{"collection":"myth-cosmogony","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_35564/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_35564","id":"gutenberg_35564","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/35564","summary":null,"tags":["Category: Mythology, Legends & Folklore","Folklore -- Laos"],"text":"Footnote references are marked with [brackets] and the texts have been\nplaced at the end of each story.\n\nChanges to the original publication (possible typographic errors or\ninconsistencies) are listed at the end.\n\n\n\n\n                    Laos Folk-Lore of Farther India\n\n\n[Illustration: A Group of Laos Girls.]\n\n\n                             Laos Folk-Lore\n                                   of\n                             Farther India\n\n                                   BY\n                       Katherine Neville Fleeson\n\n              With Illustrations from Photographs taken by\n                          W. A. Briggs, M. D.\n\n                      NEW YORK   CHICAGO   TORONTO\n                       Fleming H. Revell Company\n                  Publishers of Evangelical Literature\n\n\n                            Copyright, 1899\n                                   by\n                       FLEMING H. REVELL COMPANY\n\n\n\n\nIntroduction\n\n\nThese Folk-Tales from the Laos country, a part of the kingdom of Siam,\nin addition to their intrinsic merit have the charm of complete novelty.\nUntil the translator of this volume collected these stories, they were\neven unwritten, with a single exception which was found in a Laos\nmanuscript. They are orally preserved in the provinces which constitute\nthe Laos country, just as they have been handed down from generations of\nancestors, with slight variations in words or incidents. The elders\namong the people tell the stories at their merrymakings around the\ncamp-fires and within their primitive houses, to amuse and instruct the\nyouth and children.\n\nLiving among the Laos in the friendly and intimate relation of a\nmissionary, the translator has had the advantage of long residence and\nunrivalled opportunity for understanding the history, customs, religious\nideas and aspirations of this interesting people. Aptness in use of\ntheir colloquial speech gave her special facility for gathering the\nstories with exactness, as they fell from the lips of the narrators in\nher hearing; and for the delicate additional task of translating them\ninto English. The scholar, who is a student of the world's Folk-Lore,\nmay be assured that he has here, the Laos tales unobscured, just as they\nare told to-day.\n\nReflecting, as they do, thoughts, desires and hopes common to our\nhumanity, these stories at the same time exhibit, in a pathetic way, the\nneed in Laos of the uplifting and transforming power of the Christian\nreligion.\n\n                                                        Willis G. Craig.\n\n  McCormick Theological Seminary,\n            Chicago.\n\n\n\n\nContents\n\n\n                                                            PAGE\n\n          I. Tales of the Jungle                              13\n  1 A Child of the Woods                                      15\n  2 The Enchanted Mountain                                    17\n  3 The Spirit-Guarded Cave                                   20\n  4 The Mountain Spirits and the Stone Mortars                23\n\n          II. Fables from the Forest                          25\n  1 Right and Might                                           27\n  2 Why the Lip of the Elephant Droops                        29\n  3 How a Dead Tiger Killed the Princess                      32\n  4 The Monkeys and the Crabs                                 33\n\n          III. Nature's Riddles and their Answers             35\n  1 The Man in the Moon                                       37\n  2 The Origin of Lightning                                   38\n  3 Why the Parrot and the Minor Bird but\n    Echo the Words of Man                                     41\n  4 The Fatherless Birds                                      44\n\n          IV. Romance and Tragedy                             47\n  1 The Lovers' Leap                                          49\n  2 The Faithful Husband                                      51\n  3 The Faithful Wife                                         57\n  4 An Unexpected Issue                                       60\n\n          V. Temples and Priests                              63\n  1 The Giants' Mountain and the Temple                       65\n  2 Cheating the Priest                                       67\n  3 The Disappointed Priest                                   69\n  4 The Greedy Priest                                         71\n  5 The Ambitious Priest                                      73\n\n          VI. Moderation and Greed                            75\n  1 The Wizard and the Beggar                                 77\n  2 A Covetous Neighbor                                       80\n  3 A Lazy Man's Plot                                         83\n  4 The Ungrateful Fisherman                                  84\n  5 The Legend of the Rice                                    85\n\n          VII. Parables and Proverbs                          87\n  1 \"One Woman, in Deceit and Craft,\n    is More than a Match for Eight Men\"                       89\n  2 \"The Wisest Man of a Small Village\n    is Not Equal in Wisdom to a Boy\n    of the City Streets\"                                      93\n  3 \"To Aid Beast is Merit;\n    to Aid Man is But Vanity\"                                 95\n\n          VIII. The Gods Know and the Gods Reward             99\n  1 Love's Secrets                                           101\n  2 Poison-Mouth                                             103\n  3 Strife and Peace                                         105\n  4 The Widow's Punishment                                   107\n  5 Honesty Rewarded                                         109\n  6 The Justice of In Ta Pome                                111\n\n          IX. Wonders of Wisdom                              113\n  1 The Words of Untold Value                                115\n  2 A Wise Philosopher                                       119\n  3 The Boys Who Were Not Appreciated                        122\n  4 The Magic Well                                           126\n\n          X. Strange Fortunes of Strange People              129\n  1 The Fortunes of Ai Powlo                                 131\n  2 The Fortunes of a Lazy Beggar                            135\n  3 The Misfortunes of Paw Yan                               139\n  4 An Unfortunate Shot                                      141\n\n          XI. Stories Gone Astray                            143\n  1 The Blind Man                                            145\n  2 \"Heads, I Win. Tails, You Lose\"                          148\n  3 The Great Boaster                                        149\n  4 A Clever Thief                                           151\n  5 Eyeless-Needle, Rotten-Egg, Rotten-Banana,\n    Old-Fish and Broken-Pestle                               152\n\n\n\n\nList of Illustrations.\n\n\n  A Group of Laos Girls                                 _Frontispiece_\n  Types of the Laos People                           _Facing page_  15\n  A Laos Forest-stream                                  \"     \"     28\n  The Laos Governor's Wife at her Embroidery Frame      \"     \"     57 \n  A Group of Buddhist Priests                      } \n  The Interior of a Buddhist Temple                }    \"     \"     66\n  Monastery Grounds at Chieng Tung, Laos                \"     \"     72\n  At Work in the Rice Fields                            \"     \"     86\n  The \"Chow\" and his Palace                             \"     \"     96\n  Laos Feast                                       }\n  A Street in a Laos Town                          }    \"     \"    136\n\n\n\n\n  I\n  Tales of the Jungle\n\n[Illustration: Types of the Laos People]\n\n\nA Child of The Woods\n\nDeep in the forest of the North there is a large village of jungle\npeople, and, among them is one old woman, who is held in reverence by\nall. The stranger who asks why she is honored as a princess is thus\nanswered by her:\n\n\"Verily, I have much _boon_,[1] for I am but a child of nature. When I\nwas a young maiden, it fell upon a day that my heart grew hot with\nanger. For many days the anger grew until it filled my whole heart, also\nwere my eyes so red that I could see but dimly, and no longer could I\nlive in the village or among my own people, for I hated all men and I\nfelt that the beasts of the forest were more to me than my kindred.\nTherefore, I fled from the face of man into the jungle where no human\nfoot had ever gone. All day I journeyed, running as though my feet would\nnever weary and feeling no pangs of hunger. When the darkness closed\nabout me, I was not afraid, but lay down under the shelter of a tree,\nand, for a time, slept peacefully, as peacefully as though in my own\nhome. At length, I was awakened by the breath of an animal, and, in the\nclear light of the moon, I saw a large tiger before me. It smelled of my\nface, my hands and my feet, then seated itself by my head and watched me\nthrough the night, and I lay there unafraid. In the early morning, the\ntiger departed and I continued my journey. Quieter was my heart. Still,\nI disliked my own people but had no fear of the beasts or the reptiles\nof the forest.