Once upon a time, there lived a famous, king called
Lalvung. He had seven sons and one daughter. The youngest son was called
Tlumte and the daughter was called Sawrlai. Lalvung was so rich that there was
nothing on earth which he did not possess. He wanted to have the stars of the
sky. So he and his seven sons confabulated and decided to go up in the sky to
take the stars. They thus started their adventurous journey in space leaving
behind Sawrlai alone in their palace.
Being the
youngest, Tlumte used to go down every day to take seven packed food and curry
from his sister Sawrlai. The palace had eight layers of wall which could be
opened from inside only. Whenever Tlumte got down to the palace, he used to
knock the door, saying, “Dear sister, Sawrlai. Give me seven packed food and
curry. Let the eight layers of the wall be opened.” Whenever Sawrlai heard
Tlumte’s voice, she used to open the door for him and gave seven packed food
and curry for her father and brothers.
On one
occasion, Vawmpahrawng happened to see Sawrlai by chance and the manner in
which she gave food to her brother Tlumte by opening the eight layers of the
wall. He became restless and wanted to marry her. Getting to the palace’s gate
early next morning Vawmpahrawng knocked the door as Tlumte did. But Sawrlai
could easily distinguish his coarse voice from her brother’s and did not like
to open the door for him. Vawmpahrawng was so disappointed but was still trying
to find out other means by which he could somehow reach Sawrlai. One day he
went to a widow who lived down in his village and sought her advice as to how
he could imitate Tlumte’s voice. The widow told Vawmpahrawng to lick the urine
of Tlumte every morning for several days and his voice would be like Tlumte’s
voice. Having done as he was advised, his voice sounded exactly like the voice
of Tlumte and proceeded towards the palace. Getting to the door, he knocked,
saying, “Dear sister, Sawrlai. Give me seven packed food and curry and let the
eight layers of the wall be opened.” Sawrlai could no longer differentiate the
voice of Vawmpahrawng from Tlumte’s and then opened the door. In no time,
Vawmpahrawng caught hold of Sawrlai and forcibly took her away to a far off
place.
After
sometime Tlumte descended from the space as usual and knocked the door as he
used to do before. But alas! There was no more response. Disappointed, he went
up again in the sky and informed his brothers about what had happened in their
palace. Lalvung and his seven sons put their heads together and decided to go
back to their palace. On arrival, their father first tried to force open the
door by throwing a long wooden rod on the wall. But it boomeranged and hit just
on his forehead and died instantly but leaving one layer of the door opened.
Then the oldest brother also tried as their father did but met the same fate,
of course, leaving the second layer of the door opened. All the brothers threw
the rod at the door in turn and died one after another, but each time, one
layer of the door was opened. At last Tlumte’s turn came and threw the wooden
rod at the last layer of the door. The door opened and Tlumte entered the
palace. Seeing that Sawrlai was no more there, he sobbed bitterly. He arranged
the dead bodies of his father and brothers on the long wooden plank in order of
seniority. Closing the door, he went up on the terrace of their palace at night
and laid flat on his back and kept on weeping. After sometime, he became so
thirsty but there was no water. Looking up desperately, he said, “Oh! What a
fool we are? We have been trying to take stars only for our own destruction. I
am the only one who is surviving now. I feel so dejected and must die of
thirst. Oh! God of Heaven and God of Earth, come and help me!” Then and there, a
few drops of dew fell right into his mouth and he felt quite refreshed.
Mastering all his strength, he got up and set out to search for his sister
Sawrlai.
By
transforming himself into a dove, he flew hither and thither knowing not which
direction to fly to. At last, he saw a cultivator clearing weeds in his jhum
from a distance. He was flying towards him and asked, “Did you happen to see my
sister Sawrlai?” “Yes, I have seen her. But she must have crossed over big and
high mountains by now,” replied the man. Afterwards, he was flying towards two
persons weeding their jhum. Tlumte was told to go to three persons, four
persons and so on. At last, he came across ten persons weeding their jhum and
asked them whether they have seen his sister. They said to Tlumte, “Fly to the
woman there in the village who is weaving and talk to her.” All of a sudden,
Tlumte was flying again in full speed towards the woman and sat on the branch
of a tree in front of the women and asked, “Have you seen my sister Sawrlai?”
The woman happened to be Sawrlai. She then said to the dove, “If you are really
my brother Tlumte, come and sit on the rail of my Tlangkhang*, Then the dove
descended and sat on the rail. Sawrlai said again, “If you are really my
brother, come and drink the water in my bowl.” Again, the dove went down and
drank the water. At that moment, Sawrlai caught the dove and kissed him, saying
“Baby, how do you manage to come to this far-off place just to search for me? I
love you so much!” The dove replied, “Set me free, I am really afraid of your
husband. Had he seen me, he shall surely kill me.” Sawrlai assured him that no
harm would be done to him. She then covered him with a basket and hid him in
one corner of the house.
Vawmpahrawng
returned from his jhum in his house. One day during the absence of
Vawmpahrawng, the dove prompted his sister to ask her husband about the
technique of dealing with fire and flood. When Vawmpahrawng returned in the
evening, he disclosed all his secrets to his wife, adding that “the pigeon above
us is my life and soul. Its legs are my legs and its wings are my arms.” The
next day when Vawmpahrawng was away from home, Sawrlai and her brother ran away
with the pigeon and Vawmpahrawng’s magical box containing the seeds of creeper,
fire, water and forest.
When
Vawmpahrawng came to know that Sawrlai ran away, he ran helter skelter. He
suspected that Sawrlai must have run away with her brother and he soon ran
after them. Realising that they were being chased by Vawmpahrawng, Sawrlai and
Tlumte threw the seeds of creepers. But Vawmpahrawng passed through the thick
creepers easily. They then threw the seeds of fire, flood and forest one after
another. Still Vawmpahrawng could pass through them without much difficulty.
When Vawmpahrawng was about to overtake them, a voice from above said to
Sawrlai and Tlumte, “Break the wings of the pigeon.” Then, Tlumte broke both
the wings of the pigeon.” Then, Tlumte broke both the wings of the pigeon and
immediately Vawmpahrawng’s arms also were broken. Again, Tlumte broke both the
legs of the pigeon and Vawmpahrawng collapsed and died.
Secure
and safe, Sawrlai and Tlumte had collected seven hnathiel leaves along with
seven bamboo pipes full of holy water on which no birds had ever passed their
stool. On reaching their palace again, they rearranged the bones of their
father and brothers on the seven wild leaves. They then sprinkled the holy
water on the bones. Alas! The bones started moving and joined one another. They
sprinkled the holy water again on the bones and the bones were covered with
flesh. For the third time, they sprinkled the water again and the dead bodies
began to sneeze and rose again. In this way, the family lived happily as ever
before.
Source: Prof.(Dr.) Lal
Dena,Hmar Folk Tales, Scholar Publishing House, New Delhi, 1995
