Stories – The Masalai of Lep Island

Introduction
You can listen to a recording of this story at:
http://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/stories/masalai-lep-island

This support pack contains the following materials:

 a pre-reading vocabulary activity;
 the story that you can listen to;
 two comprehension activities based on the story.

This story is produced here with the kind permission of Thomas H. Slone, who translated the original
version on the One Thousand One Papua New Guinean Nights website
(http://thslone.tripod.com/Wantok429E.html ). This site tells us something about the title:

“In Tok Pisin (the pidgin English of Papua New Guinea), a masalai is one of the following:
 A masalai can be a malevolent spirit associated with a specific location (such as a mountain) or
specific natural feature (such as a whirlpool).
 In a human-like (anthropomorphic) form, a masalai is often a large and/or ugly cannibal, similar to
an ogre."

Before you read

Activity 1
Match the words at the top to their definitions.

a. flooded b. gnashed c. malevolent

d. ogre e. paddled f. shed
g. shore h. tremble i. vine

1. a large frightening man (ogre)

2. bring teeth forcefully together when angry (gnashed)
3. causing or wanting to cause harm (malevolent)
4. climbing plant which produces grapes (vine)
5. covered with water (flooded)
6. land along the edge of the sea (shore)
7. moved a boat using a pole wide at one end (paddled)
8. shake because you are cold (tremble)
9. small wooden building for storing things (shed)

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Read the story
The Masalai of Lep Island
Story by Mike Soanin, translated by Thomas H. Slone
Long, long ago, in Manus Province, there was a
small island behind Baluan Island [Baluan-Pam
People]. This island was called Lep.
On Lep Island, there was a masalai who had
exactly ten heads. This masalai had two wives.
The three of them lived happily together on their
island. There were many kinds of foods and
fruits. Tree fruits filled the island.
There was no other person who lived on this
island. It was just the masalai, his two wives, the
animals, and the birds that lived there. The
people of the big island, Baluan, often heard
stories about Lep Island.
Many men would say, “Lep Island is just behind
Baluan. There are many kinds of foods and wild
animals there.” Sometimes, the people of Baluan
would wake up in the morning and search the
many good tree fruits that were lying about in the
grasses and areas around their houses.
They would take these fruits and eat them. The
fruits were very sweet. Some men took the fruits
and tried to plant them near their houses, but the
fruit trees did not grow well.
Many men of Baluan wanted to try to find this Lep
Island. So one day, an old man and his little boy
wanted to try. They took their canoe and paddled
off to find Lep Island.
They paddled the canoe for ten whole days.
Later, they saw a small island. They boy said,
“Hey papa, I think that’s Lep Island over there!”
The father said, “Sssshhh, don’t talk loud. It
would be bad if some man hears you and comes
to kill us.” So the two of them paddled very
quietly and went closer to this small island.
It was getting dark when they went towards the
shore of the island. They did not go up on the
beach. No, they were completely exhausted and
slept in the canoe. Late that night, they heard the
sweet bird songs of the island.
The United Kingdom’s international organisation for educational opportunities and cultural relations. We are registered in England as a charity.
Stories – The Masalai of Lep Island
Oh my! The father and son heard bird songs and
salivated [lit. “their mucus fell”] for this island.
They did not know yet that a masalai lived on this
island because they had come ashore on one
end, and the masalai lived on the other end.
In the morning, they paddled up to the beach.
They walked up the island and they gorged
themselves on fruits.
Later, the father said, “Son, let’s try to see the
other side of the island.” So they walked around
the island and came to the other side. They were
surprised to see smoke coming from a fire in the
forest.
They said, “There must be some people living
here. Let’s try to go closer and see this fire.” They
walked very quietly and went closer and they saw
two young women making a garden.
hey did not show their faces. They hid and
watched. The old father told his son, “We must
hide and see where they go."
The women finished working and got up to walk
away. The old man and the boy followed the two
women to their home. They went there and saw a
house standing there.
The old man saw the house and said, “I think that
the two women live with their husband in that
house.” But no, the two of them were married to a
masalai with ten heads, and they lived in that
house.
Later, the two women walked down to the beach
to bathe. The old man walked very quietly and
went inside the house. He heard a man breathing
heavily inside a room.
The old man wanted to go closer, but he heard
the two women returning. He sped outside and
spoke to his son. He said, “We must hide inside
the shed.” Then two of them went and hid inside
the firewood shed.
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 Stories – The Masalai of Lep Island