\n\nDuring the day I ate of the fruit which grew wild in abundance, and at\nnight I slept 'neath a tree, protected and guarded by fierce, wild\nbeasts which molested not my sleep. For many days I wandered thus, and\nthe nights were secure; for the wild beasts watched over and protected\nme. Thus my heart grew cool in my bosom, and I no longer hated my\npeople; and, after one moon had gone, I found myself near a village. The\npeople wondered to see me approach from the jungle, dreaded as being the\njungle of the man-eating tiger. When I related my story, the people were\nfilled with wonder and brought rich gifts to me. For a year and a day I\nabode there, and no more the wild beasts molested their cattle.\n\nBut my heart yearned to see the face of my kindred again, so, laden with\nsilver, gold and rich garments and seated in the howdah[2] of an\nelephant, the people escorted me to my own village, and here have I\nabode in content these one hundred years.\n\n  1: Merit.\n\n  2: The car placed on the back of elephants.\n\n\nThe Enchanted Mountain\n\nThe hunters who are continually going about from place to place,\nclimbing up high hills, descending into deep ravines and making ways\nthrough jungles in search of the wild bison and other game, tell strange\ntales of an enchanted place away on the top of a lofty mountain. There,\nis a beautiful lake, which is as bright and clear as a drop of morning\ndew hanging on the petal of the white water-lily, and, when you drink of\nit, you are no longer aweary; new life has come into you, and your body\nis more vigorous than ever before. The flowers on the margin of this\nenchanted lake are more beautiful than those that grow in any other\nspot, and, such is the love of the cherishing spirits for it, that they\ncare for it as for no other place in this world. Bananas of a larger\ngrowth than can be found in the gardens of man, and oranges, sweeter to\nthe taste than those we ever eat, are there. The fruits of all trees,\nmore beautiful to the eye and richer than man can produce, are there,\nfree to those who can find them. All the fowls usually nurtured by man\nand flocking about his door are there, and they are not affrighted by\nthe presence of the hunter but come at his call. Should the hunter wish\nto kill them, his arrow cannot pierce their charmed bodies to deprive\nthem of life, but the arrow falls harmless to the ground, because the\nspirits protect them and their lives are sacred. Great fields of rice\nare about this place, and the hunter marvels at the size of the grains\nand at the strength of the stalks. No field cared for by man has seen\ngrain like that which the spirits nourish.\n\nMany men, on hearing of this wonderful mountain-top, have sought it, but\nall have returned unsuccessful to their homes, saying, no such place is\non this earth. Only the hunter, who has chased the game through the\njungle, o'er the streams and up the steep mountain-sides, when tired and\ndiscouraged because the coveted prize has gone far beyond his reach, is\nrewarded for all his labor, when he finds himself in the garden of\nfruit, or on the margin of the enchanted lake, whose waters give renewed\nvigor to his wearied body.\n\nOften, when the hunter desires to eat of the flesh of the fowls, he\nendeavors to kill the fowls, but no effort of his can take their life,\nas the spirits hold them in their care. No mortal can harm them. Nor can\nthe hunter take any of the fruit away, for, as he leaves the spot, no\nmatter how he may hold it, it vanishes from his hand. Thus, no man, who\nhas not seen the place, has eaten of the fruit nor drank of the water;\nso, many doubt their existence, for such is the heart of man that he\nmust touch with his hands, see with his eyes, or taste with his tongue,\nere he can believe. Nevertheless, on the top of the lofty mountain there\nis the lake with the cool waters, clear and beautiful, where the fowls\nswim on its surface, or drink from its margin, and the grain and the\nfruit ripen for those who are loved of the spirits, and are led by them\nto this cherished spot where they may rest and be refreshed, and then\nreturn to their wives and children and tell them of the care of the\nspirits. The little ones, who have hearts free from guile, believe.\n\n\nThe Spirit-Guarded Cave\n\nWhen the people of the far north[3] were molested by their foes and were\nin continual fear, they consulted together, saying, \"Our lives are spent\nin trying to escape from our enemies and no joy can be ours. Let us flee\nto the south country[4] where, if the people make slaves of us, we can,\nat least, know that our lives will be spared, and life, even in slavery,\nis better than this constant fear of our enemies destroying both\nourselves and our dwelling-places and taking our cattle for their own.\"\nTherefore, they gathered together all their household goods, secreted\ntheir money and jewels about their persons, and, loading their cattle\nwith rice, they commenced their toilsome journey through the narrow\njungle paths and across the high mountains on their way to the south,\nwhere they hoped for peace and safety. The way was long and difficult,\nand the rice was all eaten and the cattle killed and consumed before\nthey had nearly reached their journey's end. Then the fugitives\ncommenced to use their money to buy food that they might have strength\nfor the journey, and they whispered one to another that the people\nlooked with covetous eyes on their hoard of money and jewels, and they\nfeared they would be slain because of the greed of the people.\n\nOne man, wiser than the others, said, \"Why do we endanger our lives for\nour possessions? Can we not find some secret place in which to leave our\nmoney and jewels, and when brighter days come to us we can return and\nfind them even as we left them?\"\n\nAll the people cried, \"Your words are wise. Let us do accordingly,\" and\nas these people were loved of the spirits, they were led to a deep cave\nin the midst of a wood where man seldom came, and there they left their\npossessions in the care of the spirits who promised to guard them until\nin the days, when life being brighter and more secure, the owners would\ncome and claim them.\n\nThe people journeyed on to the south country, and there lived as slaves.\nMany generations of them lived and died, but they could not escape nor\ncome to claim the vast wealth and jewels which they had left in care of\nthe spirits of the cave.\n\nThe story became known, and the inhabitants of all the surrounding\ncountries went to the cave and sought to secure the treasure. But such\nwas the care of the spirits that no man with safety could enter the\ncave. A light was instantly extinguished, if let down into the deep pit\nleading into the chamber where the treasure was, for the spirits blew\ntheir breath upon it and it was no more. All devices were tried to\nobtain the treasure, and from all parts of the country the people came\nto try to overcome the charm which the spirits had placed upon the cave,\nbut no one was able to break it. One man went even into the treasure\nchamber and filled his hands with the precious stones, but he was\novercome by a deadly sickness and was forced to replace the jewels in\nthe treasure chest and flee for his life so as to escape the wrath of\nthe guarding spirits. Even the white, foreign strangers, who have come\ninto the land and placed their strong hands on the elephants and the\ntrees[5] of the forest and claimed them for their use, were baffled and\ndriven back by the faithful spirits when they endeavored to enter the\ntreasure chamber, and for all time this treasure shall remain there,\nfor, if the white foreigner, by his wisdom, or by his craft, fails to\nobtain it, verily it will remain untouched forever.\n\n  3: In China.\n\n  4: Siam.\n\n  5: Teak-wood.\n\n\nThe Mountain Spirits and the Stone Mortars\n\nThe spirits, who lived in the mountains near a large city, upon a time\nwanted money for some purpose, and they brought down to the people of\nthe city a number of large and heavy stone mortars which they commanded\nthem to buy at an exorbitant price.\n\nThe men of the city said, \"The price you ask is too great; moreover, we\nhave no need of your mortars, as they are too large for us to use in\npounding out our rice, or for any other purpose. Therefore, we do not\nwish to buy them.\"\n\nThe spirits were very angry because they did not cheerfully agree to pay\nthe money, and answered, \"If you will not buy these mortars which we\nhave brought for your use, you shall carry them up to our home on the\ntop of the mountain, for the labor of bringing them down has wearied\nus.\"\n\nNot daring to incur the wrath of the spirits, and yet being utterly\nunable to carry the huge mortars to the high mountain, they paid the\nprice, for, they reasoned, \"Is any price too great to risk our falling\nunder the displeasure of the evil spirits?\"\n\nThe spirits departed with the money, and to this day, the stone mortars\nare scattered about the streets of that city, and, when strangers ask\nwhy they are there and what use is made of them, this story will be\ntold, and all people say it is verily the truth, for do you not see them\nwith your eyes, and how else could they have come here, had not the\nspirits brought them?