John Shakespear

“ If he were not obliged to sleep, there would be no death, nor would mankind be afflicted with illness. It is when he rests that the snake carries us off to this day. Well, he was at his wit's end, so at last he got up early one morning and first made a dog and put life into it, and that night, when he had finished the images, he set the dog to watch them, and when the snake came, the dog barked and frightened it away. This is the reason at this day that when a man is dying the dogs begin to howl; but I suppose God sleeps heavily now-a-days, or the snake is bolder, for men die all the same. ”

“ At the marriage, our Chief called all the animals to help to cut a road through the jungle, to God's house, and they all gladly gave assistance to bring home the bride,—all save the sloth (the húlúq monkey is his grandson) and the earth-worm; and on this account they were cursed, and cannot look on the sun without dying. The cave whence man first came out is in the Lhoosai country close to Vanhuilen's village, of the Burdaiya tribe; it can be seen to this day, but no one can enter. If one listens outside, the deep notes of the gong and the sound of men's voices can still be heard. ”

“ If I can marry her without paying anything, I'll restore her to life." Then she repeated it, and the chief said,—"If he can restore her to life, call him down, he shall marry her," he said. Then she called him down, and he restored her to life and married her without paying a price. After a short time they were going to hold their Khuangchoi feast, and they called the elder brother, who had been changed into a hornbill, and, indeed, many horn-bills came flying. ”

“ I have elsewhere been told that the family of a person who has been killed by a snake may not eat the flesh of a snake, and I suggest that the tabu against dealings with the creature which killed their parents is the explanation of the otherwise strange apathy of the lads when the tiger was in their power. ”

“ Then his elder brothers said,—"Tlumtea, you are an obstacle to our success; go in the middle," said they. [6] So he went in the middle. "We are going to court the Vanchung Maid. Which is the best?" they said again. And the people said,—"The one in the middle, Tlumtea." Then his elder brothers said,—"Tlumtea, you are an obstacle to our success; go last of all!" they said again, and he went. Then the elder brothers said again, —"We are going to court the Vanchung Maid. Which of us is the best?" And the people,—"The last one, Tlumtea," they said again. ”

“ The Anal tell the following tale:—
"Once the whole earth was flooded, and the entire human race, except one man and one woman, were drowned. This couple took refuge in a high tree which stood near a large pond, the water of which was as clear as the eye of a crow. They spent an anxious night among the branches, and at daybreak they were surprised to find that they had been changed into a tiger and tigress. Pathian, the creator, seeing the sorrowful state of the world, sent a man and a woman from a cave to repopulate the earth ”

“ Being carried in litters is an honour reserved for great men in Manipur, and among some clans the giver of a feast to the whole village is accorded this honour. I do not know exactly why the tiger could not eat up the children. ”

“ When the tiger had gone away, a frog and a crow came to the place, and took the boys to their home. After some time the frog and the crow asked the boys to kill the tiger who destroyed their parents. One day the boys went into the jungle and searched for the tiger, and by chance they met him under a tree. The boys addressed him,—"Oh, tiger, you are the greatest foe of ours, who destroyed our parents." The tiger replied,—"Yes, my lovely boys, I killed your parents. I will make you rich if you do not kill me." Saying so, he took them into a cave and showed them 2 golden dolais (litters) . ”

“ There is a very large number to choose from,— tales of the man who could be a tiger whenever he wanted, tales of the origin of witchcraft of Khaw-hring, that dangerous power possessed by some women of entering into the bodies of other women, or "eating" them as it is called, and tales to account for the names of rivers and hills and for peculiarities of animals, such as the one last read, which explains the shortness of the quail's tail. ”

“ The Khuangchoi is the last of a series of feasts, by giving which the Lushai attains to a proud position here below, and hopes to be able to cross the Pial river, to the realms of bliss, when he dies. ↑ You must remember that in the Lushai hills there are, or were till a few years ago, only footpaths, so that, from long walking on such narrow ways, the habit of walking in single file has so taken possession of the people that it is difficult to get them to walk in other formation. ”

