Page:Folk-lore - A Quarterly Review. Volume 22, 1911.djvu/384

 3 4 8 Collectanea.

sister said, — " Now (as for) nie, I shall not again choose a husband. Even if I be given a leper I shall agree." That was because she had been punished. ^^

'^ Cf. Cronise and Ward, Cunnie Rabbit, Air. Spider and the Other Beef, pp. 178-86.

A. J. N. Tremearne.

{To be continued.)

Rain-Stopping in Manipur.

In the village of Moirang lives Konjengbam Narain Singh, who claims that the power of stopping rain has been hereditary in his family for many generations. In the old Rajas' times the Rain- Stopper was exempt from all compulsory labour, and held a written order to this effect, but this was burnt when his house caught fire, and, as the people of the village no longer exempt him from his share of the common tasks, he refuses to exercise his powers.

If he desires to stop the rain, he first appeals to Sanamahi, who, in the Manipuri legend of "The man who shot the sun" as given by Mr. Hodson in The Meitheis^ is described as the mother of the Sun, but who is here spoken of as a male deity or Lai, with great power over the forces of nature. His method of procedure is as follows :—

A piece of white cloth, one lam {i.e. the distance from the tips of the fingers of one hand to those of the other across the chest when the arms are held out level with the shoulders) in length, is folded up and placed on a stone to form a seat for the Lai. In front of it are placed two circular pieces of plantain leaf, on one of which is some betel nut and pan leaf and on the other pieces of some fruit, and beside these is placed a small lamp. The Rain-Stopper, standing in front and facing the offerings, addresses the Lai thus :— " Sibo Iinga Sri Swar Sanamahi, Sibo linga Sri Swar Thangjing, maikei ngakpa Bishmi LLe ! Narayaft." Sibo linga, I am told, means Siva's lingam, and Sanamahi is a Manipuri household deity. Thangjing is the chief god of Moirang, maikei ngakpa meaning protector of all directions. The

ip. 125.