\n\n\n\n\n  II\n  Fables From the Forest\n\n\nRight and Might\n\nWhile a deer was eating wild fruit, he heard an owl call, \"Haak,\nhaak,\"[6] and a cricket cry, \"Wat,\"[7] and, frightened, he fled.\n\nIn his flight he ran through the trees up into the mountains and into\nstreams. In one of the streams the deer stepped upon a small fish and\ncrushed it almost to death.\n\nThen the fish complained to the court, and the deer, owl, cricket and\nfish had a lawsuit. In the trial came out this evidence:\n\nAs the deer fled, he ran into some dry grass, and the seed fell into the\neye of a wild chicken, and the pain of the seed in the eye of the\nchicken caused it to fly up against a nest of red ants. Alarmed, the red\nants flew out to do battle, and in their haste, bit a mon-goose. The\nmon-goose ran into a vine of wild fruit and shook several pieces of it\non the head of a hermit, who sat thinking under a tree.\n\n\"Why didst thou, O fruit, fall on my head,\" cried the hermit.\n\nThe fruit answered: \"We did not wish to fall; a mon-goose ran against\nour vine and threw us down.\"\n\nAnd the hermit asked, \"O mon-goose, why didst thou throw the fruit?\"\n\nThe mon-goose answered: \"I did not wish to throw down the fruit, but the\nred ants bit me and I ran against the vine.\"\n\nThe hermit asked, \"O ants, why did ye bite the mon-goose?\"\n\nThe red ants replied: \"The hen flew against our nest and angered us.\"\n\nThe hermit asked, \"O hen, why didst thou fly against the red ants'\nnest?\"\n\nAnd the hen replied: \"The seed fell into my eyes and hurt me.\"\n\nAnd the hermit asked, \"O seed, why didst thou fall into the hen's eyes?\"\n\nAnd the seed replied: \"The deer shook me down.\"\n\nThe hermit said unto the deer, \"O deer, why didst thou shake down the\nseed?\"\n\nThe deer answered: \"I did not wish to do it, but the owl called,\nfrightening me and I ran.\"\n\n\"O owl,\" asked the hermit, \"why didst thou frighten the deer?\"\n\nThe owl replied: \"I called but as I am accustomed to call--the cricket,\ntoo, called.\"\n\nHaving heard the evidence, the judge said, \"The cricket must replace the\ncrushed parts of the fish and make it well,\" as he, the cricket, had\ncalled and frightened the deer.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nThe cricket was smaller and weaker than the owl or the deer, therefore\nhad to bear the penalty.\n\n  6: Haak--a spear.\n\n  7: Wat--surrounded.\n\n[Illustration: A Laos Forest-stream.]\n\n\nWhy the Lip of the Elephant Droops\n\nIn the days when the earth was young lived a poor man and his wife who\nhad twelve daughters, whom they no longer loved and no longer desired.\nDay after day the father and mother planned to be free of them, and upon\na day, the father made ready a basket; in the bottom he placed ashes,\nbut on the top he spread rice. Taking this basket with him, he called\nhis daughters to come go to the jungle to hunt for game.\n\nWhen the heat of the day had come, they all sat down to eat, and, after\nthey had eaten, the father gave each daughter a bamboo joint, and bade\nher get water for him. The joints were so made that they would not hold\nwater, and while the maidens endeavored to make them so they would, the\nfather returned home. In vain did the maidens try to make the joints\nhold the water and after a time they sought their father, but, lo, the\nfather was gone and only the basket remained! Examining the basket, they\nfound rice but on the top, and on the bottom filled with ashes, so they\nknew their parents sought to be free of them by leaving them in the\ntrackless jungle. Unable to find their way out, there they slept\npeacefully, for the wild beasts molest not those who fearlessly stay\nwith them.\n\nAs the eye of day opened in the East, the forlorn maidens beheld, as\nthey awakened, a beautiful woman standing near, and of her they sought\nhelp.\n\n\"Come with me and be companions to my little daughter. Often am I away\nfrom home and she is lonely. Come home with me, play with my daughter,\nand, in exchange I will give you a home,\" said the beautiful woman.\n\nGladly the maidens consented and went with the woman to her home far in\nthe jungle. All places save one small garden were they free to enter.\nAnd upon a day, the fair woman said, \"I go to the jungle and will not\nreturn until the eye of day has closed. Do not play in the small\ngarden.\" Scarcely had she gone ere she returned, but the maidens had not\nsought the garden.\n\nAgain, upon a day, the fair woman said, \"I go to the jungle but for a\nshort time. Go not to play in the small garden.\"\n\nThinking she would this time be gone all day, the maidens sought the\nsmall garden, and lo, it was strewn with human bones! Then they knew the\nfair woman was a cannibal. Full of fear, they fled, and, as they fled\nthey met a cow.\n\n\"Protect us,\" they cried.\n\nThe cow opened its mouth and the maidens jumped in. Thus they journeyed\nfrom the cannibal's home. As the cow returned, it met the fair woman\nseeking the maidens.\n\n\"Have you seen twelve maidens pass this way?\" asked she.\n\n\"No,\" answered the cow.\n\n\"If you do not speak the truth, I'll kill and eat you,\" cried she.\n\n\"I saw them as they made haste in that way,\" replied the cow.\n\nThe cannibal woman pursued that way.\n\nAfter the cow left them, the maidens hastened on and as they hastened\nthey met an elephant and begged it to save them from the cannibal.\n\nThe elephant opened its mouth and the maidens jumped in, but so slowly\ndid one jump that an edge of her garment hung out of the mouth. As they\njourneyed the cannibal overtook them.\n\n\"Did you see twelve maidens hastening toward the city?\" asked the\ncannibal.\n\n\"No,\" answered the elephant.\n\n\"From this time forth forever the lip of thy mouth shall hang down as a\ngarment,\" cursed the cannibal, for she had seen the edge of the maiden's\ngarment hanging out of the elephant's mouth and knew it was protecting\nthe twelve maidens. And to this day doth the lip of the elephant hang\ndown like a garment.\n\n\nHow a Dead Tiger Killed the Princess\n\nThere was once a king who had a daughter at whose birth a wise man\nforetold that she would be killed by a tiger when she was a maiden\ngrown. In order that no animal might approach her, the king built her a\nhouse set upon one huge pillar, and there she and her attendants ever\ndwelt.\n\nAnd it fell upon a day, when the daughter was well grown, that one of\nthe hunters, whose labor it was to kill the tigers of the country,\nbrought a dead one to the palace of the king. The princess, seeing her\ndead enemy, came down from her tower and plucked a whisker from the\ntiger, and, as she blew her breath on it, she cried, \"I do not fear\nthee, O my enemy, for thou art dead!\" But the poison, which is in the\nwhiskers of a tiger, entered into the blood of the princess, and she\ndied.\n\nThen did the king make a proclamation, and sent messengers throughout\nall his realm, commanding that, when a tiger was killed, all his\nwhiskers be immediately pulled out and burned, that a tiger may not be\nable to slay when dead; and until this day, the people obey the command\nof the king.\n\n\nThe Monkeys and the Crabs\n\nAll the monkeys which live in the forests near the great sea in the\nsouth, watch the tide running out, hoping to catch the sea-crabs which\nare left in the soft earth. If they can find a crab above the ground,\nthey immediately catch and eat it.\n\nSometimes, the crabs bury themselves in the mud, and the monkeys, seeing\nthe tunnels they have made, reach down into them with their long tails,\nand torment the crabs until they, in anger, seizing the tormenting tail,\nare drawn out and devoured by their cunning foes. But, sometimes, alas,\nthe crab fails to come out! No matter with what strength the monkey\npulls and tugs, the crabs do not appear, and the poor monkey is held\nfast, while the tide comes in and drowns it. When the tide goes out\nagain, leaving the luckless monkey on the beach, the crabs come out from\ntheir strongholds and feast on the dead enemy.\n\n\n\n\n  III\n  Nature's Riddles and Their Answers\n\n\nThe Man in the Moon\n\nThere was a blacksmith once, who complained: \"I am not well, and my work\nis too warm. I want to be a stone on the mountain. There it must be\ncool, for the wind blows and the trees give a shade.\"\n\nA wise man, who had power over all things, replied, \"Go thou, be a\nstone.\" And he was a stone, high up on the mountain-side.\n\nIt happened a stone-cutter came that way for stone, and, when he saw the\none that had been the blacksmith, he knew it was what he sought and he\nbegan to cut it.\n\nThe stone cried out: \"This hurts. I no longer want to be a stone. A\nstone-cutter I want to be. That would be pleasant.\"\n\nThe wise man, humoring him, said, \"Be a cutter.\" Thus he became a\nstone-cutter and, as he went seeking suitable stone, he grew tired, and\nhis feet were sore. He whimpered, \"I no longer want to cut stone. I\nwould be the sun, that would be pleasant.\"\n\nThe wise man commanded, \"Be the sun.\" And he was the sun.\n\nBut the sun was warmer than the blacksmith, than a stone, than a\nstone-cutter, and he complained, \"I do not like this. I would be the\nmoon. It looks cool.\"\n\nThe wise man spake yet again, \"Be the moon.\" And he was the moon.