This is a story that took place between the Zengi and Yei Rivers. A spirit in human form – probably an evil spirit - would come out of the river and help a young woman called Rilishee from one of the clans in this village, to cultivate her land. When evening came, this gentleman would disappear back into the river.
The other villagers did not know of this and they were astonished at how quickly she was able to do the work. At the end of the day, her friends would ask where the young man had gone, for he was nowhere to be seen.
The girl fell in love with that man, and decided to marry him.
When a girl gets married she requires all the things that a housewife will need, so she collected those things in three days.
The gentleman who would visit her from the river married her and he took his bride back into the river. For the marriage, a gaur (wild bison) was given by him as the dowry and it was left by the river.
The girl’s family killed the gaur with a cross bow and they carried the meat back to the village, but the animal was so big that they left one leg behind with the intention of coming back for it.
When they returned they found that the leg was slowly turning into rock and before they lost it all, they began slicing the meat off the stone portion.
The cut marks from this are still visible on that rock.
Epilogue: As the story is based on a true story, officials from Nagaland and from other parts of India go and visit that rock that was once the leg of the gaur. To preserve it, the village development board sanctioned some money from the village fund to construct a structure around that rock. The rock is exactly the same shape as the right leg of the gaur.
Storyteller: K. Pensokiu, Wapher Village Translated by: Dokiu Kecham Source: Adivasi Arts Trust, an organisation that promotes awareness of Indian tribal culture, and works with the tribes involving them in digital media projects to make their arts more widely accessible. http://www.talleststory.com/adivasiartstrust/index.html .
