Page:Folk-lore - A Quarterly Review. Volume 20, 1909.djvu/462

398 bottom of the deep pool. Take the pots from the village and go in," —said he. Then all the men of the village, tying pots at their waists, away they went; but when they came to the spot, they did not dare jump down, for, indeed, it was very deep. But that fellow Chhura threw one of them down, and the pot he had tied at his waist said,— "Bir! bir!", (the noise of the air escaping). And Chhura cried,—"Chei! He has found something good? He has found something good!",—said he to them. Then they all jumped in one on top of another, and so they all died. Then Chhura went back to the village, and said to their wives,—"Your husbands cannot carry all the things, they are nearly dead with fatigue, hurry to relieve them." Then the women all went off to relieve them. On the way the Quail called,—"Hmim! Hmim!" "That will be them calling,"—they said, and they ran, and they ran. Presently they reached the place, and behold there was no one there. Then they returned, and on the way a hurricane blew fiercely and heavy rain poured down in torrents, and, when they reached their homes, they found Chhura had put out all their fires. They besought him to give them a light, but he refused. They all remained in very great discomfort."

Chhura is claimed as an ancestor by a clan called Khawtlang, which performs a feast in his honour and erects a ladder up to the front gable of the house to commemorate one of his exploits.

Another Giant hero is called Mualsavata. He was so big that, when he smoked, the smoke from his pipe was like a jungle fire. His whetstone lies beside the road near to Chongthleng,—a roughly-dressed piece of stone some eighteen inches long and six thick. It is said to have dropped out of his haversack as he was travelling, his wife having been neglectful, and having left an unmended hole in one corner. These heroes, Tlandrokpa, Chhura, and Mualsavata, appear in the legends of nearly every clan, but under other names. The Thados call Tlandrokpa Dapa,