教育部國民及學前教育署
辦理109學年度引進外籍英文教師計畫
國立臺東高級中學
外師自編英語教材
Course Material for NTSH Aboriginal Arts English Classes
作者: Charlie Taylor
Table of contents
Ten Suns (Amis)……………….……………………………………………………………………….3
Pali’s Red Eyes (Paiwan)……….………………………………………………………………………..5
Baleng: The Snake Bride (Rukai)……………………………………………………7
Arunayan and Arupuwan (Pinuyumayan)…………………………………………………………10
The Abandoned Child (Tao)…………………………………………………………………11
The Angry Hundred Pace Snake (Bunun)………………………………………………………….12
Ten Suns (An Amis folk tale)
Once upon a time, there were ten suns in the sky. The Amis people were too hot. All the rivers dried up. There was no water to drink, and no food would grow. The people almost died. The men said they would shoot down the suns with arrows.
The Amis men left the village. They were gone a long time. They tried very hard, but they could not shoot down the suns. People in the village did not know where the men were. The suns were still hot, and there were no men to help grow food.
A woman named Laya said: “Since the men could not shoot down the suns, the women must catch the suns.”
Laya and the other Amis women were good at weaving. They made a net as tall as the sky and as wide as the Earth. Then they climbed to the top of the trees and waited for the suns to go down. As the suns went down, the women caught seven of them. The other three suns were scared, and they asked the women not to catch them.
Laya said to the suns: “If you want to stay in the sky, you must not all be in the sky at the same time, or it will be too hot.”
So, one sun would light the sky during the day, another became the moon, and the other one blew itself up and became the stars.
After this, the food grew, the rivers flowed, and Amis people had a good life. The Amis men thought the women were very smart. The men said they would always listen to the women in the future.
(This story is adapted by Charlie Taylor from the NTTU publication 原住民文化英語教材. It is used with permission from the publisher.)
Reading Comprehension
1. Why was it difficult for the Amis people to live in “Ten Suns”?
A. There was no water
B. Too many men got killed
C. The women were too smart
2. Which traditional skill helped the Amis women capture the ten suns?
A. Archery
B. Weaving
C. Fishing
3. Who helped the Amis catch the suns?
A. Yala
B. One of the men
C. Laya
4. Which of the below is NOT true according to the story of ten suns?
A. The stars were once a sun
B. Men saved the Amis people
C. Only seven suns were captured
Discussion Questions
- Do women and men do different jobs in your family? What do the men do, and what do the women do?
- Do you think women are better at some things than men? What things?
- Who has the best ideas in your family?
- This story is about how we got one sun, a moon, and the stars. Are there any stories from your tribe that explain how we got these things?
- Do you think men should always ask women for advice when they make decisions?
- What do you do to stay cool in the summer?
Readers’ Theater
Suns: Haha. There are ten of us. We are so hot.
Men and Women: It is too hot. There is no water and we cannot grow any food!
Men: Don’t worry. We will shoot down the sun.
Women: Please hurry!
Men: (Trying to shoot sun) Oh no! We cannot shoot the sun, it is too difficult.
Suns: Haha. You will never shoot me down.
Women: The men are taking too long. Where are they? We will make a giant net to catch the suns!
(Finish the script and perform a play.)
Pali’s Red Eyes—A Paiwan folktale
Pali was a boy who had red eyes. He killed every living thing including plants, animals and even humans, the moment he saw them. Because they were afraid for their lives, people from his village always ran away from him. He was very lonely.
One day, he heard some other children playing. He covered his eyes with his belt and went to play with them. He laughed when he heard them laughing, but the children wondered why he had his eyes covered. When Pali told them the truth, they were scared and ran away. Pali was alone again. He began to cry. Then a boy named Balan asked Pali if they could play together. Pali happily agreed. After that, Balan visited Pali at night every day to play. Since they always played in the dark, Pali could not see Balan but only heard Balan’s voice, so Balan was safe.