\n\n\"This is warmer than being the sun,\" murmured he, \"for the light from\nthe sun shines on me ever. I do not want to be the moon. I would be a\nsmith again. That, verily, is the best life.\"\n\nBut the wise man replied, \"I am weary of your changing. You wanted to be\nthe moon; the moon you are, and it you will remain.\"\n\nAnd in yon high heaven lives he to this day.\n\n\nThe Origin of Lightning\n\nThere was once a great chief who desired above all things to be happy in\nthe future life, therefore he continually made feasts for the priests\nand the poor; spending much money in making merit. He had ten wives,\nnine of whom helped him in all the merit-makings, but the head wife, his\nfavorite, would never take part. Laughing, and making herself beautiful\nin soft garments and jewels, she gave naught to the priests.\n\nAnd on a day, when the great chief and his nine merit-making wives were\nno more, but had gone to live in the sky on account of their\nmerit-making, the great chief longed for his favorite, and taking a\nglass, he looked down on the earth to see her. After many days, he\nbeheld her as a crane hunting for food on the border of a lake. The\ngreat chief, to try her heart and to see if she had repented, came down\nfrom his home in the sky in the form of a fish, and swam to the crane.\nSeeing the fish, the crane pecked at it, but the fish sprang out of the\nwater, and when the crane saw it was alive, she would not touch it.\nAgain the fish floated near the crane and she pecked at it, but on\nfinding it was alive let it escape. Then was the heart of the great\nchief glad, for he saw that his favorite wife would not destroy life\neven to satisfy her hunger, and he knew that her merit was such she\ncould be born in the form of a woman again.\n\nIt happened on a day that the crane died, and, when again born, had the\nform of a gardener's child. As the child grew in years and stature, she\nwas fairer than any other in the land, and, when a maiden, the father\nand mother made a feast, inviting all the people to come. During the\nfeast, they gave a wreath of beautiful flowers to their daughter and\nsaid, \"Throw this into the air, and on whosesoever head it falls, that\none will be to thee a husband.\"\n\nThe great chief, her husband of old, seeking her, came down to the earth\nin the form of an old man, and, when the maiden cast the wreath into the\nair, it fell on the head of this old man.\n\nGreat sport was made of him, and tauntingly the people cried, \"Does this\nbent stick think he is mate for our lotus flower?\"\n\nBut the fair maiden placed her hand in the old man's hand, and, together\nthey rose into the air. In vain they sought to detain them--the father\neven shot at the old man, but they were soon lost to sight, and to this\nday, when the people see the chain lightning in the sky, they say it is\nthe wreath of the beautiful maiden; when the lightning strikes, they say\nit is the gardener shooting at the old man, and, when the heat lightning\nflashes, they say it is the great chief flashing his glass over the\nearth in search of his favorite and beautiful wife.\n\n\nWhy the Parrot and the Minor Bird but Echo the Words of Man\n\nLong ago people caught and nourished the sao bird, because it learned\nthe language of man more readily than either the parrot or minor bird.\nWhile they had to be taught with much care, the sao bird had but to hear\na word and it could readily utter it; moreover, the sao bird could utter\nits own thoughts.\n\nUpon a time a man of the north country, owning a sao bird, stole a\nbuffalo from his neighbor and killed it. Part of the buffalo the man\ncooked and ate; the rest he hid either in the rice bin or over the rice\nhouse.\n\nSeeking the buffalo, next day, the neighbor asked the man if he had seen\nit.\n\nThe man replied, \"No.\" The sao bird, however, cried out, \"He killed it;\npart he hid in the rice bin, part over the rice house.\"\n\nThe neighbor searched in both of these places and found the parts just\nas the sao bird had said.\n\n\"I did not steal the buffalo,\" insisted the man.\n\nBut the bird ever called, \"He killed it and put part into the rice bin,\nand part over the rice house.\"\n\nUnable to decide between the words of the man and the words of the bird,\nthe neighbor appealed to the court. And, it happened, the night before\nthe trial, that the man took the sao bird, placed it in a jar, covered\nthe jar and poured water over the cloth and beat on the outside of the\njar. The noise of the beating was low and rumbling. All that night was\nthe bird kept in the jar, and not once did it see the bright moonlight,\nwhich was almost as bright as day, for it was in the midst of the dry\nseason and full moon. When the eye of day opened, the man removed the\nbird from the jar and placed it in its cage, and then took it to the\ncourt as a witness.\n\nWhen the bird was called, it said, as before, \"He killed it; part he put\nin the rice bin, and part over the rice house.\"\n\nAll people believed the bird.\n\n\"Ask it another question. Ask it what manner of night it was last night.\nWill you condemn me to death on the word of a bird?\" cried the man.\n\nThe question was put to the bird, but, remembering its fear, during the\nnight, of the rumbling noise and the sound of running water, it\nanswered, \"Last night the sky called and the rain fell.\"\n\nThen the people cried, \"Of a truth, the bird cannot be believed. Because\nit has imperilled the life of an innocent man, from this time forth, the\nsao bird must not be cherished by man.\"\n\nThe thief was set free because there were but the words of the bird to\ncondemn him.\n\nNo longer is the sao bird nourished by man, but lives in the forest.\nThose who are full of fear, when they hear them talking in the forest,\nsay, \"it is the spirits.\"\n\nWhen the sao bird saw the bright plumage of the parrot, and the black\nand gold of the minor bird, it knew they were strangers who had come to\ndwell in the north, and it asked the crow and the owl what manner of\nbirds they were.\n\n\"Beautiful in plumage, as thou canst readily see,\" answered they.\n\"Moreover, they speak the words of man.\"\n\n\"Speak the words of man,\" echoed the sao bird. \"I'll warn them. Come,\nlet us greet them.\" And they went forth to meet the beautiful strangers.\n\nAnd upon a day, as they all came together in one place, the sao bird\ncried out, \"We, the chief birds of the north land, come to greet you and\nto give you of our wisdom, as you are but strangers in our land. It is\ntold me you speak as does man; even so can I. Nourished by the hand of\nman many years, I did see with my eyes and hear with my ears, and my\ntongue uttered not only the things I beheld and heard, but things\ndispleasing to my masters. At one time, all men spoke well of me, but\nafterward was I cruelly punished and driven from the homes of men.\nTherefore come I this day unto you to warn you that, if man learns of\nyour speaking tongue, he will capture you and nourish you in his home.\nYet, should you speak other than he teaches you, you will be punished\nand driven from the homes of men, for man loves only to hear _his_\nthoughts repeated and loves not even a bird that has wisdom or truth\ngreater than his own.\"\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nFearful of uttering their thoughts, lest man resent it, the parrot and\nminor bird but echo the words of man.\n\n\nThe Fatherless Birds\n\nA mother bird sat brooding on her nest. Her heart was sad, for her mate\nhad flown away in the morning and had not returned. When the little ones\nstirred and clamored for food, with drooping wings she flew in quest of\nit that they might not hunger.\n\nDay after day her heart grew sadder, for her mate came not, and alone\nshe struggled to provide for her fledglings.\n\nWhen the little birds had grown strong and were able to fly, sorrow and\nheart hunger had so weakened the mother bird that she lay dying. The\nlittle birds crowded about her asking what they could do to aid her, and\nwith her dying breath she cried, \"Call, oh, call your father.\"\n\nThe little birds, flying low over the plains, cried, \"Paw hueey, paw\nhueey,\" and children, left alone in their homes, while their parents\nlabor in the rice fields, hearing the wail of the birds, wept, crying\ntoo, \"Paw hueey, maa hueey.\"[8]\n\nNever has the father bird been found, and, to this day, flying low over\nthe plains, the little birds cry, in their plaintive voices, \"Paw hueey,\npaw hueey,\" and lonely children echo, \"Paw hueey, maa hueey.\"\n\n  8: Paw hueey--Oh, father! Maa hueey--Oh, mother!\n\n\n\n\n  IV\n  Romance and Tragedy\n\n\nThe Lovers' Leap\n\nMany, many years ago there lived, on the mountains among the rapids of\nthe Maa Ping, a young man who loved a maiden and the maiden loved him\ntruly, but her father refused his consent to their union and commanded\nthat his daughter see her lover no more, nor hold communication with\nhim. At all times and in all ways the father of the maiden endeavored to\novercome her regard for her lover, but she would think of no other,\nalthough many came to woo her.\n\nOften did the young lovers seek to meet, but so constantly were they\nwatched it was impossible and they could only wait patiently. Each knew\nthe other was true and each heart rested in this assurance.