“ The tales of the earthquake and the deaf Deity who is interested in the fate of mankind are also common among the Nāga tribes north. The snake legend is of peculiar interest, for the big snake,—rul-pi in Lushai, ghul-pi in Thādo, lairen in Meithei,—is a notable feature of popular legend. ”

“ Colonel Lewin took the tale down from a Bunjogi (a clan allied to the Lushais) , but the tale is practically the same as is told to this day wherever Lushai is spoken. It must have been recorded in the neighbourhood of Demagri:—
"Formerly our ancestors came out of a cave in the earth, and we had one great Chief, named Tlandrok-pah. He it was who first domesticated the guyal (tame bison) ; he was so powerful that he married God's daughter. There were great festivities at the marriage, and Tlan-drok-pah made God a present of a famous gun that he had. You can still hear the gun ”

“ When I took some to Calcutta, wherever we went they followed me about like an absurd string of geese. ↑ The pots, being round-bottomed, are stood in twisted rings of cane, to prevent them from upsetting. Rice, out of which zu has been made, is useless as food. The cane rings replaced the necklace which might have been given to honoured guests, and the useless rice added to the insult, while keeping to the letter of the laws of hospitality, and not sending the guests away empty handed. ↑ This is a common employment of Lushai women. ”

“ Then Tlumtea arrived. "Why have your fingers become so pointed and your eyes so small?" said Tlumtea. "From up there Tlumtea will soon come, I said; and, with pointing, my fingers became sharp; from up there Tlumtea will soon come, I said, and, with gazing, my eyes became small," she said. Then Tlumtea, though very vexed, took her along with him. The people of his village, saying,—"The Vanchung Maid is coming," spread cloths on the roadside for her to rest on. When Tonulawki arrived, supported by Tlumtea, the people all said,—"Awi! ”

“ I see no reason to doubt that it is an original Kumi tale. Images of men and animals are offered to the demons of the forest and the rivers by every tribe in the Hills. May this not be a survival of a general belief that all animals and men were made as the Kumi described to Colonel Lewin?
The snake appears in several legends. The following is known through a wide area:—
"Once upon a time there was a girl called Chhawng-chili, who worked in her father's jhum, i.e. hill cultivation. At the bottom of the jhum in a hollow tree a snake had its nest, and the snake loved Chhawng-chili very much. ”

“ Eventually the younger brother, tiring of life, was turned into a hornbill, and joined his elder brother.
The following tale is told by the Lamgang, who are now settled in the southern portion of the Manipur state, but undoubtedly are closely allied to the Lushais. It was taken down by Babu Nithor Nath Banerji, and I have retained his expressive phraseology. "Once upon a time there lived a man. One day he heard from one of his village people that his crops were being destroyed by wild pigs, in the paddy field. ”

“ This idea that mankind emerged from the earth is very widely spread. In Manipur we find many clans which are closely allied to the Lushais and have evidently migrated from a more southern abode, and these all bring their ancestors from holes in the ground. ”

“ There is another world beneath the earth, and the people of this nether world shake the upper earth to know if the people of it are alive, and therefore, on an earthquake occurring, every one cries out,—"Alive! ”

“ The Vanchung Maid was sitting on a stump of a tree. "Don't cry, and don't even laugh," said Tlumtea. "Down below where you are, there is Tonulawki," he said. Presently Tonulawki, seeing the shadow of the Vanchung Maid, said,—"Is that my shadow? Why, shadow, you have not a necklace or bracelets like me." Then the Vanchung Maid laughed,—"Hi! hi! hi! Why, it is my shadow," said she. Then Tonulawki, looking up, saw her. "Come down here," said Tonulawki; "let us search for lice in each other's heads." [8] But the Vanchung Maid said,—"As for me, my father and mother made me without lice ”

