Thailungi enjoyed sitting under the loom while her mother spent hours weaving clothes.
One day, when she was sitting under the loom as usual, a street vendor passed by her house. He was loudly selling little iron balls. Wanting to buy one of those balls for Thailungi’s brother, her mother called the vendor over.
Thailungi’s mother asked the vendor if he would take her daughter in exchange for the iron ball. She told him that she would send Thailungi down to the river to fetch water and he could take her away when she returned. Thailungi overheard the conversation and wanted to run away from the house, into the woods. However, she knew that a worse life awaited her in the forest, so she let the vendor take her away.
Whenever the young boy played with the iron ball, his friends mocked him, saying that he got the iron ball by giving his elder sister away. One day, he went home and asked his mother if there was any truth to those rumors. His mother told him that the rumors were indeed true.
When he grew up, he decided to go in search of his lost elder sister. On the way, he ran into a woodcutter. He asked the woodcutter to help him find his lost sister.
‘Help me with my work for a day, and I’ll be happy to help you,’ replied the woodcutter.
The boy agreed. After completing the day’s work, the woodcutter showed him the direction where he could find his sister. Along the way, he met a man shepherding a herd of yaks. Just like the woodcutter, the man sought the boy’s help in driving the herd. Both of them traveled together to a village, where they met a beautiful woman. To the boy’s surprise, it was none other than his beloved Thailungi! The two siblings lived together in the village until they left for their heavenly abode.
Kalai is passionate about reading and reinterpreting folk tales from all over the country. Write to her at kalai.muse@gmail.com to know more about her.
Folk tale adopted and abridged from Internet Archive.