\n\nAnd upon a time the father of the maiden thought she had forgotten her\nlover, and, greatly rejoiced, he made a feast and invited all the people\nof the province to come and make merry with him, and he reasoned, \"Now\nthat she has forgotten her former lover, will she not consent to marry a\nman I choose for her?\"\n\nWhile they were feasting the maiden wandered out to think of the one she\nhad not seen for so long and weary a time, and, suddenly, the dark\nevening became to her as the bright noonday, for her lover was before\nher. He entreated her to come with him and to be his wife. Thinking of\nthe dreary days she had passed and the more dreary ones to come, should\nshe see her heart's choice no more, she consented. As they were mounting\nhis strong, young horse, a servant saw them and ran to the house and\ngave the alarm. Soon the father and all the men were in pursuit of the\nlovers. For a time the young horse kept far ahead of its pursuers, but,\nwearying of its double burden, it began to lag just as it reached the\ntop of a lofty hill overhanging a rushing torrent of the river far\nbelow.\n\nNearer and nearer came the father and all the men. The only escape, and\na most desperate venture was it, was to leap across the rushing torrent\nto the hill on the other side. Looking into each other's eyes, then back\nat their approaching pursuers, and then at the wide chasm, they chose\ndeath together rather than life apart, and, urging their jaded horse to\nthe leap, they missed the opposite cliff and were dashed to pieces on\nthe rocks of the rapids below.\n\n\nThe Faithful Husband[9]\n\nUpon a day in years long since gone by, Chow[10] Soo Tome, wearied of\nthe talking of his slaves, wandered into the forest. As he walked in an\nunfrequented path, he came to a lake where seven beautiful winged nymphs\nwere disporting themselves in the water. One, Chow Soo Tome readily saw\nwas more beautiful than the others, and he loved her and desired her for\nhis wife. On seeing the Chow, however, they all fled, but the most\nbeautiful one permitted herself to be overtaken.\n\n\"When I saw thee, my heart was filled with love for thee. If thou dost\nnot consent to be my wife, of sorrow will I die,\" cried Chow Soo Tome.\n\n\"Easily could I have escaped, had not love for thee made me loath to\nleave thee,\" replied the nymph. And in great joy they returned to the\nChow's home.\n\n\"My son, let me take the wings of thy wife, lest she fly and leave thee\nin sorrow,\" urged the Chow's mother, and, readily did the nymph wife lay\naside her wings.\n\nBut it happened that the head chow heard of the beauty of the wife of\nChow Soo Tome, and he coveted her, and seeking to do away with Chow Soo\nTome, he sent him to war, and commanded that he lead the battle.\n\nThe young nymph wife knew the design of the head chow, and, as soon as\nher husband had gone, she sought her mother-in-law and begged that she\ngive her back her wings.\n\n\"I am filled with sorrow. Without Soo Tome I cannot remain in the house.\nGive me my wings that I may fly in the air and be comforted,\" pled the\nwife.\n\n\"Consent that I tie a rope to thy feet. Then, I will give thee the\nwings,\" answered Soo Tome's mother.\n\nThe young wife consented, but, having donned her wings and flown up in\nthe air, she cut the rope fastened to her feet and was safe from the\nhead chow's pursuit. Her freedom made her think of the home of her\nfather in the kingdom of Chom Kow Kilat,[11] and thither she flew.\n\nChow Soo Tome, unhurt and victorious, returned from the war and found\nhis home desolate without his nymph wife, and would not be comforted but\ndetermined to seek her. \"Now, I will go seek her in her father's\nkingdom, Chom Kow Kilat, though seven years, seven months and seven days\nbe required for the journey.\"\n\nThrough forest, over mountains and across plains toiled Chow Soo Tome\npatiently. And, as he journeyed, upon a day, he met an ape.\n\n\"My friend, where do you go?\" asked the ape.\n\n\"To a land far away, where the love of my heart abides, in the kingdom\nof Chom Kow Kilat. The way I do not know, but my heart guides me,\"\nanswered Chow Soo Tome.\n\nThe ape pitied him and sought to aid him, and what food he had or found\nhe shared with Chow Soo Tome gladly. Together they travelled many days\nuntil they reached the sea. They had no means of crossing, and when the\nape realized he could no longer aid Chow Soo Tome, he cried bitterly,\nsaying, \"No longer can I aid thee, now; therefore is my sorrow greater\nthan I can bear,\" and, lo, he died! For three days did Chow Soo Tome\nmourn this kind friend, and, as he mourned, a fly came to eat of the\nape.\n\n\"I am but alive and fear I will die if I do not have food at once,\" said\nthe fly. \"The ape is dead and can feel no pain. I am alive and hunger,\nthou art in trouble and need aid. If thou wilt give me to eat of the\nflesh of the dead ape, whenever thou needst me, think on me and I will\ncome to thee,\" added the fly.\n\n\"Eat,\" said Chow Soo Tome, and then he went on his way, but shortly\nafter, sat down under a tree. While there, he saw two eagles alight on\nthe tree.\n\n\"When we are rested, we will fly across the sea and eat of the feast\nwhich the king of Chom Kow Kilat gives in honor of the return of his\nbeautiful daughter,\" said one of the eagles to its mate.\n\nHearing these words, Chow Soo Tome cautiously climbed into the tree and\ncrept under the wing of the larger eagle, who shortly after said to its\nmate: \"Before we fly hence, I must rid myself of an insect which is\nunder my wing and annoys me.\"\n\n\"This is a sacred day, and, for some punishment has the insect come\nunder your wing; let it remain,\" counselled the other eagle, and then\nthey flew over the sea. When they rested in a tree on the other shore,\nChow Soo Tome crept from under the wing and climbed down the tree. After\na time he reached a _sala_[12] near a large city. Near the sala was a\nwell, and, as Chow Soo Tome rested, seven slaves of the king of Chom Kow\nKilat came from the city for water.\n\n\"Why dost thou draw of the water?\" asked Chow Soo Tome of a slave.\n\n\"We are this day glad, for the most beautiful daughter of the king of\nChom Kow Kilat hath returned from the land of men and the water will be\npoured over her head,\" said the slave addressed.\n\nApproaching the seventh slave, Chow Soo Tome asked that he might place a\nring in her water jar. Now, the ring was one which he had received from\nhis nymph wife, and he sought thus to turn her thoughts to him again.\n\n\"Pour your water in such a manner that, when it falls, the ring will\nfall upon the hands of the princess,\" directed Chow Soo Tome.\n\nThe slave did as directed, and, as the ring fell on the hands of the\nyoung princess, she knew her husband was near, and she asked the slave\nwho was at the well when she drew the water.\n\n\"A chow of a far country,\" said the slave, \"who rests in the sala by the\nsacred well outside the city gate.\"\n\nIn great haste and joy, did the young princess seek her father. \"Outside\nthe city gate, in the sala by the sacred well, doth my husband await me.\nLet me go to him, father,\" she pleaded.\n\n\"I must first prove that he be thy husband. Let all my daughters make\nready a table spread with the best of the feast, and hide themselves.\nThe man shall be called, and, if he selects thy table, he is thy\nhusband, but, if he knows not thy table, he shall die,\" replied the\nking.\n\nThe tables were made ready, Chow Soo Tome was summoned and commanded to\nselect the table prepared by the princess whom he claimed as his wife.\nSore perplexed, Chow Soo Tome bethought himself of the fly's promise,\nand he called it to his aid. Immediately the fly appeared and sat on the\ntable prepared by the wife of Chow Soo Tome, and there Chow Soo Tome sat\ndown.\n\n\"Yet another test,\" said the king. \"Make ready seven curtains and place\nmy daughters behind the seven curtains, allowing but one finger of each\nprincess to be seen. Then, from among the fingers, select that of thy\nwife.\"\n\nImmediately did the grateful fly rest upon the curtain where lay the\nfinger of the young wife, and unhesitatingly Chow Soo Tome walked up to\nthe curtain and clasped the right finger.\n\n\"It is enough. She is thy wife,\" declared the king, and so pleased was\nhe that he made Chow Soo Tome second in power in the kingdom of Chom Kow\nKilat.\n\n  9: This represents a very well-known maerrchen.\n\n  10: Chow--a prince or high official.\n\n  11: A fabulous city.\n\n  12: A rest-house for guests.\n\n[Illustration: The Laos Governor's Wife at her Embroidery Frame.]\n\n\nThe Faithful Wife\n\nThe young and beautiful son of a head chow sought of a wise man what\nmanner of wife should be his.\n\n\"As you walked by the way, whom did you meet?\" asked the wizard.\n\n\"No one,\" replied the young man.\n\n\"Nay, my son, you saw a slave of your father's, cutting grass in a\ngarden. She is to be your wife.\"\n\nDistressed that such a woman should be his wife, the young man fled from\nhis own country.\n\nAnd it came to pass, that the chow saw the slave girl that she was kind,\nnoble, and beautiful, and he took her to his house as a daughter, and\nshe became more kind, more noble, and more beautiful.\n\nYears had gone by, and, upon a day the son returned, and, seeing in the\none-time slave a most lovable and lovely woman, sought and gained her as\nhis wife. Word reached the young man then that this was but a slave,\nand, on learning the truth, he begged that he might be released to go on\na long journey. The young wife consented.