Pali said he wanted to see his friend and the rest of the world. Balan wanted to help his friend. He had an idea. He took a piece of thin film from some bamboo and put it over Pali’s eyes. This way, Pali could see the world without killing anything. When Balan took Pali home, all the villagers ran away and hid in their houses.
When the villagers heard Pali could not hurt them, they were not scared anymore. Pali also helped the villagers beat their enemies by taking the film off his eyes and looking at them.
One day, Pali and the children from the village went to play in a valley. It was a hot day so all the children jumped into the river to cool off. Waiting on the river bank, Pali fell asleep under a tree. But while he was sleeping a wasp came over and carried away the bamboo strip that was covering his eyes. When he woke up and opened his eyes, all the plants and the children he saw were killed. Only a couple of children who had been catching shrimp in the water were safe. When they saw what happened, they ran back to the village.
The angry villagers chased Pali away and made him live in the mountains by himself. Pali was lonely, but Balan who would bring him food. One day, some enemies from another village imitated Balan’s voice and lured Pali out of his house. Pali thought the enemies were Balan, so he did not look at them, and they killed him.
When Balan found out that Pali had been killed, he buried Pali’s body in the mountains.
One day, Balan saw a big betel nut tree standing right in the place he had buried Pali. The fruit on the tree was large and red. When he touched the tree and heard Pali’s voice, Balan knew that Pali had become that betel nut tree, and that his red eyes had become the red fruit on the tree. When the villagers heard about the betel nut fruit, they came to collect the fruit that had fallen to the ground and planted it around their houses back in the village. When the seeds grew into trees and bore fruit, the villagers’ enemies became frightened and bypassed the village. After that, the Paiwan people decided never to pick any betel nut but to let the fruit grow old and red because they knew that Pali’s red eyes would protect their tribe.
(This story is adapted by Charlie Taylor from the NTTU publication 原住民文化英語教材. It is used with permission from the publisher.)
Comprehension Questions:
1. Why were the people afraid of Pali?
2. How did Balan cover Pali’s eyes?
3. Who killed Pali, and how did they do it?
4. Why is the fruit of the betel nut tree red?
Discussion Questions:
1. Have you ever hurt somebody by accident?
2. What would you do if you were Balan? What if you were Pali?
3. Do you like Pali and Balan? Why or why not?
4. Do you think it was a good idea for Balan to be friends with Pali? Why?
5. How do you describe the relationship between Pali and other people in the Paiwan?
6. Do you know any stories from other cultures about betel nut?
Baleng, the snake bride: A Rukai folktale
A long time ago, a chief of the Rukai had a beautiful daughter named Baleng. Her tenderness and incredible beauty earned her a good reputation amongst the villagers.
Every year, when the millet harvest was over, young men and women in the village celebrated with each other. The men brewed millet wine and made millet cakes and carried them to the women’s houses.
Since Baleng was by far the most popular woman of all the Rukai, her house quickly filled up with men who wanted to marry her, but Baleng never fell in love with any of these men.
One year, during the millet harvest festival, when everybody was singing and dancing late into the night, a light breeze came from a crack in a stone wall and was accompanied by the sound of a bamboo flute.
When the music stopped, a cold wind started blowing. Most of the guests were scared and ran out of the house. Then, a giant snake appeared and slithered toward Baleng.
To Baleng, the snake looked like a handsome young man. She immediately fell in love with him. The snake was actually the king of the Dalupalhing snake tribe, which lived in the nearby Dalupalhing Lake.
A few days later, a big storm came. The people from Baleng’s village saw all the members of the Dalupalhing Tribe bring their king to Baleng’s house. They all looked like snakes.
The snake king said he wanted to marry Baleng, and she happily agreed. Many people celebrated the wedding and then walked to the lake. Then, Baleng and the Daluphaling disappeared into the lake.
After many years, Baleng missed her people very much, so she told her parents that her two children would visit them soon. The next day, Baleng’s parents saw two little snakes sleeping on the window.
