Once upon a time there was a young couple in a small Chin village. Exactly one year after their marriage the couple was blessed with a baby girl. They named her Ngun Nu. Unfortunately for Ngun Nu, her mother died while she was still a child. Therefore, she grew up without the loving care of her mother.
As it had always been the way of men her father got married again. The woman he married happened to hate her step daughter very much. But since the father loved his daughter very much the wife pretended to be very kind and loving to the girl in her husband’s presence. But in his absence the wife treated her so cruelly it seemed she was going to eat her alive.
However her father loved his daughter so much that he would buy many clothes and jewels for Ngun Nu. He asked her to name anything that she might desire to have. The daughter said that she had everything under the sun and that if her father insisted she would like to have the sun and the moon. The doting father promised his daughter that he would get them for her since they were what she wished for.
Ngun Nu’s father as he was sure her daughter would be treated badly during his absence asked his daughter’s friend to protect her from the cruelty of her step mother. He left for the sky to get the sun and the moon for his beloved daughter.
Sure enough, her step mother asked Ngun Nu to collect firewood at Dongral as soon as her father disappeared. Dongral was hostile territory. The girl was filled with fright and horror at the mention of Dongral. So she went to her friend and told her about it. Her friend said, “Don’t go there. The enemies won’t spare you. Take my firewood and go home”.
Ngun Nu put her friend’s firewood inside her big sei (basket) and curried them home on her back. But on reaching home her step mother chided her for not really going to Dongral and for bringing her friend’s firewood instead. She even struck her with the firewood and was beaten black and blue. Ngun Nu had to stay at her friend’s home for some time.
A few days after Ngun Nu was back at her home she was ordered by her step mother to draw water from Dongral. The girl went to her friend again and told her about the order. Her friend advised Ngun Nu against going to the enemy territory and gave her enough water. Ngun Nu carried home the water in a big gourd. Her step mother beat her up again for not actually going to Dongral since what she wanted was not water but to expose the hated step daughter to danger.
The next day Ngun Nu was asked to look for leaves that could be used for vegetables at the dreaded place of Dongral. As usual the girl again sought the help of her friend who gave her some creepers she had plucked in the forest. Ngun Nu brought the vegetables home. But as could be expected her step mother gave her a good beating and scolding.
Yet again Ngun Nu was ordered to collect firewood from the much dreaded territory. Again the step daughter went to her friend with a big sei on her back and asked for help. This time her friend could no longer help her and said: “I cannot help you now. Whenever I give you something you are beaten for it. But if you go to Dongral you are sure to be killed. Let’s exchange our khang (mirror) so that you can reflect it to tell us where you are about to die”. They exchanged khang and Ngun Nu left for Dongral with tears in her eyes knowing full well that she was going to die.
The young girl was accorded a sorrowful sendoff by her friends as she set out to Dongral. Her friend watched her grew smaller and smaller as she went farther and farther until she was too small to be seen. Just as she disappeared from view her friends saw two flashes of light from her direction. Immediately after the flashes she was shot dead by hostile elements.
The villagers fetched the corpse and put it at her father’s home. It was customary for the Chins to bathe their dead, dressed her up and propped her up sitting for two or three days so that relatives far and near could come and see her for the last time. This was done inside the home. But the step mother did not allow the dead body of Ngun Nu to be kept inside their home. The mourners therefore put the corpse in the front yard.
Ngun Nu’s friend could not allow the dishonour and took the body of the dead girl to her home. She also took the responsibilities of feeding all mourners with lots of rice, a large buffalo and a pig five sumhs (fist) big at its chest.
The step mother was very pleased at the death of the step daughter. She came to the mourning wearing bright clothes instead of the proper black ones and with smiles on her face.
After Ngun Nu was buried her father came home from his journey into space. The first thing he said was: “Where’s Ngun Nu? The step mother answered: “She’s watching two bulls fighting over a cow”. After some time the father asked again: “Where’s Ngun Nu? His wife replied; “She’s watching two cocks fighting over a hen”.
The step mother gave her husband something to eat and poured some zu for him. But Ngun Nu’s father did not in the least care for anything to eat or drink and hurried towards his daughter’s friend who told him about all that had happened with tears in her eyes. The father was enraged at his wife’s cruelty and cut the sun and the moon into two each. He gave one each to Ngun Nu’s friend and placed the others in the cemetery.
The Chins used to hold Bawipi and Bawite or big feast and small feast. These feasts could be held only by the very rich because this involved the killing of many head of buffaloes, cattle, mythums and pigs and feeding all the villagers and invited guests from the nearby villages for four or five days. Moreover a lump of good red meat was distributed to every house-hold and guest for future consumption.
Ngun Nu’s father held the Bawite or small feast. At the feast all the people present danced in an open air around a big bamboo pole planted in the middle of the ground. As Ngun Nu’s father danced among the others a brightly reddish bird called bawngte came and tried to lift up his headgear three times. The father knew that the bird was in fact his daughter Ngun Nu. His anger at his wife was rekindled. So he chopped her up into three pieces.
Thereupon the brothers of the step mother surrounded Ngun Nu’s father in order to kill him. Ngun Nu’s father said: “Before you kill me let me tell you something. After that you can do what you like with me” and told them in detail how cruel and terrible their sister had been. The brothers said: “If so then we don’t want to have anything to do with this woman” and left. (The Guardian, December 1988).