\n\nA boat was made ready, and the chow's son had it in his heart never to\nreturn. So, secretly, the chow had a gold image hidden in the bottom of\nthe boat. When the day of departure had come, the chow in haste sent his\nservants to inquire of his son what he had in the boat.\n\n\"I have but my possessions,\" replied the son.\n\n\"Nay, you have the image of gold, which is the possession of my master,\nthe chow,\" insisted the servants. \"If we find it in the boat, what will\nyou do?\" they asked.\n\n\"Return with you as a slave to my father!\" exclaimed the son.\n\nAll the goods were removed from the boat and the image was found. Then\nthe son returned as a slave to his father and was made keeper of the\nelephants.\n\nUpon a day, the young wife of the son came to the chow and sought\npermission to go to the forest to find her husband.\n\nWillingly did the chow say, \"Go, my child,\" and forthwith he had a boat\nput in readiness for her and sent with her many of his servants. One\nservant was called, \"Eye That Sees Well,\" another, \"Ear That Hears\nWell.\"\n\nSailing down the river, they reached the province where the young man\nwas searching for elephants, and there they remained.\n\nThe chow of the province sent a servant secretly to hide a golden image\nin the boat. But the \"Ear That Hears Well\" heard and the \"Eye That Sees\nWell\" saw, and together they took the image from the boat and hid it in\nthe sand.\n\nThe following day, the chow sent a messenger asking why the princess had\ntaken the image.\n\n\"I have not seen it,\" were the words of the princess.\n\n\"If it is found in your boat, what will you promise?\" asked the chow's\nmessenger.\n\n\"I and my servants will be slaves to him, if the image be found in my\nboat,\" replied the princess, \"but, should the image not be found there,\nwhat will your master promise?\"\n\n\"All his goods and his province, if the image be not found,\" readily\nanswered the messenger.\n\nA diligent search failed to discover the image of gold, and, true to his\nword, the chow gave of his goods and his province to the princess.\nRejoicing, and hoping thus to discover her husband, the princess gave a\nlarge feast, and bade all the people. While all were feasting, lo, a\nman, in soiled garments and carrying a heavy tusk of an elephant, came\ntowards them, and immediately did the princess recognize her husband,\nand the husband, realizing after what manner his wife loved him, grew to\nlove her, and together they lived in her province for many, many years.\n\n\nAn Unexpected Issue\n\nFar away from other men, on the side of a lonely mountain, a man and his\nwife were preparing their ground that they might plant the hill rice.\nTheir work was hard, and they saw no one from day to day, and, upon a\ntime, when tired of their labor, the husband said,\n\n\"Let us play that we are young and unmarried, and that I am coming to\nvisit you to try to gain you for a wife.\"\n\nThe wife dressed herself as a young maiden, with flowers in her hair,\nand sat at the spinning-wheel.\n\nThe husband came as though from a distance, and in his hand he carried\nthe stem of a banana leaf, which he pretended was a musical instrument.\nPlayfully, he drew his fingers over it, singing, \"It is pleasant to be\nhere. Where you are, I am happy. Where you are not, I am but of little\nheart and sad.\" He drew near, and, as he was not forbidden, he walked up\ninto the house and sat down by the maiden. Bowing himself to the ground,\nhe spoke, saying, \"O fair princess, I come but as your servant! May I\nsit here near you?\"\n\nSmilingly she answered, \"To sit there is but a waste of time.\"\n\n\"I am not sitting where another has sat. Tell me, do I talk to one who\nhas another lover?\"\n\n\"I fear that the one who loves you, and whom you loved ere you came to\nme, will be angry with me and curse me,\" she coyly answered.\n\nThen he feigned anger, and moved away quickly. In his haste he did not\nsee where he was going, and he fell down the steps of the house, upon a\nstone. Though he lay there groaning, and called, \"O, help me!\" his wife\nthought him still in sport and sat quietly at her wheel. Having waited\nsome time, she arose and went to him, and, lo, he lay there dead!\n\n\"Had we worked and not played as children, my husband would be yet\nalive,\" lamented the wife.\n\n\n\n\n  V\n  Temples and Priests\n\n\nThe Giants' Mountain and the Temple\n\nIn the time long since gone by, when the world was young, the men of a\nlarge province desired to build a temple, a temple which might be seen\nby men from afar. Their ground, however, was low, and there was no lofty\nmountain on which they might rear it, and it was deemed wise by all to\nentreat the giants, who lived in the far East, to help them bring the\nearth together in one place for a mound.\n\nWillingly did the giants consent to aid them, but asked, \"Why labor to\ndig the earth and pile it into a mound? Behold the high hills are ours,\nwith our strong arms we can remove the top from one of them and bring it\nto you and you may rear your beautiful temple thereon, and all men can\nsee it. Go, therefore, and make ready your bricks and mortar, bringing\nto one place all the materials which you will require, whilst we carry\none of our mountains to you for your use.\"\n\nThe giants went their way to bring a mountain-top from the far East to\nthe plains near the city. Day after day they labored and moved the\nmountain top a great distance, but the people neither helped them nor\ndid they even commence to prepare the materials for the temple. As the\ngiants toiled, word was brought them that the people were sitting in\nidleness on the ground.\n\n\"Come help us, or gather the materials together,\" the giants sent word.\n\n\"You, yourselves, offered to carry the mountain-top to us. Your words\nare stronger than your deeds. You say you will aid us, then ask us to\nhelp you,\" the people replied. This they said, thinking to goad the\ngiants on to the labor of bringing the mountain-top to the desired\nplace.\n\n\"We offered to aid you,\" retorted the giants, \"but you sit and watch\nwhile we do all. Had you done your part, we would have done ours. Now,\nyou shall labor, and we, from our high mountain, will laugh at you.\"\n\nThereupon they left the work and sought their homes, and wearily did the\nmen of the plains dig the earth, carrying it in small loads into one\nplace to build the mound, and sadly did they look toward the East, where\nthey could see the mountain-top the giants had carried such a distance\nto them, and most bitterly did they repent not having done their share.\n\nThe temple is builded now, and from afar the people can see the gleam of\nthe spire when the eye of day first opens in the East, or closes in the\nWest, and, to this day the mountain-top lies there far distant from the\nmountain range and equally far distant from the city of the plains, and\nthe people point it out to strangers, saying, \"If you ask aid from\nothers, it is well to put your own heart into the work.\"\n\n[Illustration: A Group of Buddhist Priests.]\n\n[Illustration: The Interior of a Buddhist Temple.]\n\n\nCheating the Priest\n\nUpon a time a man and his wife went a day's journey from their village\nto the bazaar to sell their wares, and it fell upon the day of their\nreturn that it rained heavily, and as they hurried along the highway,\nthey sought shelter from the head priest of a temple. He, however, would\nnot even let them enter. They begged to be permitted to sleep in the\nsheltered place at the head of the stairs, but this also the priest\nrefused. Angered, they went under the temple and there rested.\n\nWhen the priest had lain down on his mat in the room just over the place\nwhere the man and his wife were hidden, he heard the man say to his\nwife, \"It will be good to be again with our young and beautiful\ndaughter. I trust all is well with her.\"\n\nHaving heard these words, the priest arose hastily and called, \"Come up,\ngood people, and sleep in the temple. Here, too, are mats to rest upon.\"\nAnd, as they talked of their beautiful daughter, the priest asked, \"When\nI am out of the temple, released from my vows, will you give me your\ndaughter to wife?\"\n\nLooking at his wife, the husband replied, \"It is good in our sight.\"\n\nWhen the morning came and they wished to steam some rice for their\nbreakfast, they had no pot, but the priest freely offered the use of his\npot and insisted upon their using of the sacred wood for their fire, the\nwood which was used in propping the branches of the Po tree.[13]\n\nBeing ready to go on their way, the priest presented them with gifts of\nfood, silver and gold, saying, \"I will soon leave the priesthood and\ncome to marry your beautiful daughter.\"\n\nBut three days had passed, when the man and his wife came again to the\ntemple and told the priest that their daughter was dead, and a long time\nthey all mourned together.\n\n\"I will ever remain true to my love for your daughter. Never will I\nleave the priesthood,\" vowed the priest, while the man and his wife\nreturned to their home, spent the silver and gold the priest had given\nthem, and cheerfully laughed at him, for never had they had a daughter!\n\n  13: The sacred tree of Buddhists.\n\n\nThe Disappointed Priest\n\nIn a temple of the north lived a priest who had great greed for the\nbetel nut.