中文

The Rukai

Princess Baleng

Many of the Rukai tribe live in the dense, lush forests of the high mountains in Pingtung’s Wutai area. It is said that there, in the deepest mountains, the clouded leopard and the Formosan black bear still roam freely in the wild. No wonder the Rukai call themselves the “Children of the Clouded Leopard”.

Beautiful Baleng was born into the chief’s family, and she grew up to be an accomplished weaver. At the end of day, Baleng would often watch the women return from work under the slanted rays of the setting sun. They were balancing bamboo baskets on their heads, and Baleng would listen to their singing. Soon she was also humming their tunes, and the sound of her voice was echoing beautifully in the mist-covered mountains and valleys.

One day, Baleng wanted to follow the women up into the mountains, but she got lost in the woods. Suddenly, she heard the sound of a nose flute coming from afar, and following the sound she found a handsome young man. He told her, “I am from the Snake Tribe. Our ancestors violated a taboo, and therefore we were cursed and turned into a tribe of snakes. Since you are able to see me in my original shape, this means that you will become my wife.” After that, Baleng would frequently go up the mountains to meet her snake lover. When they sang together, even the birds were spellbound, and even the orchids would smile.

A day came when a group of people appeared outside Baleng’s house, loudly singing a song of wooing. They were all fine upstanding young man, but to Baleng’s family they just looked like a bunch of hundred-pacer snakes. But Baleng insisted that she had to marry her snake lover, and in the end her parents had to give their consent, even though it grieved them very much. Baleng was crying in her mother’s arms, reluctant to part with her family.

The day arrived for the bridegroom to fetch his bride, and the members of the Snake Tribe showed up in great numbers and formidable array. Their elders were chanting wedding songs, and they brought a lot of gifts as bride price, which Baleng’s family accepted. Her mother, tears in her eyes, had dressed her daughter in the most wonderful attire. Baleng looked like a beautiful fairy among her sisters, and friends from childhood, who served as her bridesmaids. Her younger sister washed her feet, while her older sister adorned her hair with lilies, and her mother helped her to put on the finery of glazed beads, a family heirloom. Her father kept reminding her not to bring shame on the family, “Never forget that we have always been honest, upright people, so don’t do anything to bring disgrace our clan and our ancestors!” Then he put his daughter’s hand in the bridegroom’s.

Dusk was falling, and earth was growing dark as Baleng, still accompanied by her own family, arrived at the shore of the Ghost Lake, far up in the deepest mountains. Then Baleng bid her parents farewell, “My dear father, my dear mother, I will guard and protect this place. I will make sure that when you come here to hunt, you will never go back home with empty hands. But remember, when the prey turns out to be icy cold, do not take it back with you.” Then Baleng followed her husband, the snake man, into the lake. After a few days, lilies were growing everywhere on the lake’s shore.

To this day, the Rukai like to wear a lily in their hair in memory of their beloved Princess Baleng.

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