When building his house the Lushai must be careful that he does not put his hearth on the side of the house next to that on which his neighbour has his. To do so is “thianglo” and illness will follow. It is not difficult to guess how this idea has arisen. Lushai houses are generally built in lines one above the other on the sides of a hill, and therefore it is more convenient to place the heavy earthen hearth on the upper side where the posts are shorter. This causes the hearths of all the houses in one row to be on the same side, and, the custom once formed, any deviation from it is considered unlucky. To dream of the auction of a “hlang”—i.e., the bamboo frame to which the corpse is strapped during the funeral feast—is unlucky, and the person seen by the dreamer to purchase it will certainly die.
The following translation of a Lushai account of “tualsumsu” is interesting:—
“There are ‘tualsumsu’ in dreams and also while people are in a trance; the latter are the worst. If two friends are sleeping and in their dreams one says to the other, ‘Go as “tualsumsu”’—i.e., ‘beating your head on the ground’—nothing will happen to the one who goes, but the man who sends him will die. If anyone goes without being told to go, and likes it, he will die, but if he says, ‘Oh, how it hurts my head!’ he will not die. Sometimes a person will go beating his head on the ground and when roused from the trance know nothing of it.”
The following is another curious belief:—
“If a man dreams that with his friend they are going to fly like ‘Chawifa,’ and they, both carrying burning maize cobs wrapped in old cloths in baskets, intend flying from inside the house, and having come outside, his friend flies away, while he himself stands on the end of the roof and cannot fly, his friend who flew away will die quickly, while he who could not fly will live. And he that flew away knew nothing of it, and the corn cobs wrapped in old cloth were thrown up, and the people saw them blazing like fire. This is extremely ‘thianglo.’”
The Lushais speak confidently of “Chawifa,” and many say they have seen it. They describe it as a kind of meteor, which flies through the village blazing brightly, and if it alights on a house the owner must die. Compare the Lakher idea of “Chawifa,” given in Part II., and the Manipuri “Sangaisel,” in Mr. Hodson’s book on the Meitheis, page 121.
3. Snake worship. The Lushais do not worship snakes, but there are many tales of “rulpui” (the big snake). Colonel Lewin in his “Progressive Exercises” has written as follows:—
“Throughout the Lushai Hills, among all the tribes with whom I have come in contact, whether ‘Toung-tha’ or ‘Khyoung-tha,’ sons of the hill or sons of the river, I have always found that special attributes have been assigned to a certain description of snake or serpent that is found in these forests. I remember once we were camped peacefully beside the border of a small hill stream; the shanties of leaves and grass which form our tentes d’abri in this part of the world had been erected, and all the world (our world some 30 persons) was either smoking the pipe of peace or stirring the pot of rice that was to form the evening meal. Suddenly there arose a shout of ‘Tchubba-gree! Tchubba-gree!’ which is the Hill Arracanese for ‘the big snake, the king-serpent.’ Behold the camp in a ferment, each stalwart young fellow seizing his dao and tightening his waistband. We went forth, and indeed the snake was very big. His long sinuous growth was at least 20 feet in length and bulky in proportion; he moved slowly along, taking apparently no notice of the turmoil and confusion that soon filled the wood around him. The Hillmen swarmed around his length like ants, and in a few moments he was cut in pieces by dao strokes. I noticed that each of my combatants as they ran up to the snake spat at him before striking. On inquiring the reasons of this, I was informed that in attacking a snake of this description, if he spat at you first before you struck him, your fate was sealed, and strangulation was your doom; but if you were speedy in salivation and forestalled his action, then he was delivered a prey into the hands of his assailants. A similar superstition formerly attached to the basilisk or cockatrice, which was said to be able to fascinate or cause the destruction of man or beast if it first perceived its victim before it was itself perceived. Sir Thomas Browne, in discoursing ‘Of the Basilisk,’ says ‘that veneration shooteth from the eye, and that this way a basilisk may empoison, is not a thing impossible; but that this destruction should be the effect of the first beholder or depend on priority of aspection is a point not easily to be granted.’ The flesh of this snake (which is a species of python) is eaten by the Hill folk, and the fat of the reptile is held to be a sovereign cure for all cuts and wounds, as well as for more obscure diseases. In the household tales and fireside stories of the people ‘the big snake’ holds a prominent place, and is vested with attributes of power and knowledge.”
Colonel McCulloch, in his account of the Valley of Manipur, 1859, page 32, mentions the belief of the Manipuris in a snake god, and in fact the royal family is supposed to have sprung from a snake god known as “Pakhangba.” Colonel McCulloch also relates that a Kuki—i.e., a Thado—who had left him in perfect health, “saw a black snake as large as his thigh, which uttered a sound like that of an ox bellowing.” “On his reaching his home he became ill, his belly swelled, and he has not recovered his health.” Compare this with the following translation of a statement made to me by Hrangzova, a Lushai political Chaprassie, in 1904:—
“When I lived at Thenzawl, I once saw a curious object about 18 inches long, and about 6 inches thick, like a snake, which kept standing up on its stumpy tail, and then falling forward. I called my friend, who also saw it. When I got home I told my father and mother, who were very frightened, and said it was ‘thianglo.’ They both died within the year. This was 12 years ago. The rulpui which I saw had not got feathers, but perhaps that was because it was not big enough, as I am told the real rulpui has feathers like that of a cock.”