[14] One day, compelled by his appetite, he inquired of a\nboy-priest if no one had died that day, but the boy replied he had heard\nof no death.\n\nA man, while worshipping in the temple, overheard the priest's words,\nand on his return to his home, said, \"The priest wants some one to die\nso he can have betel to eat. Let us punish him, because he loves the\nbetel nut better than the life of a man. Make me ready for the grave,\nthen wail with a loud voice and the priest will come.\"\n\nWhen all was ready, they wailed with a loud voice and the priest, filled\nwith cheerful thoughts of satisfying his appetite, came quickly.\n\nThe people all said, \"We must hasten to the grave with our dead brother.\nAs it is already evening, we will not have the feast until we return.\"\n\nAll hastened to the place of burning, and, upon reaching it, they took\none end of the cloth covering the body and placed it in the hands of the\npriest, while the other end they left on the body of the supposed dead\nman.\n\n\"While you ask blessings on our dead brother, we will go prepare wood\nfor the burning,\" said the people, and, leaving the priest praying, they\nreturned as they had come, cut thorns and briars and placed them on and\nabout the path, so the priest could not escape unhurt. Then they hid\nthemselves.\n\nAs the darkness closed about him, the priest prayed fast and loud. Lo!\nthe man stirred and groaned, and the priest cried, \"O, my father, I am\nasking blessings on thee! Why movest thou?\"\n\nAgain the man rose up and groaned even louder, and the priest,\nterrified, ran away towards the temple. Caught by the briars, he fell\nheadlong, cut and bleeding. With great effort, he at last reached the\ntemple, and with much pain had his wounds dressed by the boy-priest. Not\nuntil he had rested, did he inquire of the boy if the people of the dead\nman had brought any betel to the temple in his absence.\n\n\"No,\" said the boy-priest. \"Go to the house of the dead man and eat with\nthem.\"\n\nBut the priest most vehemently said, \"If ten or twenty men die, I will\nnot go again. Die like that man! I shall never go again.\"\n\n  14: Areca nut. Chewing this nut is a habit common among all the\n  peoples of Farther India and Malaysia.\n\n\nThe Greedy Priest\n\nIn the compound of a temple in the south there was a large fruit tree,\nthe fruit of which was coveted by all, as they passed, but the head\npriest would permit no one to eat of it, because he was greedy and\nselfish and wished but to satisfy his own appetite.\n\nTwo men, talking together, said they would obtain fruit from the priest,\nand they would have it without price.\n\nOne came and asked for the fruit. The priest refused him gruffly,\nsaying, \"I need it for my own use.\" The man replied, \"I desired it to\neat with my venison curry, of which I have so much that I want you to\ncome and eat with me.\" On hearing this the priest said, \"Take what you\nwant.\" Filling his scarf with the coveted fruit, the man left the\npriest, saying, \"I will call for you as the eye of day closes.\"\n\nShortly after, the second man came and begged for fruit and likewise was\nrefused, until he said he wished it to eat with his pork curry, and,\nthat as the eye of day closed, he would come for the priest to eat with\nhim, when the priest said, \"All you desire, take.\" And the man filled a\nlarge basket with the coveted fruit.\n\nAs the eye of day closed, the two men called together for the priest.\n\nWhen they reached a fork in the road, one laid hold on the arm of the\npriest, and said, \"Come with me first, my house is down this way.\"\n\n\"Come with me first,\" said the other, \"my family will already be\neating.\"\n\nThus they disputed, drawing the greedy old priest this way and that\nuntil he was bruised and tired, when he said, \"It is enough. I will\nneither eat of the venison, nor of the pork.\"\n\nAnd the men went home and laughed, for neither had the one venison nor\nthe other pork.\n\n[Illustration: Monastery Grounds at Chieng Tung, Laos.]\n\n\nThe Ambitious Priest\n\nThere is a tale of an old priest who prayed each day that the gods would\ngive him a jewel of great price--one that had the power to make him fly\nas a bird.\n\nA young priest in the temple hearing his prayer, secured the eye of a\nfish and hid it in his room, and when again the old priest prayed for\nthe jewel, the young priest brought the eye of the fish and gave it to\nhim. Then was the old priest glad, \"Now can I rise up as though on wings\nand fly from this earth,\" said he.\n\nSelecting two large palm leaves, thinking \"I must have wings first,\" he\ntried to fly, but could not.\n\nThe young priest said, \"From here you cannot fly; it is not high enough.\nGo up to the roof of the temple and fly from there.\"\n\nActing on this suggestion, the old priest went up to the roof, but fell\nfrom his high place, and, lo, when they came to him, he was dead!\n\n\n\n\n  VI\n  Moderation and Greed\n\n\nThe Wizard and the Beggar\n\nOnce upon a time there was a poor man who ever begged for food, and, as\nhe walked along the road he thought, \"If any one will give me to eat\nuntil I am satisfied, never will I forget the grace or merit of that\nperson.\" Chanting these words as he walked slowly along, he met a\nwizard.\n\n\"What do you say as you walk along, my son?\" asked the wizard.\n\n\"If any one will give me to eat all I crave, I will never forget the\ngrace or merit of that person,\" said the poor man.\n\n\"My son, the people of this day are ever careless and ungrateful. They\nforget benefits,\" replied the wizard.\n\n\"I will not forget,\" vowed the poor man.\n\n\"Go on, my son,\" said the wizard.\n\nChanting as before, the poor man went on his way, and as he walked he\nmet a dog.\n\n\"What do you say as you go along, my son?\" asked the dog.\n\n\"Whosoever will give me to eat to my satisfaction, the grace or merit of\nthat person will I never forget,\" replied the poor man.\n\n\"Men are prone to forget. None remember favors. When I was young and\nstrong, I guarded my master's house and grounds; now, when I am old, he\nwill not permit me to enter his gate, but curses and beats me and gives\nme no food. By him are all my services forgotten,\" said the dog.\n\nEver chanting, the poor man walked on, and as he walked he met a\nbuffalo.\n\n\"What do you say as you walk along, my son?\" asked the buffalo. And the\npoor man repeated what he had told the wizard and the dog.\n\n\"Man is ever ungrateful. When I was young and strong, I plowed the\nfields so my master could have rice and my master was grateful to me.\nNow that I cannot work, I am driven out to die,\" said the buffalo. And\nthe poor man, discouraged, sought the wizard again.\n\n\"My son, will you ever remember benefits?\" asked the wizard.\n\n\"Never would I forget a benefit,\" vowed the poor man, vehemently.\n\n\"Then here are two jewels; one, if held in your mouth, will enable you\nto fly as a bird; the other, if held in the mouth, will give you your\ndesires, and this second one I now give to you,\" said the wizard, and he\nhanded the second jewel to the poor man.\n\n\"Your grace and merit will ever be remembered by me. More than tongue\ncan utter, do I thank you. Ever will I wish you health and happiness and\npray for blessings on your head,\" declared the poor man. Having thus\nspoken, the once poor man sought his home and, through the virtue of the\nwishing jewel he had every wish for wealth gratified.\n\n\"How do you secure your desires?\" asked the neighbors of the once poor,\nbegging man.\n\n\"A wizard gave me a wishing-jewel and, by simply placing it in my mouth,\nall I wish to possess is mine,\" answered he. \"Listen to me,\" he\ncontinued, \"the wizard has yet another jewel, which, if placed in the\nmouth, will enable one to fly as a bird. Come, let us go and kill him\nthat we may all possess it together.\"\n\nWith one accord they agreed, and, as they approached the home of the\nwizard, the wizard, espying the man he had so benefited, called to him,\n\n\"Why have you not visited me, my son?\"\n\n\"There was no time, much work have I had to do,\" replied the ungrateful\nman.\n\nNow the wizard of course knew the intent of the wicked fellow, that he,\nwith his neighbors, had come to secure the second jewel, and he asked,\n\n\"Why do you desire to kill me?\"\n\n\"Give to me the jewel you have, else I shall kill you, you old wizard,\"\ncried the ungrateful fellow.\n\n\"Have you the wishing-jewel with you? If so, show it to me first,\" said\nthe wizard.\n\nEagerly did the greedy fellow thrust it toward the old wizard, but he,\nhaving already placed the flying-jewel in his mouth, seized the\nwishing-jewel and instead of giving the rascal the flying-jewel, flew\naway, leaving both the man and his neighbors without either.\n\n\nA Covetous Neighbor\n\nThere was a poor and lonely man who had but a few melon seeds and grains\nof corn which he planted; tenderly did he care for them, as the garden\nwould furnish his only means of a living. And it came to pass that the\nmelons and corn grew luxuriantly, and the apes and the monkeys from the\nneighboring wilderness, seeing them, came daily to eat of them, and, as\nthey talked of the owner of the garden, wondered just what manner of man\nhe might be that he permitted them unmolested to eat of his melons. But\nthe poor man, through his sufferings, had much merit, and charitably and\nwillingly shared his abundant fruit with them.