Khrietuonyü Noudi
During my high school years, I opted for and studied Tenyiedie as my MIL (Modern Indian Language) subject. Through this, I was able to get myself acquainted with many folktales, folklores and legends of the Tenyimia people. One such story which I have not been able to forget for all these years is the unfortunate story of a legendary warrior named Morüsa and beautiful damsel named Mehouviü. So today, I write this article as a tribute to the legend of Morüsa and Mehouviü. The story goes something like this:
During the head-hunting era of our forefathers, all the respect, glory and honor belong to the warrior-men who had reputations of being expert or excellent hunters of men. And it was always a joyous and jubilant occasion for the villagers to witness whenever these warriors return to the village from their man-hunting expeditions carrying desecrated human heads. Likewise, the names of these head hunting warriors became household names and spread far and wide to all the surrounding villages and areas. And it is said that a village with even one warrior of repute was feared and revered by all its neighboring villages. And it is also said that such reputed and well-known head-hunters kept springing up from time to time who would terrorize all the neighboring villages and immortalize the names of their villages. In this way, their names spread far and wide and, in the course of time, became legends.
One such head-hunting warrior was Morüsa. Morüsa, by sheer repute of his man-hunting exploits, became not only the most prominent person of his village but also a household name in all the neighboring villages and areas. He became a warrior who was feared and revered by one and all. Besides being a well-known warrior, Morüsa was also a rich man who owned a huge proportion of property including lands, fields, houses, cattle etc. In this way, Morüsa was probably a warrior who became famous and rich overnight at a relatively young age.
However, despite the riches he possessed and the name he had attained, Morüsa probably was not as successful as far as his love life was concerned. He continued to remain unmarried even though all the young men of his age were already settling down and starting their own family. Gradually, this issue started to bother many of his relatives and well- wishers. And so, his uncles and aunties started searching for someone who could become his wife. However, it turned out that his uncles and aunties could not find any proper damsel in the village who could become the wife of a rich and reputed warrior like Morüsa. Therefore, the search spread outside to the nearby villages to find the perfect match for him.
It was at this juncture that the name of a damsel beauty reached the ears of this searching party. Her name was Mehouviü and she was from another village. She was not only beautiful but also well brought up and well-cultured and she had in her all the desired and requisite qualities of an ideal woman / wife. Therefore, the relatives of Morüsa decided to approach the parents of this beauty to ask for her hand in marriage with Morüsa.
As mentioned above, the name and fame of Morüsa as a warrior had already spread far and wide during this time. Therefore, even for Mehouviü and her parents and relatives, ‘Morüsa’ was not a new name. They certainly were not unaware of who this man was. The only thing was that they were not living in an age of newspapers, magazines or televisions. Therefore, even though they had heard so much about Morüsa, none of them had seen him and thus, did not know how he looked like.
It also happened that many a times Mehouviü had dreamed in her dream that she was sharing her meal with Morüsa in the kitchen of Morüsa. Therefore, when the relatives of Morüsa approached Mehouviü for marriage and when they were finally engaged to be married, many recollected the dreams that Mehouviü used to have and thought that those dreams must have been the indications and predictions that they were to be united as husband and wife someday.
Thus, in this manner, everything went well and the wedding date was also finally fixed and everybody started to wait for the big day. However, Morüsa and Mehouviü were still total strangers to each other as the marriage was arranged by the relatives and well-wishers from both sides and they were not introduced to one another.
During those head-hunting days, it was the custom that whenever a warrior returns to his village with hunted heads, the villagers would rejoice and celebrate by gathering at the house of the warrior in the evening and there, they would party by feasting on all sorts of delicacies and drinks. For a Naga warrior, this merrymaking and revelry would be his proudest moment and it was the dream of all young men to be at the centre of attention by hosting such a party.
Therefore, as the wedding day approached, Morüsa decided that he would go out early on his wedding day and return with at least one hunted (desecrated) human head so that his would-be wife would set her foot into his house when all the people are rejoicing and deep in merry-making at his house. Morüsa must have thought that such an occasion would be most befitting for his wife to set her foot into his house. This was so because he was known and feared far and wide as a warrior. Moreover, the people, both in his village as well as outside, would certainly take a long time to forget such a wedding.
During those times, it was also the custom that the bride would be brought to the house of the bridegroom only after sunset. As such, on the wedding day, the bride would not go outside her house but stay inside the whole day till the wedding party comes and takes her to her husband’s house in the evening.
Finally, the wedding day arrived. And as planned, Morüsa woke up early in the morning, put on all his armaments and set out of his village in search of human heads. Morüsa entered the first village and then the second and third village but he could not find anybody to kill as all the villagers had gone to their paddy fields. Morüsa roamed from village to village through out the day but strangely, he failed to find any prey.
Then, at last, he entered the farthest village. In this village, he came upon a young woman staying alone in her house. The woman was not only young but also healthy and extremely lovely and beautiful. Morüsa saw her and certainly did not want to hurt her because she was such a tender and innocent creature. However, Morüsa remembered that it was his wedding day and that he had failed to find any prey the whole day and that he had set out to return to his village with a human head before dusk. Therefore, even though the woman whom he encountered as this village looked no less than an angel to him, having no other option, Morüsa went towards her and beheaded her.
When Morüsa entered his village with the beheaded head, the whole villagers came forward and welcomed him as he was returning with a hunted head on his wedding day. Thereafter, all the villagers gathered at his house, started the bonfire and the merrymaking and began to wait for the arrival of the much awaited bride. The waiting went on and on but the bride never came.
The next morning the news reached that the murdered woman was none other than Mehouviü……….
