Kuki (Indic people); Lushai (Asian people); Lushai language
A widow had seven sons and one daughter, called Ringchanghoi, who
was very beautiful, and much beloved by her brothers. To prove the
truth of their professions of love she sent them off to catch the
sun and the moon, that she might wear them as her necklace. Before
their departure they built her a fortified house, and told her to
remain within it until their return. They also left with her some
unhusked rice, which had magical properties, turning red whenever
the brothers were in danger. Ringchanghoi one day was sitting in
the verandah cleaning her hair when she was seen by the king, who
quickly added her to the number of his wives. The youngest brother,
returning alone, found the house empty, and at once rejoining the
others in the sky, where they were still hunting the sun and moon,
told them of the disappearance of their sister. They all returned
home, and on entering the house the youngest brother was changed
into a parrot, while the others fell down dead. The youngest brother
finds his sister and is captured and presented to her, and tells
her what has happened, whereupon she sends off her husband, who by
a powerful charm restores the dead to life and the youngest brother
to his original form, and all ends happily.
In this tale there is some slight resemblance to the Lushai tale of
Rimenhoi, as also there is to the tales told by many clans to account
for eclipses of the sun and moon. The Kom, for instance, say that
the god Awk-pa was drying his rice when the sun and the moon came
riding by and scattered it; this vexed Awk-pa, who lay in ambush in a
cave, and the next time they came he swallowed them. The resemblance
between this tale and the Lushai explanation of an eclipse is very
marked. The name "Awk" is the same, and the idea of swallowing is
preserved. The Purum, while using the same word for an eclipse, have
quite a different story:--"Once upon a time there were seven brothers
who went into the forest to cut wood, and shot a deer, and ordered the
youngest brother to cook it while they went on with their work. The
youngest brother, having cooked the meat, put it on some leaves till
his brothers should return. Some leaves from a tree fell on the meat,
whereupon the deer came to life again and ran away. The brothers
returning got angry and, not believing the tale told by the youngest,
killed him and put his body under the tree. Some leaves falling on
the corpse, it came to life, and the brothers were much astonished
and went home, taking some of the leaves, roots, and bark of the
tree with them." On their way they saw the body of a dog floating
in a river which they had to cross, and put some bark on it and the
animal revived. When they reached home they put the bark, leaves,
and pieces of root to dry in the sunshine, leaving their dog to watch
them. The sun and the moon, perceiving the usefulness of the things,
stole them all and were chased by the dog. When the dog gets too near,
the sun and the moon hide, thus causing eclipses.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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