Birth of wild boars and Gui

This is from the time when Misings were coming down from the hills to the plains. They cleared the jungles along a meandering river and trekked towards the plains. When they got tired, they would sit in the shade of a tree, open their bags which had boiled sweet potatoes, bananas and other fruits and ate their fill. Evenings they would rest in a safe place away from nocturnal animals and when dawn came they would continue their journey along the river.

One day they reached a thickly wooded forest. They tried to clear their way and advance but there was an evil spirit in the forest which stopped them every time they tried. Misings with different surnames were in the group and all of them tried to get through turn by turn but no one could. So, they had to stop in that forest for several days.

The Misings introduce themselves as the descendants of the sun and the moon. In Misings, there are people whose surname is Kardong. They call themselves "Takar Kardong" or descendants of the stars. So, a person named Kardong also joined the group after a few days. He started thinking of a way to make way through the forest.

The Misings know how to prepare rice beer, which they call Apong. Apart from daily consumption, Apong is used as an offering to the gods in religious rituals. Kardong made two bottles (made of bamboo) of apong, placed them in a koupat and started praying to the evil spirit.

Kardong had kept his sharpened sword at arm’s reach. Since he didn’t have to clear the jungles as he came later, his sword was still very sharp. So, when the evil spirit finally came to take the Apong, Kardong struck it with his sword and cut it into two. The head rolled around in the forest and a wild boar came out of it and ran away. From the lower part of the body, a gui was born and hid itself near a molehill.

Wild boars are still plenty in many parts of Assam. Hill people hunt and eat them. Even the meat of gui is eaten by many different people. They lay eggs which are said to be very delicious. After Kardong killed the evil spirit, rest of the people started clearing the forests again and made their way to the plains.

Source~

Book- Role of mising folk tales and folk songs in developing moral values among children a critical study.

Researcher: Doley Pritilata Pegu

Guide: Boro Anil Kumar

Link- http://hdl.handle.net/10603/72266