They stayed there quietly until it was night. They quickly? It would be bad if he found the food to be
did not sleep well that night. They tried to hear all bad, and killed and ate us."
the noises inside the house.
The women said, “We must find a way to run
In the morning, the women woke up and cooked away to another place.” The poor women did not
food. They left it there for their husband. They yet know that the old man and boy were in their
walked into the forest and continued to work in house. The two of them only knew that the
their garden. In the late afternoon, they would masalai’s food was being eaten.
return to the house.
One woman told the other, “I know a kind of vine
When the masalai woke up, he said, “Ah hah! I in the forest. Let’s take it and cook it and give it to
can smell a new kind of smell inside the house.” the masalai to drink. This liquid or soup from the
Then the ten heads got up and looked vine can kill the masalai."
everywhere inside the house.
The next morning, the women went to work in the
The masalai got up and walked around outside. garden. Later, they removed the vine from the
Oh my! When the old man and boy saw the forest and brought it back to the house. They
masalai, they gnashed their teeth and were cooked the vine with the food.
completely afraid. They trembled fiercely inside The two women did not eat that night. The
the firewood shed. masalai ate and later he gave some to the old
man and his son. They were famished and
They did not tremble quietly. The firewood finished the food right away.
trembled with them and fell about. The masalai
looked and said, “Ah hah! I think that this smell is They all slept that night. The next morning, the
in the firewood shed." masalai felt a big pain in his stomach. The poor
old man and his son had died because the poison
So the masalai asked them, “Why did you two from this vine was very strong and killed them
come here?” The old man said, “We came to quickly.
look for fish in the sea and a strong wind came
up, and the waves carried us ashore on this The ten-headed masalai cried and turned about.
island." When he called out and cried, the clouds in the
sky broke and thundered. He wanted to cry, but
The masalai listened to the old man’s story and no. A heavy rain fell. When his body trembled, all
he was sorry for them. He took the food and gave the places on the island shook with him.
it to them. Then he hid them in his room. They hid
in the masalai’s room until the afternoon. The two women looked for a place to go, but they
did not have a way to run away to another place.
The two women came back from the garden. A strong wind came up. The clouds thundered. A
They came and cooked some food. Later, they heavy rain fell. A strong earthquake shook the
served the food, leaving some for their husband. island. Then the masalai died.
They finished their food and went to sleep.
Water flooded over Lep Island. The two women,
In the morning, the two women woke up. They the ten-headed masalai, the old man and the boy
wanted to look, but no! All their food was gone. all went down into the sea with the island.
They got up and cooked again. They left some for
their husband and went back to the garden. If today you go around to the back side of Baluan
Island, you can see a small reef in the sea. On
The two women returned in the afternoon and Baluan, you can also see various kinds of good
saw that all the food was gone. Some days later, fruits and foods. People had planted these when
they saw what was happening: the food was the birds carried them from Lep Island to Baluan.
being finished very quickly. I believe that this story from the ancestors is a
true story.
They talked to each other and said, “Oh my! This
masalai is not like before. Is he getting hungry too
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 Stories – The Masalai of Lep Island

After reading

Activity 2
Decide if the following 12 statements about the story are true or false.

1. The masalai shared Lep Island with his two wives and the people of Baluan Island. (FALSE)
2. The people of Baluan Island knew about Lep Island but had never been there. (TRUE)
3. The people of Baluan Island went to get tree fruit every day. (TRUE)
4. Fruit trees did not grow as well near the houses on Baluan Island as they did further away. (TRUE)
5. The boy’s father was careful not to make too much noise as they approached Lep Island. (TRUE)
6. The boy and his father slept in their canoe because they were afraid of someone coming to kill them.
(FALSE)
7. The sound of the bird songs made the boy and his father hungry. (FALSE)
8. The boy and his father did not eat much fruit on their first morning on the island. (FALSE)
9. The boy and his father were surprised because they thought the forest was on fire. (FALSE)
10. The fire was in the garden. (FALSE)
11. The boy and his father could not see the two women’s faces. (FALSE)
12. The boy went to watch the women bathe at the beach. (FALSE)

Activity 3
Decide if the following 12 further statements about the story are true or false.

1. The man didn’t know that it was a masalai in the house. (TRUE)
2. The women cooked food for the masalai. (TRUE)
3. When the masalai woke up he could smell the food his wives had cooked. (FALSE)
4. The masalai knew where the boy and his father were because they were afraid. (FALSE)
5. The man told the masalai a lie. (FALSE)
6. The two women suspected that there were other people there. (FALSE)
7. The women poisoned the masalai because they were afraid for their safety. (TRUE)
8. The women did not eat the vine but had some other food. (TRUE)
9. The masalai had a stomach ache before the boy and his father died. (TRUE)
10. The earthquake killed the masalai. (TRUE)
11. The two women drowned. (TRUE)
12. Nothing is left of Lep Island except for a small reef. (TRUE)

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