誰もはっきりわからない程、昔の話。私達は石器時代の賢いサルがどうやって私達のようになったか知っているつもりです。今や私達は集団になり私達が手にする快楽や創造物が私達を犯し始めています。ムラブリの話は不思議な理由で歴史に残りませんでした。化石化した場所で三十年前に発見されたばかりで以前の彼らは架空の存在もしくはおばけでした。　Nobody knows exactly what happened once upon a time. We somehow know how the intelligent apes in the Stone age evolved into you and me. We built nations, we invented things that gives us pleasure and created things that destroy us. The story I was told is that of the Mlabri, a tribe that for mysterious reason were left out of all this history. These living fossils were exposed to the world only 30years ago, before that they where fictitious or better they where ghosts
　ムラブリの意味は森の人。彼らはラオスのサヤブ県とタイのナン県プレーの森で不当な生活をしています。僅かな生き残りが存在するのみです。彼らは野生動植物を採取収集していました。葉っぱの対角な屋根のシンプルな小屋に住み寝るときは動物の接近にそなえ片耳を地面につけて寝ます。彼らの黄色の屋根はその地域の食物から作られ次の縄張りでは新しく小屋をつくります。　Mlabri means Forest People, they lived a raw life in the jungles of Phrae and nan provinces in North Thailand and Sayabri Province in Lao. Their existence was limited to survival. They where hunters, gatherers and collectors; hunted wild animals and collected wild vegetation. They lived in simple huts; a diagonal roof made out of leaves. Always slept with an ear firmly on the ground so that they would hear wild animals approach. By the time the leaf of their houses yellowed they would have cleared the area from food so they would move on to the next patch of forestbouilt new huts and start the cycle again
　ムラブリを原始の世界と呼ぶのは大袈裟ではありません。彼らはネイティブアメリカンやオーストラリアのアボリジニよりも前だと言われています。彼らがとても初歩的なのは音楽なし踊りなし服を着ない、そして文化が無いからです。不思議なのはどうやってそれ程長い間孤立してきたのか、そして何処からやって来たのか、、　 Calling the Mrabri primitive would not be an exaggeration. They far more backwards than the Native Americans or the Aborigines in Australia. They where so rudimental that they had no music, dance, wore no cloths and had no culture what so ever. It's a mystery how they managed to isolate themselves for so long but an even bigger mystery is their origin
　彼らは彼らの事を知りません。文字は書かれた事がなく彼らの知っている物語りは焚き火の周りで聞いた事だけです。言語はクメールモン族からと言われていますが、ムラブリについては他にも色々な神話があります。ある人は彼らは人から逃げた、だから進化できなかったといいます。ある人は彼らはアンコール朝から逃げた人々だと信じています。ジャングルでのサバイバルは原始的な生活に戻らなくてはなりません。世界は進化しムラブリは退化した様に。　They themselves don't know, as their language was never written, the only history they know is stories they hear around camp fires. What is proven is that their language belongs to the wider Khmer-Mon group of languages. But there are various myths about the Mlabri origins. Some say that their reserved characters made them run away from other people so they managed to miss evolution. Others believe that they ran away from the civilised world during the wars of the great Angkor Era. To survive in the jungle they had to go back to a primitive way of living. As the world evolved forward the Mlabri evolved backwards
　他の世界の人はこの人達について何も知りませんでした。存在の証明としてそこには見捨てられた黄色の小屋が残されているだけです。タイ人はムラブリのことを見ることができないと信じていましたが存在は感じていたのでお化けだと思っていました。実際に『 ピートンルアン黄色い葉の精霊 』として知られていました。 The Outside world knew nothing about these pople, their only proof of existence where the abandoned yellow leaf huts in the forest, Since the Thai believe in spirits and the Mlabri where never to be seen, but their presence felt, they were considered ghosts. In fact until few years ago the Mlabri where known as "Phi Tong Leuang" Ghost of the Yellow Leafs
　他に不思議な事実はムラブリの人口は３００～５００人。有難いことに彼らは息つく暇もない忙しさで家族ごとの名前をつけ清潔健康に保っています。結婚やまれにある離婚を見ていると彼らが平和主義だということが解ります。彼らの問題解決は正しい時に静かに行われます。もし誰かが隣人と議論を始めれば誰かが小屋を分解します、それで単純に解決。　 Another curious fact is that the mlabri's population ranged between 300 and 500 persons. Thanks to a complex way of family names they managed to keep the tribe healthy clean from inbreathing complications. This is quite extra ordinary when you consider that they married and divorced several times. They are peaceful people, their way of solving problems is by backing away in silence at the right time. If there is an argument between neighbours one of them simply dismantles the hut and moves elsewhere in peace; end of story
