Wp/lus/Chemtatrawta

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Chemtatrawta tih hi Pu Sangliana'n Chemtatrawta thawnthu sâp ṭawng chhamhlaa a dahna a ni. Govt. Mizo High School chanchinbu-ah kum 1954 khan chhuah a ni.

A hla edit

1.

Upon a brook, a gurgling brook,
Chemtatrawta sat on a stone,
Honing his dao to make it sharp
Upon the stone he sat on.

2.

”What is that noise,” a young prawn cried
“As of someone honing dao ?
Upon my nerves, surely, it grates
And sets my nippers on edge.”

3.

From its hiding the prawn espied
A leather bag, ( What a bag ! )
Skimming the water as it swung
Pendulum like, to and fro.

4.

Nearer it came- the prawn, I mean,
To’rds the bag, (oh ! what a bag !)
The young prawn smiled and then withdrew,
Come again, much nearer now.

5.

The bag still swung, pendulum-like,
Skimmed the water, swallow-like;
The young prawn stalked it stealthily,
Primed its nippers for the nip.

6.

Alack-a-day ! Alack ! I say,
For the poor, ill-fated bag !
The nippers clicked, the bag jumped up -
With the man who honed his dao !

7.

As might a boy his teacher scolds
Vent his anger on his books,
So did that man Chemtatrawta
Vent his rage on a bamboo !

8.

Vented his fury and cut down
The harmless, blameless bamboo,
Lovingly entwined and festooned
By a fond, loving Khaum.

9.

As did that man Chemtatrawta
Vent his rage on the bamboo,
So did the Khaum vent his rage
Upon the wild fowl below.

10.

The Khaum hit the poor wild fowl
A sound blow on its coccyx;
The wild fowl, made wilder by this,
Scratched asunder an ants’ nest.

11.

A furious ant, blind with fury,
Sought for victims far and wide,
Chancing upon a sleeping boar,
Bit its exposed t-t-c.

12.

The sleeping boar thus roused from sleep
Seethed and boiled with furious rage,
Gored down with its tusks a plantain
Where a bat had its lodging.

13.

The blind bat blubbered bitterly,
Flew about in blind fury,
And met by chance an elephant
In whoose nose it found refuge.

14.

The elephant was none too pleased
To lodge a bat in its nose;
Sneezing, sniffing and trumpeting
It knocked down a widow’s house.

15.

The poor widow now a d.p.,
Boiling with impotent rage,
(As you would all be in her place)
Dirtied the spring waterhole.

16.

The Chain of events had now come
To the point where village folks
Could not ignore the consequence -
‘Cause of what the widow did.

17.

And so the village council met
(The sixteenth August being past)
The poor widow was first summoned
Before that August council.

18.

“Why did you,” they asked the widow,
“Defecate above the Spring ?”
“Why! because,” she promptly answered,
“The el’phant knocked down my house.”

19.

The elephant was then summoned,
It sneezed, sniffed and stamped about;
For what it did to the widow,
Said the bat was all to blame.

20.

The blinking bat as next brought in;
It told them how the cruel boar
Had felled the plantain where it lodged
And deprived it of its home.

21.

The outraged wild boar then came in,
And grunted in a hurt tone,
“Had the ant stung your t-t-c
You’d all have done what I did.”

22.

The nestless ant was then brought in,
And in a shrilled voice it cried;
” Had the wild fowl destroyed your nest
You’d have been no less furious!”

23.

The wild fowl next came strutting in,
In a loud, cackling voice said ;
“Had a Khaum hit your coccyx
You’d destroy any ants’ nest !”

24.

Still bruised and sore, the Khaum came,
“I ask you, dear sirs,” it said;
“Whose fault was it that when I fell down
When Tatrawt felled my bamboo ?”

25.

Chemtatrawta was next summoned
To explain why he had felled
The bamboo that stood by the brook
And the Khaum had so loved.

26.

He hemmed and hawed, Chemtatrawta,
“Dear sirs,” he said, ” If a prawn
Had nipped your t-t-c, would you
Have cared which bamboo you felled !”

27.

The council was shocked to hear this,
For man’s honour was at stake -
“Send for the prawn quickly,” they said,
“We will cure its audacity,”

28.

The prawn came in, pale and frightened,
Promptly it dropped on its knees,
“Pardon me, sirs, pardon,” it cried
“I’ll never do it again.”

29.

For the moral of this story
We shall tell you just this one;
Do not meddle, do not meddle
With a swinging, swinging bag !

Thulâkna edit

  • Pu Sangliana, Govt. High School Annual Magazine Vol-III, 1954