Folktales help children connect with their cultural roots by transmitting shared values, traditions, and collective memory across generations. Beginning this issue we present folk tales excerpted from Bird Folktales of Meghalaya for Children by Glenn C Kharkongor with Illustrations by Balaiamon Kharngapkynta & Careen Jolin Langstieh (Martin Luther Christian University Press, 2024)

A long time ago there was a rich Garo couple who had a young daughter. Among their possessions was a piece of silk woven from many coloured threads.This beautiful cloth had been bequeathed by a goddess to the great-grandmother of the wife. It had been handed down through several generations.

But before touching the precious silk, one had to recite a chant or prayer to the goddess; otherwise, the person would experience bad luck.

According to Garo custom, the daughter would inherit the family property. When she grew up, she married one of her cousins on her mother’s side, as was common tradition. Upon her parents’ death, she inherited the magic cloth. She lived happily with her husband but forgot to tell him about the story of the cloth, nor did she teach him the prayer that would prevent bad luck.

One bright day, she hung out the magic silk out to dry in the sun. She told her husband not to touch the cloth, even if it rained.

Then she went to the river to catch fish. She took her chakka, fishing basket, and a koksi, to carry the fish.

While she was away, the clear sky darkened with a mass of dark clouds. The wind blew hard and heavy rain began to fall. The cloth got soaked. The husband anxiously shouted for his wife. She heard his voice and started running home, but she did not reach in time. Worried that the wind would blow away the cloth, the husband grasped the cloth to take it inside the house.

As soon as he touched the cloth, the coloured threads stuck to him. He started changing into a bird with colours splashing onto his wings and tail. The woman in her shock and sorrow, hugged her husband. Without saying the prayer, she touched a bit of cloth that was left. She also turned into a bird, but she was less colourful as only a few threads remained.

Thereafter, they lived as peacock and peahen. Whenever clouds gather in the sky, lightning flashes, and thunder roars, they cry with fear, lest the rains carry away their garments of beautiful plumes.