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The superstition is probably of very ancient origin, and it is possible that the Khasi sacrifices to the thlen demon may be connected with the primæval serpent-worship which characterized the Cambodians, which Forbes says was "undoubtedly the earliest religion of the Mons."
There is a superstition among the Khasis concerning U thlen, a gigantic snake which requires to be appeased by the sacrifice of human victims, and for whose sake murders have even in fairly recent times been committed.
These ceremonies having been completed, they erect a flat table-stone, or mawkynthei, for the ghost of the departed to sit upon, and return home, where they propitiate their ancestors with offerings of food. In the case of the murdered victims of the thlen superstition the same ceremonies are observed.
They found him there lying in a faint. When they had revived him, they asked him why he had fainted thus. He replied, "When I was feeding the 'thlen' with red-hot iron, he struggled and wriggled and I fainted. Come, let us go and see what has become of him." They then went and found that the "thlen" was dead.
The monster then struggled and wriggled so violently in its death agony that the earth shook as if there had been an earthquake. The quaking of the earth startled all the children of men, and they thought that something had happened. When U Suidnoh did not return home his family went to look for him, for they knew that he had gone to feed the "thlen" with red-hot iron.
This is thought to appease the thlen for a time, but the demon does not remain inactive long, and soon manifests his displeasure for the failure of his keeper to supply him with human blood, by causing one of the latter's family to fall sick.
This liquor, it is thought, gives the murderer courage, and the power of selecting suitable victims for the thlen. The nongshohnoh then sets out armed with a short club, with which to slay the victim, hence his name nongshohnoh, i.e. one who beats; for it is forbidden to kill a victim on these occasions with any weapon made of iron, inasmuch as iron was the metal which proved fatal to the thlen.
The thlen then crawls out from its hiding-place and commences to expand, and when it has attained its full serpent shape, it comes near the plate and remains expectant. The spirit of the victim then appears, and stands on the plate, laughing. The thlen begins to swallow the figure, commencing at its feet, the victim laughing the while.
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