Culture

Chemtatrawta1 – A Mizo Folktale

Current Updates | Culture | Luke Sangkima | 14-Jan-2021

Once upon a time there lived a man called Chemtatrawta. One day he went out for hunting and reached a small stream where he found a suitable whetstone. Upon the whetstone, Chemtatrawta sharpened his dao along the length of the river. While he was sharpening his dao a prawn came and suddenly bit him on his testicles.Enraged by the action, Chemtatrawrta cut off a big bamboo nearby where a khaum² creeper hung. The khaum was furious and to show his anger he fell on the spine of a jungle fowl. Much annoyed and outraged, the jungle fowl, in turn, began to scatter the nest of a large ant. Since the nest was destroyed beyond recognition the angry ant then bit at the testicles of a wild boar. In pain, the wild boar ran amuck and felled the wild plantains where the bat nestled. The bat was furious and having found no place to hang on then he flew into the elephant’s trunk. The elephant was infuriated and in turn he trampled the house of an old woman in a village. Infuriatedly angry the old woman defecated at the source of a village well. The event thus angered the whole village and the villagers began to rally round the old woman and asked her the reasons why she defecated at the mouth of the village water point.

            In reply to their questions as to why she defecated at the source of the village water point, the old woman said that she did it because the elephant destroyed her house. Then the villagers asked the elephant, why it destroyed the old woman’s house, “Why did the bat fly into my trunk?” replied the elephant. The villagers went on asking the bat the reason why he flew into the trunk of the elephant; the bat, in turn, said that the wild boar destroyed the wild plantains where he lived. They asked the wild boar why it destroyed the house of the bat. Then the reply was: “why did the ant bite my testicles?”. The villagers moved on to the ant thus enquiring about the reason why did he bite the private part of the wild boar, in reply the ant said that the jungle fowl scattered his nest. The villagers continued to ask the reason why the jungle fowl scattered the ant’s nest, the reason which he befittingly gave was, why did khaum hit on my spine? The villagers asked khaum, why did he hit the wildfowl? The khaum in reply said that the bamboo where it was creeping was cut off by Chemtatrawta. Then the villagers came to Chamtatrawta to find out the reasons why and how all these things happened. When villagers came to Chemtatrawta they asked him why he cut off the bamboo where khaum was creeping. Chemtatrawta quickly replied and said that his testicles were bit by the prawn while he was sharpening his dao on a whetstone. The villagers came to the prawn and asked why he bit at the private part of Chemtatrawta. Then the villagers found that the prawn was the main accused because he could not give a reasonable answer and muttered, “ ih, ih ih, meia min rawh chuan naupang lawmah ka sen vitvet ang a, tui a min thlak leh ka dang bibei ang nga” (if you roast me on the fire, I will turn a fiery red much to the delight of the children and if you drop me in the water, I will turn pale- white.)

            So, the villagers verified what he said. They roasted him on the fire and he became fiery red and then they put him in the water and he was so pale and white. In the meantime, the prawn gained consciousness soon after he was put in the water and uttered words, saying   “ Nu leh pa khua chu nuam singkhaw”( Oh! How pleasant is one’s parents home!) and he swam inside a cave where he took shelter. Yet, the villagers continued the chase and prodded the cave with hnahthial kuang³ again and again. As a result, the mouth of the prawn became so scruffy. That is why the shape of the prawn’s mouth is as such till today.

 Notes

 Chemtatrawta is one of the most popular folk-tales among the Mizo. Literally, Chem means dao and tat to sharpen. Hence, Chemtatrawta means one who sharpens.

1. khaum is a climbing plant and its fruit. The outside rind of the edible seeds is very bitter.
2. hnahthial kuang is the name of a plant and its leaves. It is used extensively for wrapping up rice and also for other purposes.

(The Author is a retired Professor of History)

 

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