"The Belowground People" 地低下的人

Here is a story from the A-mei tribe.  It is here because I thought it was cute.  I have translated it from "Taiwanese Folk Stories," 台灣民間故事 a collection that appeared in 1996.  The Chinese text was written by 洪淑英, 區世皓, and 謝桂芳, the English (of course) was written by me.

地低下的人 "The Belowground People"

大家都知道, 天上住著神仙, 地上住著人, 那麼地低下, 住著什麼呢?  小朋友絕對想不到, 地低下也住著人呢!  這是流傳在台灣阿美族的一個故事.  As everyone knows, the spirits dwell in heaven and people dwell on the earth.  But what about below the ground?  What lives there?  Children will certainly not realize that people also live below the ground!  This is a story passed down through Taiwan's A-mei tribe.

很久很久以前, 地上和地下都住著人.  地上的人地下的人很好, 有時候, 地上的人就到地下去玩, 地下的人也經常到地上頭來玩兒.  A very long time ago, the aboveground people and the belowground people got along very well.  Sometimes the aboveground people would go below the ground to play, and sometimes the belowground people would come up to play.

有一天, 有一個地下的人到地上頭來買東西.  地上的人惡作劇, 裝了一袋子的蜜蜂, 騙地下的人說袋子裡有希罕的寶貝, 回到家才能打開來看.  地下的人聽了, 高高興興的把袋子背回家去了.  On one day, a belowground person came up out of the earth to buy things.  The aboveground people played a trick on him, and filled a bag full of bees.  They told the belowground person that there was a great treasure inside the bag, but that he should wait until he got home to open it.  After the belowground person heard this, he happily shouldered the bag home.

地下的人回到家, 興匆匆的把袋子打開.  啊, 不得了了!  袋子裡飛出黑壓壓的一群蜜蜂!  蜜蜂用屁股上的針, 螫地下人的眼睛, 鼻子... 地下的人全身腫起一個一個大包, 痛得拼命的跳.  這些腫起來的包, 後來變成一個一個的疔, 有時候痛, 有時候不痛.  After the belowground person arrived home he hurriedly opened the bag.  Ah!  This was too much!  A dense swarm of bees flew out of the bag!  The bees used the stingers on their bums to sting the belowground people in their eyes and noses... until the belowground people were covered from head to toe in boils.  It hurt so much that they jumped as if their lives depended on it.  Sometimes afterward the boils would hurt, and sometimes they would stop hurting.

痛起來的時候, 可真要命, 地下的人忍不住痛, 用力的跳.  轟隆!  轟隆!  地上就開始搖搖晃晃起來.  從此, 地上就有了地震.  When the boils started hurting it was almost too much for the belowground people to take, and they could not stand it.  They would jump with all their strength.  Boom!  Boom!  The land above them would begin to shake and shudder, and from this time there were earthquakes on the land.

布農族的百步蛇朋友 The Bunun Tribe's Friend: the Hundred Pacer

The article below was translated from the February 2013 "Newtonkids" (新小牛頓) magazine.  Other tribes also have stories about the hundred pacer.  For the Paiwan 排灣 version, readers of Chinese might consult 台灣開發故事 - 南區 ("Stories of the Opening of Taiwan - Southern Area").  The Chinese was written by 陳毓倫, and the English was written by me.  

The snake described in the story, the 百步蛇, can be translated as "Hundred Pace Snake" or "Hundred Pacer."  It is a venomous pitviper.

Hundred Pacer

布農族的百步蛇朋友 

The Bunun Tribe's Friend: the Hundred Pacer

布農族是生活在台灣高山上的原住民, 他們對百步蛇非常尊敬和愛護, 即使碰到也不會傷害他們, 還把牠們當成好朋友.  為甚麼布農族對百步蛇這麼好呢?  和一段古老的傳說有關喔!  The Bunun are an aboriginal tribe living in Taiwan's high mountains.  They both respect and love the hundred pacer.  If they come across the hundred pacer they will not hurt it, and they consider it a good friend.  Why are the Bunun so nice to the hundred pacer?  It has to do with a very old folktale!

1. 很久以前, 有一對布農族夫婦生下一個可愛的男孩, 但是媽媽在生產完不久就生病, 去世了, 爸爸非常傷心.  A long time ago, a Bunun couple gave birth to a very cute boy.  But soon after giving birth the mother got sick and died.  The father was very sad.

