Then one of its tentacles reached out and grasped Tseringmo.
The Tang Chu which flows through the entire Tang valley is a greenish-blue river that is turbulent in most parts and calmer in others. Fish and river algae abound in the river. But fishing is frowned upon as sinful, so Tang chu algae have a reputation beyond the valley’s boundaries. The river is a significant geographical boundary and people often refer to one another, in Tangkho, as being from the upper river, khay totmai, the lower river, khay madmai, the other side of the river, khay tholomai, or this side of the river, khay stolomai. However, all Tangpas share the folklore associated with their river.
One fairly well known story is the one about a woman who would have eaten a stewa rutu if it had not eaten her first. Tseringmo was collecting firewood on the banks of the Tang chu. As she filled her basket with the dried driftwood lying there she came across what she thought was a piece of dried meat. It looked like a dried piece of the intestine of a cow. She looked at it carefully and saw that it was a good piece. She was a poor woman and meat was a rarity in her diet so she gladly picked it up and tossed it into her basket with the firewood she had collected. “A cat must have stolen it from someone’s house in Kizom,” she said aloud as if to justify acquiring something that she had not worked for.
Once back home she piled up the firewood against the rickety ladder to her house and took her lucky find into the house. She filled a chuzang, the huge water container, and threw in the intestine to soak for a while, and then she went out to call her friend, Nadon, and ask her to come and share the night meal with her.
Tseringmo was away from home longer than she expected, for her friend was not home yet. She waited for a while and excitedly told her friend about her find and her plans. “Nadon, now I would like You to come and we can have dinner together. You can bring the rice. you must have some for didn’t you just return from tosui in Kurtoi? We will cook it at my house. We will have rice and fried tripe.”
The two women hurried back to the house very excited, like two little girls who share a secret never to be told. They hurried up the ladder and opened the door to go in. But an enormous monster that filled the room. It was a huge intestine, with numerous tentacles protruding from its body that shook and shivered as it moved about in an uncoordinated sort of way. The two women were shocked but could not move. They stood there mesmerized by the creature as it began slowly but surely to inch towards them across the kitchen floor. Then one of its tentacles reached out and grasped Tseringmo. At this moment Nadon screamed and shrieked in utter panic and dread but she could do nothing to save her friend. She ran around the village crying and shouting, “What freak is this? What monster. . . .”
When the villagers came together and she was finally able to explain what had happened, they rushed towards the house. They did not have to go very near the house as the creature which had been fortified with fresh blood was now boldly extending its long tentacles through the windows towards the approaching people.
“Set the monster on fire,” shouted a voice among the crowd and soon torches of resin wood that burns easily were being thrown at the house. A terrific blaze soon engulfed the house and the smoke rose high above the village. When the air was filled with the smell of burning and charring flesh the people knew that they had succeeded in destroying the monster.
It is believed that during heavy floods the stewa rutu, like other water creatures, is sometimes washed ashore. But unlike the other water creatures this monster can actually survive without water for many days by shriveling up and conserving its energy. As soon as it comes in contact with water it will grow back to its normal size again and begin its second life.