A special series of NEZINE’s podcast- Voices of Northeast India- showcasing multi-lingual and multi-cultural identifies of the region through podcasting of folk tales and folk song of the communities in in the way they speak, converse, or sing.

In this maiden episode of the series Mrs Khirla Teronpi tells a Karbi folktale– Teke Lapen Chongho (A Frog and a Tiger)

English text of the folktale has been taken from Karbi Studies Vol 3- Folktales From The Fringe (Popular folktales in English and Karbi Text) compiled and edited by Dharamsing Teron and Sikari Tisso.

Dharam Sing Teron is an Independent Researcher and writer based in Diphu. He is actively associated with the Karbi Autonomy movement and engaged in documenting Karbi oral tradition.

Sikari Tisso is an acclaimed litterateur of Karbi literature and a linguist

Digital recording of the oral version of the story arranged by Kache Teronpi, who teaches English at Rangsina Junior College, Donkamokam and co-edited Karbi Studies Vol. 4 with Dharamsing Teron.

Episode planning by Mangalsing Rongphar, freelance writer and author of Jatinga Aru Anyanna

Episode Hosted by Abhilash Bapanasha, an alumnus of the Department of Mass Communication and Journalism, Tezpur University, is a Cultural Documentation enthusiast and loves to share stories through the microphone

Music by Priyanuj Parashar, a postgraduate student of Chemistry, is an aspiring flutist and he likes to experiment with new flavours while continuously learning for the better

A Frog and a Tiger

And thus it came to pass..this story occurred when the earth was soft. There was an old tiger who went to forest in search of meat and food, deer and pigs. There was also a frog, who was dead scared of the tiger. The frog said, “Ba ko my friend, you are such an elderly tiger, but you almost trampled on me, not even mindful of your steps!” The old tiger replied,’ Sorry, I overlooked you…” The frog said again, “Not so, you elderly tiger should have been little more careful: and so he threw a challenge for a trail of strength. ...

And then, the frog jumped stop a tree stump and sat himself as if readying for a fight. The frog said to the old tiger—“Come on friend tiger, it is from here that we begin our show of strength…you or me first?” The tiger replied, “Dear friend, let me go first, as I know you’ll be so sluggish…!” And so, when the tiger was preparing to make a dash curling up tail, the frog quietly took a gulp of it’s tip. By the time the tiger jumped the distance and shook his tail, off fell the from in front. Already ahead, the frog said to the old tiger—“See, I am stronger than you!” The tiger too dashed again. And the frog, by repeating the same trick, biting the tip of the tiger’s tail, threw himself back in the front again. And again, the front said to the tiger. “Ko, I’ve reached ahead of you here too…”

Please go to the transcript section of this podcast for the full English text of the folktale