To show the similarity between the Tarau and the Lushai language I give a few words of each.
| English. | Lushai. | Tarau. |
| One | Pa-khat | Khat. |
| Two | Pa-hnih | Ni. |
| Three | Pa-thum | Thum. |
| Four | Pa-li | Ma-li. |
| Five | Pa-nga | Ranga. |
| Six | Pa-ruk | Kuruk. |
| Seven | Pa-sari | Siri. |
| Eight | Pa-riat | Tirit. |
| Nine | Pa-kua | Ku. |
| Ten | Shom | Shom. |
| Father | Pa | Pa. |
| Mother | Nu | Nu. |
| Son | Fa-pa | Sha-pa. (Thado, “chapa.”) |
| Daughter | Fa-nu | Sha-nu. |
| House | In | Im. |
| Sun | Ni | Ni. |
| Moon | Thla | Thla. |
| Water | Tui | Tui. To carry water, “tui choi,” in both dialects. |
| Dog | Ui | Uh. |
| Mithan | Shial | Shil. |
| Tree | Thing | Thing. |
| Jhum | Lo | Lou. |
The east and west in Tarau are called “ni-chhuak-lam” and “ni-thlak-lam,” which are pure Lushai for “the direction of sun rising and sun setting.”
Folklore.
1. Legends.—A large number of tales have been collected by Babu Nithor Nath Banerji, of the Manipur State Office, from which I select the following. They have all to a certain extent suffered by being told to the Babu in Manipuri instead of in the vernacular of the relaters. This accounts for Manipuri names being used in some cases.
The following is a tale told by the Anals:—“Once upon a time the whole world was flooded. All were drowned except one man and one woman, who ran to the highest peak of the Leng hill [this is interesting, as Leng is the name of one of the highest hills in the present Lushai Hills], where they climbed up a high tree and hid themselves among its branches. The tree grew near a large pond, which was as clear as the eye of a crow. They made themselves as comfortable as they could, being determined to spend the night there. They passed the night, sometimes exchanging whispers, and in the morning they were astonished to find that they had become a tiger and a tigress. [This changing of human beings into animals reminds one of the Lushai Thimzing legend.] Pathian, seeing the sad state of the world, sent a man and a woman from a cave, which was on the hill, to re-people it. The man and the woman emerging from the cave were terrified at seeing the two huge animals, and addressed Pathian thus: ‘O Father, you have sent us to re-people the world, but we do not think that we shall be able to carry out your intention, as the whole world is under water, and the only spot on which we could make a resting place is occupied by two ferocious beasts which are waiting to devour us; give us strength to slay these animals.’ After which they killed the tigers and lived happily and begat many sons and daughters, and from them the world was re-populated.”
The following tale told by the Kolhen resembles in many particulars the story of Kungori told by Colonel Lewin, which is given below:—
The Story of Fachirang and Rangchar.
“Once upon a time there lived a widow; she had a daughter whose beauty attracted many young men of the village. One day a tiger came in the shape of a man and asked to marry the girl. She was much frightened and kept silence. The tiger-man was angry at her behaviour, and recited a charm which made her ugly. Her mother said, ‘Look! my daughter who was the most beautiful girl in the village has become ugly; if a man can restore her beauty he may marry her, and if a woman can do it she shall be my friend.’ On hearing this, the tiger-man came to the old woman and said, ‘Oh! Granny, I am a stranger, and have come from a distant village; let me put up in your house.’ The old lady agreed, and after a few days he said, ‘Oh! Granny, why are you so sad? Tell me the cause of your sorrow. Perhaps I can remove it.’ ‘Alas, my boy, it is beyond your power to do so,’ she replied. The tiger-man, however, pressed her to tell him, and at last she did so, whereupon he replied, ‘All right, if I cure her you will give her to me,’ and in a few days he had restored her beauty, and they were married and lived together in her mother’s house for many years. At length he asked permission to take his wife to his own home, and they started, but no sooner had they passed the village gate than he was changed into the shape of a tiger, and his wife wept much at seeing him thus. An old woman of the village saw them and came and told the people that a tiger was carrying off the girl, so the villagers assembled to consult, but no one would volunteer for the task of rescuing the girl. At last Fachirang and Rangchar, two brothers, set off with a dao and a spear to kill the animal, but after going a very little way Fachirang, the elder brother, said, ‘Oh! Rangchar, I don’t know what is the matter, but my heart beats so fast that I must remain here; you go and see if you can kill the beast alone.’ So the younger brother went on alone till he came to the place where the tiger and the girl were living happily. Rangchar thrust his spear into the breast of the tiger, and it died at once, and Rangchar carried off the girl and returned to where his brother was waiting, and they all three set out for home together. The elder brother married the girl, and they all lived happily together.”