Yenakha_Paotapi
Machil Moupwa (the brother and the sister)
Once there lived a widowed lady with her three children. Since her husband's death, the woman went to market and sell vegetables to feed her children. The eldest child was a girl. The girl was little grown up. So, she helped her mother in household works. The two younger children were boys. The youngest one still fed on mother's milk. One day, the mother did not return home from the market. The boys started crying. Their sister tried to console them but she failed to do so. Meanwhile, Yenakha Paotabi heard the cry. She was very happy at this. She planned to eat up all the children that very day. It had been a very long time she had not eaten any human child. So, she hid herself at that house's eaves. On the other side, the mother eloped with a man. Taking advantage of this situation, Yenakha Paotabi changed the way she looked until she looked like the mother. She pretended to be coming back from the market. She took the youngest child from the sister's hands. She held the little boy in her arms. She ate him by breaking him into pieces. The elder brother asked her what she was eating. Yenakha Paotabi answered that it was not something he could eat. She said it was Thambou (Lotus stem) brought from the market. The sister came to know that the strange woman was not their mother but a witch. So she thought of running away with her survived younger brother to save their lives. The brother and the sister ran away from the place. Yenakha Paotabi finished eating the small boy. Then, she looked for the rest of the children. She found them missing. So she started following the children. The brother and the sister hid themselves at a nearby house ("a house at far away place found after running" in another version of the story). Later, the two siblings found their real mother. They ran towards her joyfully calling "mother". But the mother said they were not hers. She had told her new husband that she did not have any children. But he became suspicious when the children called her "mother". So he asked her if she was hiding something from him. The mother brought a Shuk (stick of rice grinder). She said that the child who could throw this Shuk in front of the front yard of the house was her true child. According to her, the one who could not do it was not her true child. The daughter (sister) mentioned God Lainingthou's name. She closed her eyes filled with tears. She threw the Shuk. The Shuk fell ahead of the front yard. The brother failed. It was because he was not strong. According to the mother's words, the sister was accepted but the little boy was rejected. The sister cried at her mother's rejection of her younger brother. The sister took out some food to feed her little brother. Her mother scolded her. After that, the sister gave her younger brother only paddy grains to cook. The younger brother brought the grains to cook them somewhere. Accidentally, he slipped on a Lukrak (Culm sheath of bamboo tree) and all the grains fell off. When he was picking up the grains, a bird known as Waba Chengjaba ate them all. The younger brother cried and told his sister about the accident. She gave him some more grains. Taking the grains, he came back joyfully. However, he fell again and the bird ate his food again. He got angry. At the same time, he was also scared to tell his sister he had lost the food again. So, he suffered his hunger for that day. On the next day, he told everything to his sister. She gave him some rice and three strands of hair. She taught him how to catch the bird. The younger brother made nets from the hairs. He put some rice in front of the net. Looking at the rice, the bird came and tried to pick it up. However, the net hooked its feet. Thus, it was trapped in the net. The young boy told the bird that he would kill it. He said that he would give the bird's two legs to his sister and would take the bird's body for himself. The bird promised him a Yai (magical diamond stone) in place of its life. The Yai would give everything that he wished. The bird took out the Yai from his mouth and gave it to the boy. The bird was set free. The brother took his sister and fled away to a deserted area. They built a palace with the help of the Yai. With the help of the Yai, they gave food and clothing to many poor people. Their mother and stepfather grew poorer day by day. They had heard of the children's fame. So, the couple approached to the children for help. They were given good food, clothing and treasures. On the way back, the mother died because of shame. The stepfather returned home with all the gifts. In another version of the story, the brother and the sister planned to kill both the mother and the stepfather. So the brother gave the couple two bamboo bottles filled with bees. He told them that the bamboo bottles contained drinks for them. On the way back to home, the couple fell tired of their journey. So, without looking into the bamboo bottles, they opened the bamboo bottles. They died being bitten by the bees. On the other hand, the brother and the sister lived happily ever after.