Page:Folk-lore - A Quarterly Review. Volume 24, 1913.djvu/486

448 beautiful. You from Meyang Khulen (Cachar), let it increase, let it grow long. On this day of calling all we your grandchildren, offering a black hen to you our Lady Phau-woibi, addressing you as Loimonphau. What we leave of the cooked rice, let it not decrease but increase. What we leave of the zu, let it ferment again. O Lady! make the paddy to increase on the threshing mat as the rising rivers fertilize the land. Taratongnu, Liksikharoi, Yaisen Yaiphau, Chājak Chāhow, Pumanbi Langmanba, Chauwaibi Phaudongba, Hamok Keigabi, Morsi Nauremton, Phaureima, Phauningthau, Irioya Keitekpaga, Pokliba, to you we pray."

Yoibirok is Pākhāngba's mother, and the other six ladies mentioned at the commencement are the wives of the first six rulers mentioned in the Chronicles. The allusion to Meyang Khulen or Cachar refers to a legend that Phau-woibi once fled to Cachar, whence she was recalled by the skill of the maibas. The names in a long string at the end are other names of the goddess. The black fowl is no longer sacrificed, other articles being substituted.

After the invocation is finished, the cutting of the crop begins. The harvesters start from the mat, and follow the directions shown by the arrows. The offerings are taken to one side, and eaten by all present. Should any of the paddy be stolen or burnt before it is removed from the field, or should a cow walk over the threshing floor, Phau-woibi will run away unless the ceremony is repeated.

I have mentioned the phau-rungba, the owner or master of the paddy. Among the Manipuris nowadays he is simply an elderly person selected to offer her portion to the Spirit of the Rice; but among the Kabuis, who inhabit the hills to the west of the valley, every village must have a