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Writer's pictureFolkloristan

Angaya Bangaya

Updated: Dec 15, 2023



Once upon a time, there was a goat. She had two little baby goats, named Angaya and Bangaya. She used to go to the forest everyday, leaving her children in a small cave, and come back in the evening with lots of fresh grass for them. She used to block the entrance of the cave with a hollow rotten log to keep Angaya and Bangaya safe from other animals.

When she used to come back, she used to call out to them, “Angaya, Bangaya, mommy is home. I have fresh green grass and lots of milk for you. Open the door.”

The two used to push away the log to let her in. After that Angaya and Bangaya used to happily munch away at the grass and slurp down their mother’s milk.

One day, there was a jackal nearby and he heard the goat call out to her kids. He thought of a plan. After the goat left, he went to the cave and called out to the baby goats. “Angaya, Bangaya, mommy is home. I have fresh green grass and lots of milk for you. Open the door.”

“No!” he heard the reply. “You’re not mommy. Mommy has a nice, melodious voice. Your voice is hoarse. Go away!”

The jackal went away to the forest and coughed and coughed till his throat was clear. He came back to the cave and called out to Angaya and Bangaya again.

He faked a thin, soft, high-pitched voice and said, “Angaya, Bangaya, mommy is home. I have fresh green grass and lots of milk for you. Open the door.”

The children fall for the trap and open the door, only to find a jackal!

The jackal takes them away to a very high hilltop. “I live here alone, and get very bored at times. I want you both to be my friends," He tells them.

However, when they reach the hilltop, he swallows them both! In the meantime, the mother goat comes home to find the door of her house open and Angaya Bangaya missing. She frantically looks for them everywhere and asks all the other animals but no one seems to know anything. “We were out looking for food, we weren’t home. Sorry we can’t help you, we don't know anything,” everyone tells her, till she finds a black dog.

“I know! I was asleep under a tree. When I arose, I saw them accompanying the jackal. They seemed to be going to his house on the hilltop,” he told her.

The mother goat goes to the hilltop and demands that the jackal gives her children back to her.

“But I have already swallowed them! I was hungry,” he replies coldly.

“Alright then, we will fight. If I win, I am taking them out of your tummy and back home with me!” she says defiantly.

“A fight it is,” replies the jackal.

The goat goes to the blacksmith and asks him, “Dear, can you please sharpen my horns for me? The jackal has taken away my children and I have to fight him to get them back!”

“Okay, but what will you give me if you win?” he asks.

“I shall give you a bucket full of milk to take back home, dear blacksmith. Please help me.” Upon hearing this, the blacksmith happily hones her horns till they’re as sharp as a dagger!

The jackal also goes to the blacksmith.

“I need you to sharpen my teeth for me,” he says.

“What will you do for me if I sharpen your teeth for you?” the blacksmith asks.

“I shall throw you off the hilltop if I get upset with you!” the jackal replies.

Angered, the blacksmith breaks some of his teeth and makes them blunt.

Back in the forest, the goat invites everyone to the fight. All the birds sit on trees and all the animals make a ring, waiting to see who wins the fight. The jackal comes into the arena.

“You charge first,” he tells the goat.

“No, you go first,” she says.

The jackal charges at her but she dodges him quickly. On her turn to charge, she charges as fast as she can, aiming straight for the jackals belly, hitting him so hard that his tummy bursts. The jackal falls down and dies!

Thankfully, Angaya and Bangaya are still alive till then, and crawl out of his tummy. The goat and her children have a very, very happy reunion, and everyone lived happily ever after.

 

A Torwali retelling of the story uses the names "Angaag Bangaag" for the baby goats.


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