[18] One version of this story states definitely that Kimongthang was of the Othui clan, and formerly men of that clan were forbidden to eat gibbon. The Changs tell the same story to account for the origin of the Kudā́mji clan, which is regarded as a gibbon clan.
The Semas have a story of men of the Wotsami clan having been turned into gibbons, and despise that clan as the Changs do the Kudā́mji, which suggests that it is the Othui clan of Lhotas which ought really to be associated with the Semi Wotsami instead of the Shetri (or, according to Mr. Mills, the Nguli) as is the case.—J. H. H. [↑]
[19] “Tale of the Tiger and the Crab” in Folk-tales of Assam, by J. Borooah (Howrah, 1915), pp. 54, 55.—J. H. H. [↑]
[20] The incident of the long hair of a girl that caused a king to send men to find her occurs in an ancient Egyptian tale “written down in the reign of Rameses II, about 1300 B.C.” Vide Sir J. G. Frazer, The Golden Bough, vol. xi. pp. 135, 136.—J. H. H. [↑]
[21] Broad, shiny leaves, only too common in the jungles of the Naga Hills. The writer has suffered from them more than once. The slightest touch causes intense irritation, which often does not totally subside for ten days. [↑]
[22] In an Ao folk-tale a man is chased with dogs and escapes in a similar way. [↑]
[23] Nagas regard an oath sworn on broken iron as binding. [↑]
[24] Up to this point the story opens in the same terms as the Sema version of the story of Hunchibili, the maiden who is transformed into an orange, a bamboo shoot, etc. (vide The Angami Nagas, Part V., and The Sema Nagas, Part VI). The motif of the transformation of the heroine to and from some form of fruit or vegetable is a favourite one in Assamese folk-lore. Vide J. Borooah, Folk-tales of Assam. There are also Khasi stories of the same kind.—J. H. H. [↑]
[25] Probably the hero must be regarded by now as working off the marriage price by service in his father-in-law’s house according to Lhota custom.—J. H. H. [↑]