Long ago, there was a small tribal village in the hills of Mizoram. Ralleka was the headman of the village. He had a very brave and courageous son named Seneiroiya. From his early childhood, Seneiroiya preferred to go hunting in the jungle rather than doing agricultural work in the jhum field. He was an ace shooter and was so perfect that he could shoot his targets very comfortably.
It was winter season; Seneiroiya one day went to the forest with his chem (chopper) and sailei (bow and arrow). He laid a trap for wild animals. He hunted a very big wild animal. When he brought the animal to the village, all the villagers were very happy. They all shared the meat of the animal. Whenever Seneiroiya went out for shooting, he never came empty-handed and always brought a big animal which the entire village could share. All the villagers were very proud of his bravery. His fame has also spread to the neighbouring village.
Parents of Seneiroiya wanted him to get married. Initially, he was reluctant; however, due to the persistence of his old parents and friends, he at last agreed to marry a girl whom he would select himself. In a neighbouring village, Jolkheipuri was the daughter of the headman Jiyalunga of Pachuai. She was very beautiful and was expert in weaving, dancing and singing. Seneiroiya once saw this girl on a social occasion and then decided to marry her. He told his parents that he would marry Jolkheipui. ‘The parents were very happy, and they immediately sent a palai (middleman) to Jiyalunga. Jiyalunga did not agree to the proposal because of the old rivalry between the clans. When Seneiroiya came to know about this, he felt very disheartened. He himself went to Jiyalunga, who agreed to get his daughter married on the condition that he would bring Darlaisem (Red bull) Darbel to him. He also informed Senciroiya that an old widow named Theichhui, living beside the river Tuiruan, owns that bell which had a red mark in the centre.
The next day, Senciroiya set out in search of the old woman to bring the bell. After a few days of walking, he reached a village and located the old widow. He requested her to give the bell. The pleasant manner and behaviour of Seneiroiya impressed the old woman, and she agreed to give the bell on the condition. She said, “The boar has been destroying my field every day. If you can catch the boar either alive or dead I will have no objection to giving the bell to you.” Seneiroiya came to the jhum field of the widow and laid a trap for the animal. He spent the entire night in the jungle on an abundant kaireng (house to watch the jhum field. At midnight, he heard the sound of the animal from the trap. He went and found a big boar trapped. After seeing Seneiroiya, the animal rushed towards him, but due to the trap, it could not come out. Seneiroiya immediately cut one part of the boar with the help of the chopper. He then went to the widow to inform.
“The boar tried very hard to break the trap, but it failed. At last, it began to cry. The cry of the boar was heard by the Sakal (leader of the boar group). The Sakal came and found that strongest of the boar of the herd has been caught in the trap. He became very worried. He realised the danger of losing the boar and also the rule by which an animal can’t be made free from another’s trap. So Sakal placed a small boar in the trap and got the other boar free.
The next morning, when Seneiroya came with the old woman, to his surprise he found the small boar in the trap instead of the big one. The old woman became very angry. She scolded him and then went away. Seneiroiya was bewildered and did not know what to do. For some time he thought and then worked out a plan. He set the small boar free from the trap. He then started chasing the small boar, thinking that it would lead him to the den. As I expected, the small boar, after running for some time through the jungle, went into the cave. The other boars came out to see the return of the small boar. Sakal stood in front of Seneiroiya. Seneiroiya said, “I have come here to take the boar that was caught in my trap”. Sokal pretended as if he knew nothing about it. In the meantime, the strong boar whose ear was cut by Seneiroiya also came there. After seeing this, the Sakal could not deny the incident and was, therefore, forced to hand over the strong boar to Seneiroiya. Seneiroiya then returned with the boar to Theichhui and handed over to her. She was very pleased and then gave the bell to Seneiroiya.
Seneiroiya immediately got the bell for his village. As soon as he reached near the village, he rang the bell. Hearing the sound of the bell, all the villagers came to receive him. Seneiroiya wanted to immediately go to Jiyalunga and hand over the bell to him. So he hurriedly started running. At one place he slipped, and the bell from his hand fell down the hillock into a water pool. Seneiroiya jumped into the water and started searching for the bell. As he was searching for the bell, he found a very big snake who then took him to Iyalunga, the head snake. ‘The head snake was the originator of the Pachuai Clan. Jiyalunga, the father of Jalkheeipui, became very happy to get the Darleiscm. He thanked Seneiroiya very much. He then married his daughter to Seneiroiya.
The marriage of Seneiroiya and Jalkheeipui was organised on a suspicious day with great pomp and show. People of both the villages celebrated. The hillock where the bell fell down was later on named as Daron Thlang, The inhabitants who lived there were also called Darlon. The present tribe of Darlon is the corrupted form of Darlon.
A folktale sourced from Tribal Folktales of Tripura D. K. Tyagi.
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