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THE STRANGE TWINS
A long time ago there lived near Papar a woman who gave birth to twins. One of the two babies was not like a human being. It had a long neck and claws instead of hands. It moved sideways like a crab. It ate many things and sucked in more milk than his mother had. After his mother had fed him his body became big and swollen in size, but there was no warmth in it; even the coldest animal was not as cold as that. This twin caused much harm to the other twin who had the shape of human being, who lost much of his strength because of his unhuman brother. After some years the twins had grown up. Their father and mother were fond of both their children. one morning their mother went our and sat on a dry log with her hands between her knees. She was very weak and her face looked very tired, and then she died there. After the mother had died, the father was very sad. He knew that the death of his wife was due to the unhuman twin who has caused injury to her. He would have killed that son if he had dared to do so. It was the custom that if twins were born and the mother died the children should be taken to the forest and left there to die. He loved his children and did not want to kill them. So he followed the custom and took the children to a big cave, which people say is near the railway tunnel near Papar, but has never been found. The twins lived together in the cave and their father died too. Before his death he talked to them for the last time and asked the human one to obey his brother because their life was the same. If one died, both of them would die. Moreover, he had only little strength and needed the help of his unhuman brother. Some years later they had both grown up, and they knew what was good and bad. They went out to find their own daily food. The unhuman one remembered his father's words and helped the other twin in health and sickness. The human one died when he was still quite young and the other twin lived to a very great age.
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