In far bygone days, there was a widow who had three daughters. The girls lived in a tiny house in the forest.
A tiger was also in the forest and watched out for the girls, hoping to hunt them down.
One day, the mother said to the girls, ‘I’ll go out to look for food. Don’t go out and don’t let anyone in.’ Then she set off.
The tiger saw the mother leave. An hour later, the tiger went to the house and knocked on the door. One of the girls, Ma Gyi, went to the door and asked,
‘Who is it?’
‘This is me, your mother,’ replied the tiger.
‘May I see your eyes? Why are your eyes so red?’ enquired Ma Gyi.
‘I was worried about you and cried on the way home,’ answered the tiger.
‘May I see your hands? Why are your hands so big and dirty?’
The tiger replied, ‘I helped with planting on a farm and so my hands became dirty.’
The girls unwisely opened the door and then ran away and climbed a tree while the tiger chased them.
The tiger asked, ‘How can I climb up?’
Ma Gyi gave a tricky response, ‘Pour oil onto the tree.’
The tiger went back to the house, brought some oil and poured it onto the tree. However, it could not climb up the tree as it was so slippery.
Then Ma Gyi’s sister, Ma Nge shouted, ‘Chop the tree down with an axe.’
The tiger got an axe and started to chop the tree down. The girls were very fearful and cried out to the Lord of the Sky to save them.
The Lord of the Sky sent down a basket and a rope and the girls went up into the sky. The tiger made the same request and climbed into another basket going up into the sky. However, the rope was old and finally broke and the tiger fell to the ground and died.
The girls became as fairies of the Sun, Moon and Stars.