“As soon as it gets dusk two men and the puithiam go a short way down the road which leads out of the village southwards taking a small pig with them, and there they make a fire, and kill the pig and cook its flesh. They drink some zu which they have brought with them in a gourd and also eat the flesh of the pig. Presently they say no one is to come this way, and the puithiam sweeps a place in the middle of the road and places some of the ashes from the fire there, and sings this magic chant:—
“‘Animals come, animals of the Ri lake come, animals of the Champhai come, animals from the village come, animals of Ai-zawl come, you with the white tusks, you with the standing manes (bears), you with the branching horns come.’
“Then, picking up some small stones and putting them in their haversacks, they return. As they are about to enter the chief’s house, they say, ‘We are bringing men’s and animals’ heads.’ The upas who are collected in the chief’s house ask, ‘Are you friends or enemies?’ ‘We are friends,’ they reply. Then they open the door and put the stones which they have brought into a basket, and as they enter they are given zu.”
The next day is “hrilh” for the whole village. In the morning, early, they go to look at the ashes, and are supposed to be able to see the likeness to footmarks in them, and thus to what animals will be killed in the chase. If a man’s foot marks are seen, it is unfortunate, and a man will be killed.
Ai.—In order that a person after death may gain possession of the spirits of the men or wild animals he has killed here below, it is necessary for him to sacrifice a mithan, goat, or pig. This is called “Ai.” After this feast, before the skull can be placed in the front verandah, a religious ceremony has to be performed by the puithiam. This is called “Sa-lu-an-chhuang”—i.e., “Hoist the head of the wild animal.” A small white fowl is given to him and the skull of the animal is placed in front of him. He then takes some zu in his mouth and spits it out over the skull, and, after muttering a charm in so low a tone that no one can hear him, he strikes the skull with the head of the chicken. If some of the feathers stick on the skull it is very lucky. After this the skull can be put up. As is stated further on, the Lushais believe that the spirit of a dead man cannot pass to Mi-thi-khua unless some animals are killed. These have to be provided by the heir, and no greater objection can be urged against a claim to inherit than a failure to provide the funeral sacrifice. This explains the reason of the Ai ceremony; the performer thereby enables the spirit of the dead animal to pass to Mi-thi-khua and in return acquires power over it. No Ai has to be performed for tame animals, presumably because they are the property of the slayer already. The word “Ai” has many meanings—among them are “to fascinate,” “to obtain power over”; and there is also a plant of that name, which in one of the folk tales is said to have the magical property of driving away any evil spirit at which it is pointed.
The Ai of a man requires the sacrifice of a mithan and a small pig. If an enemy is killed and no Ai performed the slayer is very likely to go mad.
If you perform the Ai you can take your enemy with you (as a slave) when you die; if you do not perform the Ai you cannot do so, and the spirit of your deceased enemy will haunt you in this life.
Translation of a Lushai Account of the Sakei-Ai.
“When Bengkhawia’s village was at Thenzawl, a tiger beset the village and in one day killed a mithan and two goats. The crier called on the people to surround it, and they did so. Thangbawnga shot it and performed the Ai ceremony; the night before he must not sleep. A young man cut its tail off; he also must keep awake all night. The next day he performed the Ai ceremony, sacrificing a mithan. Thangbawnga, who was performing the Ai, dressed himself up as a woman, smoked a woman’s pipe, wore a woman’s petticoat and cloth, carried a small basket, spun a cotton spindle, wore ivory earrings, let his hair down, and wrapped a mottled cloth, which was said to be of an ancient pattern, round his head as a turban. A crowd watched him and yelled with laughter, but it would have been ‘thianglo’ for him to laugh. Presently he took off his turban and carried it in the basket. Then he took off his woman’s disguise and dressed himself as a man, and strapped on a fighting dah and carried a gun. He also took ‘sailungvar’ (white flints) and put them into the tiger’s mouth while he ate eggs. ‘You eat the sailungvar,’ he said; ‘who will swallow them the quicker?’ ‘I have out-swallowed you, you have not swallowed yours; I have swallowed mine. You go by the lower road; I will go by the upper. You will be like the lower southern hills; I shall be like the high northern ones. You are the brave man of the south; I am the brave man of the north,’ he said, and cut the tiger’s head three times with his dao. Then the men buried the body of the tiger outside the village.” If the tiger has killed men, his eyes are gouged out with skewers or needles and thrown away; it is “thianglo” for the performer to laugh, so he holds a porcupine in his arms, and if he laughs by accident they say, “The porcupine laughed.” The idea of the performer disguising himself as a woman is that the spirit of the dead tiger may be humbled, thinking that it has been shot by a woman; and the giving of the flints while the performer eats eggs is to show the power of the performer over the the tiger, as he eats the eggs easily, while the tiger is unable to chew the flints.