　ゲリラ戦争がアジアを形づくった７０年代ムラブリの生活も変わりました。戦争が終わったのが１９８５年ジャングルで狩りをしすぎた為、動植物がいなくなります。それを糧にしていたムラブリは去りました。チーク産業は森を縞模様にしムラブリは初めて今までの生息地から"文明化された世界"へ強制移動させられました。 　The guerilla wars that shaped Asia in the 70's also changed the mlabri way of life. When the war ended around 1985 the jungle where over hunted and the animals that fed the Mlabri where gone. The teak industry stripped forests from their trees and for the first time the Mlabri where forced out of their usual habitat and into the "civilized"world
　森の量子は急激に減少しました。おばけも今では普通の人ですが自分たちの星で宇宙人扱いされています。最後のムラブリの一人がジャングルを去ったのが９０年の初頭その時どれだけ彼らを怯えさせたでしょう。彼がタイ人の手のトーチを見た時、太陽をつかまえている男が来たと思ったことでしょう。彼らの無経験と純真さが暗い搾取の悪習へと導きました。　 The step out of the forest was aquantum leap. The ghosts were now people; aliens in their own planet. One of the last Mlabri to leave the jungle, in the early 90's, recalls how rerrorised he was when he saw a Thai holding a torch light in his hand bacause thought the man was holding the sun. Their inexperience and naivness led them to a dark period of abuse and exploitation
　獲物なし農耕知識なし、彼らは新しい意味のサバイバルに晒されます。最初、モン族がに有利になり彼らを支配しました。自分達の畑で働かせ食物を与えたのです。普通ムラブリは働く前に食べます。モン族が与えたのは属国へのチケットでした。もう働くだけ奴隷の刻印が濃くなっていきます。働くのに必要な食料は働かないと貰えません。彼らは罠にかかったのです。人になろうとした"おばけ"は、ゆっくりと奴隷の身分に沈んでいきます。守る事の意味を知らずに対立を避けるべく全てを犠牲にした様に、、、 　With no animals left to hunt and no knowledge of farming they where forced to find new means of surviving. H'mong tribes where the first to take advantage, they forced them to work their lands in exchange of food. Since the Mlabri where used to eat before they worked, the first pig the H'mong gave them was their ticket to economic dependency. They were forced to work far too hard to pay back the initial pig. The food they needed to fuel all that work, meant more work. They where trapped; The ghosts who had become people, now where slowly sinking into slavery, with no means to defend themselves, as they avoid conftontation at all price
　ムラブリは散って絶滅しかかっていました。そこへ企画者が彼らに見世物としてお金を払いたいと申し出たのですが首長族の様にはいきませんでした。そしてムラブリは分解崩壊して伝説になるところでした。『 黄色い葉の精霊 』として。　 The Mlabri where being dispersed and their tribe faced extinction. An attempt to keep them together was made by travel agencies who wanted to pay them, to go back in the forest as a tourist attraction but unlike the Karen (Longneck tribe) this idea didn't catch up. The Mlari Tribe was disintegrating and soon they would become a legend: The ghosts of the yellow leafs
　ベトナム・アメリカ戦は平原の大きなマーケティングの様でした。何年間かの統治期間はアジアが世界のヘッドラインニュースを賑わせました。戦争が終わっても侵入者が、ごみをそのままにして帰っていきました。大陸は壊れ国は分けられ混乱と貧困が支配しました。中国とソ連の共産主義がこの地区を洗い大きな混乱をつくりました。　 The Vietnam/US war was a like a big marketing campain, for years the reign made headline news and Asia was the talk of town. Once the war was over and the invaders returned to their rich countries they left behind a mess. The continent was shattered, countries divided, confusion and poverty reigned. The communists made a bigger mess when they white washed the area with red ideologies from China and USSR
　色々な宗教の宣教師が次の侵入者です。中には素晴らしい仕事をした人もいれば間違った国境線へ経済のブラックメールを彼らに無理強いして大きな論争を引き起こしたりしました。 １９８０年　尊敬すべきプロテスタントミッショナリー、ユウジンロングがフロリダから家族とともにこの聖戦のためタイにやってきました。五年後 彼はムラブリの暗い未来を知ってしまい助けることを決心します。幸運にもユウジンのやり方は他の洗脳という方法ではありませんでした。（キリスト十二使徒の一人”アンデレ”、アンデレプロテスタントでは牧師や主任司祭ではなく、彼等は"リベレンド　師”と　呼びます,そして神父でもありません）　Missionaries from many different religions and country's where the next to invede. Some of them did great work, but others ceated major controversy, by trying to impose their values and life style on their flooks, sometime using doubtfull methods bordering on economic black-mail.　 In 1980 reverend Eugene Long a Protestant missionary from Florida left the States together with his wife and child to join this crusade in Thailand. After five years he learnt about the Mlabri and the dark future, he decided to help. Luckily Eugene Long was not one of those missionaries who were just interested in the brainwashing goals, rev.Eugene was different. (Andrew,protestant pastors or preachers (not "Priests" ) and they are called "Reverend" (Rev.) and not "Father" (Fr.)
