Tais-na’in

Hori uluk iha tempu avó sira sei hatais bibi-kulit no ai-kulit de’it, iha kasadór ida ne’ebé loroloron ba ai-laran hodi kasa manu ho nia kilat husi au. Iha loron ida bainhira nia atu fila ba uma, derrepente nia lakon. Iha fatin dook nia haree samea boot ida hanesan fohorai, maibé bainhira nia hakbesik-an ba animál ne’e, nia la haree fohorai ida maibé feto bonita ida ne’ebé hatais hena furak ho kór oioin no soru hela tais. Feto ne’e bolu ba mane kasadór: “Ó hakarak hola ha’u hanesan ó-nia feen ka lae?” Kasadór hatán ba nia: “Ha’u iha ona feen no oan iha uma.” Maibé nia gosta duni feto bonita ne’e. Feto mós gosta nia no nia repete fali: “Ó hakarak hola ha’u hanesan ó-nia feen ka lae?” Kasadór hatán fali: “Ha’u iha ona feen no oan iha uma,” no nia kontinua la’o. 

Iha loron tuirmai, kasadór ba fali ai-laran no, dala ida tan, bainhira nia iha dala atu fila ba uma nia haree fali samea ida ne’ebé nakfila ba feto ne’ebé soru hela tais. Feto ne’e husu: “Ó hakarak hola ha’u hanesan ó-nia feen ka lae?” Kasadór hatán hanesan: “Ha’u iha ona feen no oan iha uma,” no nia kontinua la’o. 

Durante loron hitu, buat hanesan akontese beibeik ba kasadór ne’e. Kada vés nia haree “feto-samea” ne’e no nia husu pergunta hanesan ba nia. Iha loron dahituk, feto-samea ne’e tuir mane sai husi ai-laran. Bainhira sira to’o iha baliza entre ai-laran no toos, kasadór para no fila-an ba feto hodi dehan: “Se ó hakat liu baliza ne’e no tama ba toos ho ha’u, ó hatene ka lae ó sei la bele fila no la bele ona nakfila ba samea.” Feto-samea ne’e rona didi’ak no deside atu husik duni ai-laran no tama iha toos. Nia sai kasadór nia feen no hahú momentu ne’ebá nunka mais fila an ba samea. Nia pasa nia tempu loroloron hodi soru tais no hanorin feto seluk iha aldeia atu soru tais. Dezeñu sira ne’ebé sira uza iha sira-nia tais hanesan de’it ho samea nia kulit. 

(Ai-knanoik husi Boleha, konta husi Louisa Freitas). 
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The custodian of the Tais

Once long ago when people had only goat skin and tree bark to wear as clothes there was a hunter who would go to the forest each day to hunt birds with his bamboo hunting pipe. One day when he was returning home he became lost. In the distance he saw a big snake which looked like a python but as he got closer to the snake it turned into a beautiful woman wearing exquisitely coloured cloth and weaving tais (woven cloth). She called out to the hunter 'do you want to take me as your wife?' The hunter replied, 'I already have a home with a wife and children'. However, he did like this beautiful woman. The woman liked him too and asked again, 'do you want to take me as your wife?' The man replied again 'No, I already have a wife and children', and with that he continued on his way.

The next day the hunter went to the forest again and once more when he was returning home he saw the snake which again became a woman weaving tais. The woman asked again, 'do you want to take me as your wife? Again he replied 'No, I already have a wife and children' and went on his way. 

The same thing happened to the hunter for seven days. Each day he saw the 'snakewoman' and each day she asked the same question. On the seventh day the woman followed the hunter out of the forest. He stopped and turned around to her when they reached the boundary between the forest and the fields. He said to the snakewoman, 'if you cross this boundary and come with me into the fields, do you realize you can never return and never again can you become a snake'. The snakewoman listened carefully and accepted the bargain. She crossed the boundary from the forest to the fields and went with the hunter to become his wife. From that day, she never became a snake again, rather she spent her days weaving tais and teaching the other women how to do likewise. The weaving patterns they followed were the same as those of a python's skin.

(A 'plain tale' from Boleha, retold by Louisa Freitas)