The following tale has been translated from the original Mizo to English. The tale reflects the harshness of Mizo society in precolonial Mizoram, then known as the Lushai hills, and it depicts the class consciousness that existed amongst the village chiefs and the villagers. Laltheri and Chalthanga's plight was seminal because it resulted in the creation of a more liberal Mizo society. A long time ago there lived a comely maiden by the name of Laltheri. She was the daughter of a chief called Lalsavunga, and she was in love with a commoner called Chalthanga. Chalthanga had a friend who was a composer by the name of Chhawnthanga. Laltheri was deeply in love with Chalthanga but he did not dare to reciprocate her love for him because she was the daughter of the village chief. However, so madly in love was Laltheri with Chalthanga that she would follow him wherever he went, and she would even block his path even as he set off for the jhum. Yet even though she tried her level best in her pursuit of him Chalthanga was afraid to reciprocate her love for him. However Laltheri was adamant in her pursuit of Chalthanga and so he too found it difficult to resist her charms and eventually they both fell in love with each other. After a while the entire village came to know about their love for each other and when Laltheri's brothers heard about their relationship they were enraged because they did not want their sister to fall in love with a mere commoner. In a frenzy they drove out Chalthanga from their village and they even wanted to kill him. So they sent a man to track him down and the man then invited Chalthanga to share rice beer with him, “Since you are leaving the village, why don't we share some rice beer together?” Chalthanga was not a fool and he was well aware of what the man was up to, so in great alarm he followed the man. And as he did so, he engaged Chalthanga in conversation , “Since you are leaving the village why don't you partake of the brew first?” Chalthanga then did as he was told and in the process, the man pierced him with a dao and he died instantly. Now at that time, it so happened that Laltheri was pregnant with Chalthanga's child and when she heard about Chalthanga being driven away from the village she was wild with remorse. In grief she roamed about wildly and so she did not care about her attire anymore and her hair was always shabby and unkempt. She was unaware that Chalthanga had died. Eventually she came to know of his death when a servant in the household enquired, “Do you know what has become of Chalthanga?” To which she replied,“Why, what has happened to him?” The servant said, “He has been killed and his body has been thrown on the outskirts of the town.” As soon as she heard the news, Laltheri threw away the Short Story 207 clothes that she was wearing and she ran about like a woman possessed. She ran about the village, in a state of nakedness and the villagers would gaze at her in amazement and would wonder in trepidation as to whether she had lost her sanity. After this she refused to wear any clothes and very soon she refused to eat any food.Her mother would cajole her by saying,“My dear please wear your clothes, it does not become you to behave in this manner.” However she refused to listen and her mother's pleas went in vain. Finally she no longer wanted to live with the villagers and she ran away to the forest, which was far away from the village. As she no longer partook of any food she grew faint with hunger after while and soon she fainted in the jhum that she took shelter in. She could no longer speak and finally the villagers found her in a state of unconsciousness and they carried her back to Chhawnthanga's home. Laltheri refused to wear clothes and she continued to live in a state of nakedness. She was still lonely with grief and she refused to eat. Instead she drank rice beer all the time and in this manner she passed her time. Her temperament was greatly affected and she would get annoy