404 Folk Tales from the Naga Hills of Assam.

he spake and Diu was sore stricken within her, and taking in her hand a large red bead she gave it to the child. Thus doing she said, " If you are like your father, you will be very handsome but a base deceiver it may be." Thus she spake.

Then the boy who was with the child carried him again to the house of Tsou. Then Tsou saw the large bead hanging round his son's neck, and he asked the boy who was carrying his son, " Who has given him this large bead ? " And he made

answer, " The woman who lives in that direction gave it to him, and spake after this fashion, ' If you are like your father you will be very handsome, but a deceiver it may be '." Thus he

spake. Then Tsou when he had heard these words was sore stricken in his mind and wept.

Thus is the story of these two told in Tenyima lore, and thus is it sung in our songs.

This story always moves deeply both narrator and audience, and is very popular.

No. 7. The Story of the -Yackal and Man.

ONCE a man when he had gone to work to cultivate his jhum fields used to stop in the jungle and did not return home every night. So his wife, bringing him his food in order to give it to

him, used to go down the field path. Then, while she was going down that path a large jackal came and said to her, " If you don't give me food I will catch and eat you." Thus he said to the woman. And so the woman being frightened gave him half her food and gave half to her husband. Then her husband, as his food was insufficient, thought, " Perhaps my wife is in love with another man. She does not give me all the food she

brings down." So he asked his wife, " You don't give me all the food you bring down; with whom are you having an affair ? " Then his wife replied, " I am intriguing with nobody, but when I come down the path a large jackal blocks the way, and he speaks like this to me, ' If you don't give me food I will catch and eat you.' Thus he speaks and being frightened I give him half of what I am bringing." Then her husband said, " If

Folk Tales from the Niaga Hills of Assam. 405

after this the jackal asks you for food, say to him, ' I won't

give you food to-day but one day later on I will feed all jackals at my house. Bring them all together to my house '."

And she spoke in this way. And the jackal heard her words and went away.

And the next day he called all the jackals and took them to the man's house. Then the man said to them, " Sit down. I will cook food and bring it to you." Thus speaking the man went into his house and the jackals sat outside. But the man did not cook food, but sat inside his house and only pretended to do so, and again coming out he said to the big jackal, " Big jackal, it may be that some of you will flee away from fear. And so take this rope and tie it round their necks." Thus he spoke, and the jackals remained with the rope tied round their necks. A little later in the same day the man again said, " To make the

big jackal eat I will take him inside the house and then kill him."

Thus he did, and afterwards taking a piece of wood slew all the other jackals.

And there was amongst them one very small jackal. When the man went to kill him he said, " Grant me a favour and don't kill me. I have done nothing wrong at all." Thus he spoke, and the man replied, " Very well, I won't kill you ; but from now

on, if you make no noise when you come out to look for food, then you will get nothing at all to eat." Thus he spoke, and the jackal because he was very frightened, heeded his words, said, " Yes," and went away.

And so jackals when they come out at night to look for food

always make a noise.1

1 The jackal appears not to be indigenous in the Naga Hills, but to have come in with the British flag and the metalled cartroad. Possibly a story about some other animal has been transferred to the jackal with its very obtrusive noisiness.-J. H. H.