Folktales from Sikkim

Editors: Rosy Chamling and Abrona Lee Pandi Aden
Pages: 132
Year of Publication: 2024
Price: Rs 600
ISBN: 978-81-979136-4-8 (9788197913648)

About the Editors

Professor Rosy Chamling is Dean, School of Languages and Literature, Sikkim University.

Dr. Abrona Lee Pandi Aden is Assistant Professor, Department of English, Sikkim University.

About the Book

In her introduction to the book, Professor Rosy Chamling writes:

“The present volume is a collection of twenty-eight tales translated by scholars who had participated in a five-day National Translation Workshop organized by the Department of English, School of Languages and Literature, Sikkim University, in September 2022. The workshop curated folktales which were primarily oral in nature, for which a team of language experts of the primary languages of Sikkim facilitated the translation in a collaborative mode.

Oral storytelling as an art form has had an independent existence since preliteracy times. The earliest script dates back to only about six thousand years ago (Ong,2). Furthermore, storytelling of the indigenous communities further represents an organic link between their cosmologies, cultures and territories. All the tales that have been curated from the workshop are contextual in nature. Since places are culturally constructed, these tales have a strong regional flavour from which the indigenous communities draw their distinct identity.”

Extract

Excerpt from Birth of the Moon, a Lepcha Tale

This tale goes back to the beginning of the universe. There used to be two dazzling sun-sisters in the sky. They rose and set one after another and thereby there was no sign of darkness. However, there was excessive sunlight and its heat blighted everything, and the earth heated up like a ball of fire. The waterbodies dried up, and the flora was blighted, and this had adverse effects on the fauna.

If this situation persisted, nothing would survive. Knowing that the universe would end, all the living beings organized a meeting to find a solution to the impending catastrophe. They discussed and concluded that the sun-sisters could not be restrained and therefore one of them had to be extinguished to put an end to the misery of living beings. The assembly unanimously accepted this decision. The frog agreed to accomplish this task. So, the frog made a bow and arrow out of a cockscomb plant, and knocked down the younger sun-sister. The outcome of extinguishing the younger sun-sister was not as expected by the living beings. It had an adverse effect. As the surviving sun-sister realized that her younger sister was no more, she mourned and became despondent. She started wailing behind the pall of dark clouds. Thus, the whole universe was enveloped in utter darkness.

Contents
28 chapters divided into five sections