98	THE  LUSHEI  CLANS	chap.
saying, " Do give me back my tail" But the Monkey replied,
" You can ransom it by paying eight mithan." " Oh/3 said the
Quail, " if I have to pay eight mithan for it, 111 just remain tail-
less/' and flew away.
The following tale is interesting as showing the great-
prestige the Tipperah chief enjoyed among the Lushais, who
call him " Rengpui." There are many versions of this tale, some of
which are very long. I have been obliged to abridge it con-
siderably.
Eimenhoiyi  married Zawlthlia.   Their  house was of iron,
They had an eight-fold iron door.     They beautified the inside
with iron  and brass things.      They also had a window (i.et>
Zawlthlia was Thangchhuah1) and a platform to sit on—in fact
they wanted for nothing.
Eimenhoiyi planted flowers, but there was one flower she had
not, called " nipuipar" (bright sun flower—a creeper with
scarlet flowers). When her husband was about to go in search
of it he said to her, " Please don't go outside the house," and
having filled the brass vessels with enough water to last her
many days, he went off. However, the supply ran short and
the lady went to the stream to wash, and one of her hairs was
carried down and swallowed by a fish, which was caught by the
cook of the king near the mouth of the river; and from out of
the fish the cook pulled this immensely long hair, and it filled
a winnowing basket. The king sent for the owner of the hair,,
and after many episodes she was brought to him. Zawlthlia,
returning found his wife gone, but with the help of the
domestic animals he traced her, and, on arriving at the foreign
king's village he saw slaves fetching water; and, ascertaining
that it was for the new queen, he put one of the nipuipar into
the vessel, so Rimenhoiyi knew he had arrived. According to*
one version, they resorted to the same subterfuge that Abraham
and Sarah employed when entering Egypt and lived happily
till, the king's suspicion being aroused, Zawlthlia was summarily
slain. According to another, Rimenhoiyi married them both,,
but as she showed a preference for Zawlthlia the king killed him.
With the help of a wise woman learned in charms Zawlthlia
was brought to life in a more beautiful form, and the king was
1 See above as to windows, page 27-