媽媽 Mother: 你要好好照顧孩子喔!  You need to take good care of the boy!
爸爸 Father: 你放心!  Don't worry!

2.媽媽去世後, 爸爸只好請鄰近有嬰兒的婦人幫忙餵孩, 但是給男孩餵奶的人, 不久就會生病或死亡, 最後都沒有人敢接近他了.  After the mother died, the father had to ask many of the local women to feed the baby milk, but after feeding the baby many of these women got sick or died.  After a while none of the women wanted to be near the baby.

爸爸 Father: 請妳幫我的孩子餵奶.  Please feed my child milk.
婦人 Woman: 不要!  聽說這個孩子會害人生病!  No!  I have heard that this child makes people sick!

3. 大家都很害怕男孩, 覺得他會傷害族人, 所以部落的長老命令爸爸將男孩丟掉.  Everyone was very scared of the boy, and felt that he would harm the members of the tribe.  Therefore the old village chief commanded the father to abandon the boy.

長老命 Old Chief: 你要把這個男孩帶到山裡丟掉!  You must abandon this child in the mountains!

4. 雖然爸爸很捨不得, 但還是得服從長老的命令.  他用布農勇士的外套將男孩包好, 帶到山上, 藏在樹叢裡.  Although the father was heartbroken, he had to follow the village chief's orders.  He wrapped the boy in a Bunun warrior's jacket, and abandoned him in a thicket.

爸爸 Father: 孩子, 對不起!  Child, forgive me!

5. 爸爸非常想念孩子, 過了幾天, 偷偷去山上探望時, 發現男孩竟然變成一條蛇, 身上長滿像布農勇士外套一樣的三角型花紋, 牠就是百步蛇.  The father missed his child very much, and after a few days, while he was ranging through the mountains, he discovered that his child had transformed into a snake.  Upon the snake's body was a pattern resembling the triangle pattern of a Bunun warrior's jacket.  He was a hundred pacer.

6. 蛇告訴爸爸, 牠是男孩變成的, 身上懷有劇毒, 但是不會隨便攻擊布農族人, 也希望布農族人要愛護牠, 父親答應了.  The snake told his father that he was the boy, and that his body was poisonous, but he would not carelessly attack members of the Bunun tribe.  He hoped that the Bunun tribe would take care of him, and the father agreed to this.

百步蛇 Hundred Pacer: 以後我和布農族就是朋友了!  After today I will be a friend to the Bunun tribe!
爸爸: 真是太好了!  This is really great!

7. 後來布農族人將百步蛇取名為"卡飛阿", 就是朋友的意思.  他們知道百步蛇不會主動攻擊人, 遇見時只要讓牠先走, 牠就會自動離開.  Afterward the Bunun tribe began to call the hundred pacer "Kafeiya," which means "friend."  They know that the hundred pacer will not attack people without reason, and that if you come across it you should let it go first.  It will leave of its own accord.

布農族人 Bunun Tribesman: 朋友!  你先走吧!  Friend!  You go first!

8. 擅長打獵的布農族人, 也不再捕蛇還是吃蛇肉, 還在傳統服飾和器具上以百步蛇的花紋作為主要圖案, 表示對百步蛇得愛護.  Even though the Bunun are hunters, they do not trap or eat snakes, and it is still their tradition to decorate their clothes and tools with the likeness of the hundred pacer.  This represents their love for the hundred pacer.

布農族人 Bunun Tribesman: 百步蛇是我們的好朋友喔!  The hundred pacer is our good friend!

百步蛇 Hundred Pacer:

百步蛇分步在中國南部,越南和台灣山區, 身上咖啡色的三角形紋路非常美麗, 是布農族傳統衣服上常見的圖案.  百步蛇遇到危險會把身體盤誠圓形, 抬起頭部保護自己, 遇到時小心繞過, 不要打擾牠, 就能避免被咬.  The hundred pacer can be found in southern China, Vietnam, and Taiwan.  The coffee-colored triangle pattern on their bodies is very beautiful, and it is a pattern commonly seen on Bunun clothing.  When the hundred pacer is threatened, it will coil itself up and raise its head.  When you see it you should keep your distance and not bother it.  Then you will not be bitten!