“The Legend of U Raitong, The Khasi Orpheus”

 In this episode we tell a tragic story of forbidden love and dire consequences- “The Legend of U Raitong” as described by Mrs. K.U. Rafy in her 1920 collection “Folk-Tales Of The Khasis.”

All Music and Audio Production by Bob Familiar

Narration by Jim Billbrough

While researching this story we found two more recent translations of “U Manik Raitong” by contemporary Khasi authors, both of which are worth checking out:

“Khasi Myths, Legends & Folk Tales” by Bijoya Sawian

(No direct link to the story on Google Books, but open the Table of Contents and follow the link to “U Manik Raitong”)

https://www.google.com/books/edition/Khasi_Myths_Legends_Folk_Tales/Unr2BEAEezoC?hl=en

…and

“U Manik Raitong” by Kynpham Sing Nongkynrih from his book “Around the Hearth: Khasi Legends”

U Manik Raitong - Monash Indigenous Studies Centre

  Apologies to the Khasi people for any mispronunciation of Khasi names or places in this episode. To balance things out we mispronounced some English words as well.