Ninamkhungma, daughter of Ninamrengma, and her family

Ninamrengma mates with the wind and gives birth to Ninamkhungma. When Ninamkhungma grows up, the wind refuses to mate with her. She falls in love with the planet Sukra (Venus) [Rai name not mentioned], who is beautiful only from a distance. When he descends, she refuses him. He causes a drought and urinates in the hollow of a tree, obliging her to drink his seed. She gives birth to Man, Tiger, Bear, and two thornbushes. The family quarrels violently, but Man survives. This story is part of the "mundhum" or traditional lore of many Rai groups. Ritual specialists recite it in ritual style, but here it is told in everyday language, apart from a few characteristic "echo compounds", e.g. søgølø begølø, (Sukra's) 'goitre' (s30) (cf. søgølø 'throat'). The narrator is an elderly woman, Jayalachhi (b. 1905, d. 1974).