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(140) (cf. NB. 3. p. 52). When a man steals the property of another and is caught, he has to refund it to the owner and gives him a dao and chicken. The fine he has to pay is eaten by the Niengbas, (not the Gaonburas). Disputes about fields are, as a rule, also settled by the Niengbas. Exile is the punishment for setting fire to a house. The Wakching people also ask a fine, but the Totok and Chinglong people are afraid of asking fines for incendiary. Originally they also asked fines, but (141) then Ghawang saw it and because they took a payment for the burning down of their houses he caused fires every year. If a mad person sets fire to a house he is neither exiled nor fined, "for Ghawang made him mad". If children set fire to a house their father is fined but not exiled. |