They brought meat and wine and prepared a feast for their grandchildren. From then on, Baleng’s children and grandchildren visited the village often.
One day, a woman who didn’t know Baleng’s story saw some snakes sleeping in her baby’s cradle. She was so scared that she tipped the cradle over and all the snakes fell to the ground.
Baleng was upset and spoke to all the villagers in their dreams.
“I will no longer send my children to visit you because you’ve forgotten me,” she said. “When you see an egret flying above the village, remember that it represents my memory of you.”
The Rukai villagers tried to say sorry to Baleng, but it did not work. Baleng’s children never appeared again. However, when the people saw an egret flying in the sky, they were reminded that Baleng would always love and care about them.
(This story is adapted by Charlie Taylor from the NTTU publication 原住民文化英語教材. It is used with permission from the publisher.)
Comprehension Questions:
1. What was most famous about Baleng?
A. She was tender.
B. She was beautiful.
C. Both of the above
2. What did NOT happen before the snake king appeared?
A. There was a light breeze.
B. A stone wall broke into half.
C. There came the sound of a bamboo flute.
3. What did the Rukai men prepare at the end of a millet festival?
A. Millet wine and cakes
B. Flowers
C. Instant noodles
4. Which description is true about what happened to Baleng in the story?
A. She had no interest in any suitor from her village.
B. The snake king took her away by force.
C. The villagers never heard from her again after the wedding day.
5. What are the signs of Baleng’s care for her people?
A. The leaves of a banyan tree
B. An egret in the sky
C. Red betel nut fruit
Discussion Questions:
1. Baleng talks to the Rukai in their dreams. Do you think you can talk to people in your dreams? Have you ever had messages from somebody in your dreams?
2. Baleng sees a handsome man, but he is actually a snake. Do you know anyone who has fallen in love with somebody who is not what he or she seems?
3. Would you move far away from your family to get married?
4. Have you ever been away from your family for a long time? Did you miss them? How did you stay in touch?
5. This is the story of a woman falling in love with an animal. Are there any stories from your tribe that are similar?
Arunayan and Arupuwan (A Pinuyumayan folktale)
Thousands of years ago, there was a pair of brothers who lived in a Pinuyumayan village in Taitung. They were called Arunayan and Arupuwan.
One day, a snake tried to hurt their sister.
“Go away from our sister,” they said.
In order to save their sister, they accidentally killed the snake. This was a taboo (禁忌) in their tribe, so they could not live with their tribe anymore. If they stayed, they would bring bad luck.
After walking alone for a long time, the two brothers were thirsty and hungry. They found an Amis village called Laraos. The Laraos were enemies of the Pinuyumayan, but they planted a lot of delicious sugar cane. Arunayan and Arupuwan were so hungry that they decided to steal some sugar cane to eat. The brothers stole the sugar cane. The Laraos found them eating sugar cane.
The older brother, Arunayan, was tall and could run quickly. He ran away, but Arupuwan could not run fast. He was caught by the Laraos.
The Laraos took Arupuwan away, and locked him in a house.
Arunayan wanted to save his brother, so he made a kite out of pieces of rattan (藤). He tied it to a big rock on the top of Fuyuan (Dulan) Mountain. The kite flew high up in the sky. The sound was loud. The Laraos people all came outside to see what was making the noise. Arupuwan was also quite smart. He decided to trick the Laraos people.
“I know how to catch the kite, but you have to let me out,” said Arupuwan.
The Laraos believed it was true and let Arupuwan out. The older brother saw the younger brother approaching the kite. He flew the kite down low, so the younger brother quickly grabbed the kite and flew away from the Laraos.
(As told by Peilin.)
Questions:
1. Do you know of any taboos from other cultures?
2. Do you think it is ok to steal food if you are very hungry?
3. Have you ever stolen anything?
4. The two brothers in the story get in trouble for helping their sister, and later Arunayan saves his brother from the Laraos. Do you and your brothers and sisters help each other? How?