“ But on the seventh day it turned into a human being. The Vanchung Maid used secretly to cook tasty rice cakes for Tlumtea's food, but for Tonulawki to eat she cooked nothing but deer's dung and husks of rice. One day Tlumtea said,—"I will catch this person who always cooks our food for us," said he. Early one morning he made as if he were going to his cultivation, but hid himself under a mattress. Then it became time to cook the evening meal, and behold the Vanchung Maid came jumping down from the top shelf above the hearth, and Tlumtea caught her, but she besought him,—"Don't catch me ”

“ Another version says that worms from human excrement go down and tell the god of this lower world that men have died off the upper world, so he shakes it to find out if they have told the truth. Still another version is that a worm called Yangmal went to visit the king of this lower region, and took a piece of earth as a present. ”

“ They used the skins of animals as material, while those cunning fellows, the Manipuris, used leaves and bits of board. It fell out that, one day, they all went down to the river to bathe, and then the dogs took advantage of their absence and ate up all the skins, so that from that day till now they have remained in ignorance of this useful art. This tale, with appropriate variants, is found very widely dispersed, and is one of the general Tibeto-Burman store. ”

“ Such things are much the result of environment and education, and what would be a sign of low tastes and depraved mind among us means nothing of the sort among them. When we first went up there the free and easy manners of the people were sometimes embarrassing ”

“ Then Chhura took the Poi's tame bison and his gong, and went back to the village. The people said,—"Why, Chhura, we hung you up over the deep pool, how on earth are you coming along with a bison and a gong." Then Chhura,—"E! The string you hung me by broke, and I fell into the deep pool. It was only a matter of gathering the things. If you tie pots to your waists we shall be able to get much good property from the bottom of the deep pool. Take the pots from the village and go in," —said he. Then all the men of the village, tying pots at their waists, away they went ”

“ Let us soothe his spirit with a sacrifice." (Here we get a glimpse into the working of the Lushai mind. The father concluded that the strange state of the old man must be due to his having been bewitched, and at once prepared to make an offering to the demon, which he considered the cause of the trouble, in hopes of effecting the release of the sufferer. His reasons we shall see were not entirely disinterested.) "When his daughters were carrying up water in zu-pots, their father said,—"If you will not marry the old man in our house it will be the worse for you." ”

“ He took his two children with him into the jungle, and, when they had gone a very long way, their father said to them,—"Do you know this neighbourhood?" and they replied,—"We know it, it is the jungle we drive our bison in," said they. So they went on again. "Do you know this?" he said. "It is the jungle where we gather fruits," they said. So they went on again. "Do you know this?" he asked. "It is where we gather koi seeds," said they. So they went on again. "What place is this?", he said again. "We don't know," they said. So then he piled up bamboo grass and put them to sleep on it ”

“ The flesh having been cooked, the youngest brother placed it on leaves to await the return of the others, but some leaves fell from a tree on to the flesh, whereupon the deer came to life again, and ran away. ”

“ Colonel M'Culloch records, (Account of the Valley of Munnipore, p. 32) , how sudden sickness was attributed by a Kuki of his acquaintance to the mere sight of a snake, while I have found the belief that it is a sin to see a snake, and one of those events which necessitate a special village genna (imposition of tabus) . In Manipur we have the Pākhangba legend, [15] and the Lushai story may be usefully contrasted with the U Thlen legend, so graphically described by Colonel Gurdon in The Khasis (p. 98) . ”

“ The Thados call Tlandrokpa Dapa, and Chhura Benglam. Dapa is credited with having begged the cold season from his father-in-law, Pathian. The following story is again from Colonel Lewin, (op. cit., p. 90) . It was told him by a member of the Kumi clan, which lives in the Chittagong Hill tracts to the south of the Lushai Hills:—
"God made the world and the trees and the creeping things first, and after that he set to work to make one man and one woman, forming their bodies of clay ”