so sleepy; I slept for some time," replied the thief. The widow continued, "As usual, let me tell you a story. Listen to it carefully." "I am listening, please go on," replied the thief.

The old widow began her story:
"Once upon a time, there lived an old woman in a village. She lived alone. One night, while spinning, she fell asleep. In her dream, she saw a thief breaking into her house. Actually a thief had already broken into her house and was trying to steal the utensils in the house.

The old woman woke up and saw it. Immediately, she began to shout, "Thief, thief. There is 'a thief in my house."

The old widow actually kept shouting at the top of her voice. Finally, her neighbours woke up and rushed to her house. The old widow told them of the thief hiding in the corner. The thief who was listening to the story of the old woman was caught by the villagers.

Thus, her wit and wisdom saved her. The villagers thanked the clever widow. She helped them catch the thief so easily.

---

* This is a Manipuri folk tale retold and is part of text book prescribed for High School student in Manipur under Board of Secondar Education Manipur (BSEM). This was webcasted on October 12th, 2009.

---