5. Do you believe in bad luck?
The Abandoned Child: A Tao Folktale
Once upon a time, a Tao woman had a baby, but she was not married. She was embarrassed because the baby had no father. She worried the other people in the village would think she was bad, so she did not want anybody to know. She asked her mother to take the baby far away from her village and leave him in the woods.
In another part of the village lived an old couple who had always wanted a baby, but had never been able to have one. The old man was on his way through the woods to go to his boat, when he heard a baby crying in the woods.
When he saw the baby boy, he was happy and took him home.
The man’s wife was also happy. They thought the baby was a gift to them.
The old couple decided to raise the baby as their own. When the baby grew up, he helped his parents by fishing and working in the fields.
The children in the village made fun of him and said he was not the real child of his parents, and that he was found in the forest. This made him sad and angry, but he did not believe them. Whenever he went home and asked his mother about it, she would tell him that he was her real child.
One day a strange woman came to him when he was working in the fields, and said that she was his real mother. He was confused.
He asked his mother again, and finally she told him the truth.
The man decided to hold a feast to honor his parents. He slaughtered a pig and a goat and invited all his friends and family to the feast. He also invited his birth mother, but only gave her the smallest portion. He gave the biggest and fattest parts of the meat to the old man and old woman who had raised him.
(Adapted by Charlie Taylor from the series Indigene: Meaning through Stories.)
Questions:
- What do you think of the birth mother’s behavior?
- What would you do if you found a baby in the woods?
- Do you think it was right for the young man to invite his birth mother to the feast? Was it right to give here the smallest portion? What was he trying to show?
- Do you think it is important to honor your parents? How do you honor them?
- Do you like feasts? What is the best feast you have ever had?
- What are some reasons for feasting in your culture?
The Angry Hundred Pace Snake (A Bunun folktale)
Long ago, there was a Bunun man named Pima, and a woman named Qabus. They loved each other very much. Qabus wanted to weave some beautiful clothes for Pima. She thought the pattern on the Hundred Pace Snake was the most beautiful. She found a snake and asked her if she could borrow one of her babies to use as a pattern.
The snake agreed, but only if Qabus promised to give her baby back after seven days.
Qabus finished the clothes after a few days. When her neighbors saw the clothes, they all wanted to borrow the snake to weave beautiful clothes for their men.
Soon, all the women in the village wanted to borrow the snake. They had a fight, and they accidentally killed the baby snake.
After seven days, the mother snake came to the Bunun village to get her baby, but Qabus lied to her and told her to come back the next day. After a few days, the snake mother realized that her baby was dead, and she was very angry.
One night, during a typhoon, many Hundred Pace Snakes came into the village. They bit many of the people while they were sleeping. Most of them died.
The snakes kept biting the Bunun people whenever they saw them. More than half of the Bunun people were killed.
Finally, the Bunun people decided to kill the Hundred Pace Snakes. The Bunun people fought with the Hundred Pace Snakes for many years. Many people and snakes died.
Finally, the Bunun people and the Hundred Pace Snakes decided they should stop fighting. The snakes said the Bunun people could use their pattern on their clothes, and the Bunun people would respect the snakes. Ever since then, they lived in peace with one another. Now, the Bunun people have two words for the Hundred Pace Snake: “Gavit”, which means “be warned”, and “Kaviaz”, which means “friend”.
(Adapted by Charlie Taylor from the series Indigene: Meaning through Stories)
Comprehension Questions:
1. Why did Qabus want to borrow the snake’s baby?
2. Why did Qabus lie to the mother snake?
3. Why was the mother snake so angry?
4. Why did the Bunun people and the snakes stop fighting?
Discussion Questions
1. Was it a good idea to borrow the baby snake? Why or why not?
2. We have read other stories about snakes. Do you know any more?
3. Do you often see snakes? How do you feel when you see one? What do you do when you see one?
