MAMLEA FOLKTALE FROM PAPUA

When he was little, Mamle was a diligent boy. He always helped his mother open new fields. While his mother was sowing the weed, he cut the trees with a stone axe. Sometimes his mother was worried about him when he was climbing the tree and cutting the branches. But he convinced her that he could do it well. He was brave as well as smart and kind.

When he grew up, Mamle built a house for the village ball. Then he invited all people from around the village to come to the ball. A lot of people came. Among the guests, there were two women from Sandrafe tribe. Both women took an interest on Mamle, but the village chiefs did not allow him to marry them.

“You cannot marry either of them, Mamle!” one of the village chiefs said.

But Mamle did not think much about it, because he himself was not interested in them. Suddenly, when the party was over, several men came to Mamle and tried to hit and kill him. Mamle ran away, but the men kept chasing him.

Mamle tried to find a way to escape from the men. When he saw a sugar palm (Indonesian: enau) tree, he climbed it. Then he cut the base of the tree flowers and get the liquid nectar from it. He put the liquid into a small bamboo tube. After it was full, Mamle climbed down and started with another tree. Soon he had ten bamboo tubes full of the sweet liquid. Calmly, Mamle waited for the men who were chasing him.

“Hey, Mamle! Surrender! You are not going anywhere!” the men shouted at him.

Mamle approached them and said, “Please calm down, brothers. Here, have a drink. You must be thirsty after all the long run.”

Without thinking that Mamle might be tricking them, the men accepted the drink. They were indeed thirsty. After they finished a full tube, Mamle offered them another tube. Not long, all of them were heavily drunk. They forgot that they had to catch Mamle.

Mamle used the good opportunity to run away. When the men realized that Mamle had tricked them, it was too late. Mamle was way too far away for them to catch.

After his mother’s death, Mamle kept teaching the kindness to other people around him. He shared his knowledge for those who wanted to learn from him.