　他の宣教師の様ではなくユウジンは純粋に助けたかったのです。作戦が次の段階に移るたびに人を救うのは彼の家族にとって増々重要なこととなっていきます。二十年間もがきました。最初ムラブリの信用を得るのは簡単ではありませんでした。彼らの言葉を覚え彼が何者なのかを伝えるのに、それだけで何年もかかりました。それに人々は変化を嫌がり色々な邪魔が始まります。人々は皆、悪口を始めます。危険な場面を辛うじて免れた事が数度ありました。とりわけ政府は最初ロングが貧しい精霊といったい何をやっているのか理解できず懐疑的でした（タイランドは上座仏教）政府はこの時まだ "人" とは認めておらず学校教育や身分証明書の発行を拒んでいました。最終的に政府がタイ国民と認めるまでユウジンロングは二十年間もの間、無常な院外からの圧力と戦ったのです。　 Unlike Other missions who were threathening the tribal way of living, Eugene genuinely wanted to help. Missioning had to take second place, helping the tribe was more important to him and his family. For the next twenty years they faced an uphill struggle on many front. To start with it was not easy to gain the Mlabri's trust. It took him many years, and leaning their language to really be accepted by them for what he was. Then the surrounding villages were not happy to loose their cheap labour, and put all kind of obstacles in his way. Bad words were spoken, threats made and in some moments violence barely avoided. Especially in the beginning the Long family also faced a lot of scepticism from the government, who could not understand why the Longs were bothering with those poor spirits. In those times the government treated the mlabri tribe as "non persons", and refused to accept them in school, or to issue them Identification papers or birth certificates. It took the Long almost 20 years and relentless lobbiying untill the government finally agreed to accept them as Thai citizens
　最初の年、ロングはムラブリ語を理解するのに長い時間を費やしましたが今では幾つかの大きなプロジェクトでも疎通がとれるようになりました。彼らの住んでいた場所は全ての木が切られむき出しの状態でした。彼らは全ての土地を一緒に牧歌を響かせ植林を始めました。全ての民に公正なお金が支払われたのはこの時が始めてです。大きな学校が建てられユウジンロングと彼の家族が教えることに成りました。面白かった事の一つに最初はとても限界が低いのですが何か楽しいことであれば学んでくれることに彼は気づきます。例えば今、彼らが稼いでいるお金を数えることなどは楽しんでやります。ユウジンの努力は彼らから奉納を避けさせる事に向けられました。魚の池、豚小屋が建ち、にわとりは村を歩き回り米は他の作物と一緒に植えられています。そしてゆっくりと私達へ普通に接してくれる様になりました。彼らにとっては全てが異質で時々怖くなりますが魅力的でもあります。例えば車に乗ったりシャツを買ったりランプをつけたり排水パイプを直したり、そして他にも現代の玩具　カメラ、テレビ、冷蔵庫や電話。驚きの連続でしょう。　 In the first years of their mission the Longs went to great length to learn the Mlabri language perfectly.　Now that they were able to communicate with the Mlabri they started with some larger project's. The land on which they were living, was bare, all trees had been cut. They reforesrted the whole area together, with an ecologically sound mixed forest. This provided work for the whole tribe and a fair salary was paid to them for the first time. A large school-house was built, and Eugene Long and his family took turns at teaching them. The interest among the tribes people for schooling was very limited at the beginning, but as they realized that they could learn interesting thing, such as counting the money they now earned, they came to join the coures. A big part of Eugene's efforts was also dedicated to finding alternative way's for the Mlabri to make a living. Fish ponds and pig pen's were errected, chickens starded to roam the village, and rice was planted together with other crop's. And very slowly the tribe was discovering the things that are so normal to us, but were totally foreigh and often scary but also fascinating to the Mlabri. Things like riding in car, buying a shirt, switchig on a lamp or fixing a waterpipe, but also coming to grips with all those modern toys such as camera's, TV's, refrigerator's and telephones. New surprises everyday
　この仕事は牧師の標準では最も成功したとは言えませんが、はっきりしていることは社会的に独立したプロジェクトが発展してるということ。彼は彼のステイタスを悪用しません。すべての民族が奴隷から解放され独立することをマネージしていますが、これらの生活スタイル信念を尊重し決して無理強いはしません。ムラブリは今まで日付を付けた事がありません のでカウンセリングガイドを申し出ました。身元を保存でき新しい現実へ向かう為の手助けをする石器時代から２１世紀へ世界で一番大きく時間を越える人達の紳士的なガイドなのです。　 Eugene works might not be the most successful mission in ecclesiastic standards but certainly a successful developing and social project. Eugen never abushed of his statues; he managed to get the whole tribe together, away from slavery, independent from other tribes. He respected this independence, lifestyle and beliefs and never imposed anything on them, not even his own religion. None of the Mlabri has been converted to date. (please confirm this fact) He offered counselling and guided them, he helped them preserve their identity and manage their way through their new reality. He was the gentle guide for the world's biggest leap from Stone Age to the 21st century.
　現在、プレー県バンボーンユエン村のムラブリだけがハンモックを制作しています。同じ数程居るとされるナン県のムラブリは存在が危ぶまれており政府と協調し彼等とも結果の予測出来ないハンモック制作を試みたいと考えています、、、、、　At this time, the only Mlabri people who are making hammocks are the ones who live in Ban Bunyuen in Phrae Province. There is another settlement of Mlabri people in Nan Province, with a population roughly equal to those in Ban Bunyuen. We are hopeful that the hammock making venture will soon be extended to them as well, contingent on government cooperation.