\n\nAnd upon a day, the man lay down in the garden and feigned death. As the\nmonkeys and apes drew near, seeing him so still, his scarf lying about\nhis head, with one accord they cried, \"He is already dead! Lo, these\nmany days have we eaten of his fruit, therefore it is but just that we\nshould bury him in as choice a place as we can find.\"\n\nLifting the man, they carried him until they came to a place where two\nways met, when one of the monkeys said, \"Let us take him to the cave of\nsilver.\" Another said, \"No, the cave of gold would be better.\"\n\n\"Go to the cave of gold,\" commanded the head monkey. There they carried\nhim and laid him to rest.\n\nFinding himself thus alone, the man arose, gathered all the gold he\ncould carry and returned to his old home, and, with the gold thus easily\ngained, he built a beautiful house.\n\n\"How did you, who are but a gardener, gain all this gold?\" asked a\nneighbor, and freely the man told all that had befallen him.\n\n\"If you did it, I, too, can do it,\" said the neighbor, and forthwith, he\nhastened home, made a garden, and waited for the monkeys to feast in it.\nAll came to pass as the neighbor hoped; when the melons were ripe great\nnumbers of monkeys and apes came to the garden and feasted. And upon a\nday, they found the owner lying as one dead in the garden. Prompted by\ngratitude, the monkeys made ready to bury him, and while carrying him to\nthe place of burial, they came to the place in the way where the two\nroads met. Here they disputed as to whether they should place the man in\nthe cave of silver, or the cave of gold. Meanwhile, the man was thinking\nthus, \"I'll gather gold all day. When I have more than I can carry in my\narms, I'll draw some behind me in a basket I can readily make from\nbamboo,\" and, when the head monkey said, \"Put him in the cave of\nsilver,\" he unguardedly cried out, \"No, put me in the cave of gold.\"\n\nFrightened, the monkeys dropped the man and fled, whilst he, scratched\nand bleeding, crept painfully home.\n\n\nA Lazy Man's Plot[15]\n\nUpon a day a beggar, who was too lazy to work, but ever lived on the\nbounty of the people, received a great quantity of rice. He put it in a\nlarge jar and placed the jar at the foot of his bed, then he lay down on\nthe bed and thus reasoned:\n\n\"If there come a famine, I will sell the rice, and with the money, buy\nme a pair of cows, and when the cows have a calf, I'll buy a pair of\nbuffaloes. Then, when they have a calf, I'll sell them, and with that\nmoney, I'll make a wedding and take me a wife. And, when we have a child\nlarge enough to sit alone, I'll take care of it, while my wife works the\nrice fields. Should she say, 'I will not work,' I'll kick her after this\nmanner,\" and he struck out his foot, knocking the jar over, and broke\nit. The rice ran through the slats of the floor, and the neighbors' pigs\nate it, leaving the lazy plotter but the broken jar.\n\n  15: The motive corresponds to that of the venerable story of the\n  Milkmaid.\n\n\nThe Ungrateful Fisherman\n\nIt happened on a time that a poor fisherman had caught nothing for many\ndays, and while he was sitting thinking sadly of his miserable fortune,\nPunya In, the god of wisdom, came from his high home in heaven in the\nform of a crow, and asked him, \"Do you desire to escape from this life\nof a fisherman, and live in ease?\" And the fisherman replied, \"Greatly\ndo I desire to escape from this miserable life.\"\n\nBeckoning him to come to him and listen, the crow told him of a far\ndistant province, whose chow lay dead.\n\n\"Both the province and all the chow's former possessions will I give\nthee, if thou wilt promise ever to remember the benefits I bestow,\" said\nthe crow.\n\nReadily did the fisherman promise, \"Never, never will I forget.\"\n\nImmediately the crow took the fisherman on his back and flew to the far\ndistant province. Leaving the fisherman just outside the city gate, the\ncrow entered the city, went to the chow's home, and took the body of the\nchow away, and, in the place put the fisherman.\n\nWhen the fisherman moved, the watchers heard, and rejoicing, they all\ncried, \"Our chow is again alive.\"\n\nGreat was the joy of the people, and, for many years, the fisherman\nruled in the province and enjoyed the possessions of the former chow.\n\nBut, as time went by, the fisherman forgot the crow had been the author\nof all his good fortune, that all were the gifts of a crow, and he drove\nall crows from the rice fields. Even did he attempt to banish them from\nthe province. Perceiving this, the god of wisdom again assumed the form\nof a crow and came down and sat near the one-time fisherman.\n\n\"O, chow, wouldst thou desire to go where all is pleasure and delight?\"\nasked the crow.\n\n\"Let me go,\" replied the chow. And the crow took him on his back and\nflew with him to the house where, as a fisherman he had lived in poverty\nand squalor, and ever had he to remain there.\n\n\nThe Legend of the Rice\n\nIn the days when the earth was young and all things were better than\nthey now are, when men and women were stronger and of greater beauty,\nand the fruit of the trees was larger and sweeter than that which we now\neat, rice, the food of the people, was of larger grain. One grain was\nall a man could eat, and in those early days, such, too, was the merit\nof the people, they never had to toil gathering the rice, for, when\nripe, it fell from the stalks and rolled into the villages, even unto\nthe granaries.\n\nAnd upon a year, when the rice was larger and more plentiful than ever\nbefore, a widow said to her daughter, \"Our granaries are too small. We\nwill pull them down and build larger.\"\n\nWhen the old granaries were pulled down and the new one not yet ready\nfor use, the rice was ripe in the fields. Great haste was made, but the\nrice came rolling in where the work was going on, and the widow,\nangered, struck a grain and cried, \"Could you not wait in the fields\nuntil we were ready? You should not bother us now when you are not\nwanted.\"\n\nThe rice broke into thousands of pieces and said, \"From this time forth,\nwe will wait in the fields until we are wanted,\" and, from that time the\nrice has been of small grain, and the people of the earth must gather it\ninto the granary from the fields.\n\n[Illustration: At Work in the Rice Fields.]\n\n\n\n\n  VII\n  Parables and Proverbs\n\n\n\"One Woman in Deceit and Craft is More Than a Match for Eight Men\"\n\nChum Paw was a maiden of the south country. Many suitors had she, but,\nby her craft and devices, each suitor thought himself the only one.\nConstantly did each seek her in marriage, and, upon a day as one pressed\nher to name the time of their nuptials, she said, \"Build me a house, and\nI'll marry you when all is in readiness.\" To the others, did she speak\nthe same words.\n\nEach man sought the jungle for bamboo for a house, and, it happened,\nwhile they were in the jungle that they all met.\n\n\"What seekest thou?\" they asked one another. \"What seekest thou?\" The\none answer was, \"I have come to fell wood for my house.\"\n\nAnd, as they ate their midday meal together, each had a bamboo stick,\nfilled with chicken and rice. Now, it happened that Chum Paw had given\nthe bamboo sticks to the men, and, lo, on investigation, they found the\npieces in their various sticks were the parts of one chicken, and with\none accord, they cried, \"Chum Paw has deceived us. Come, let us kill\nher. Each has she promised to marry; each has she deceived.\"\n\nAll were exceedingly angry and vowed they would kill the deceitful\nwoman.\n\nChum Paw, seeing the men return together, knew her duplicity was known\nand realized they sought to kill her.\n\n\"I entreat that you spare my life, but take and sell me as a slave to\nthe captain of the ship lying at the mouth of the river.\"\n\nRelenting, the suitors took her to the captain. She, however, running on\nbefore, privately told the captain she had seven young men, her slaves,\nwhom she would sell him for seven hundred pieces of silver. Seeing the\nyoung men were desirable, the captain gave Chum Paw the silver, and she\nfled while the seven lovers were placed in irons.\n\nChum Paw fled to the jungle, but, frightened by the wild beasts, she\nsought refuge in a tree. And it came to pass that the suitors escaped\nfrom the ship and they, too, sought refuge in the jungle. Unable to\nsleep and also frightened, one of them climbed a tree that he might be\nsafe from the wild beasts, and, lo, it was the same tree in which Chum\nPaw had taken refuge.\n\n\"Be silent, make no noise, lest the others hear us,\" whispered Chum Paw.\n\"I love you and knew you were wise and would escape from the ship. I\nonly desired the silver for us to spend together.\"\n\nThe unfortunate man believed, and sought to embrace her, but, as he\nthrew up his arms, Chum Paw threw him down, hoping thus to kill him. The\nothers, hearing the commotion, feared a large bear was in the tree and\nhastily fled. Uninjured the suitor, whom Chum Paw had thrown from the\ntree, fled with them.\n\nChum Paw seeing that they all fled ran behind, as she knew no beast\nwould attack her while there was so great a commotion. As the suitors\nlooked back, they saw her, but mistook her for a bear and ran but the\nfaster, and finally, they all, the seven suitors and Chum Paw reached\ntheir homes.\n\nKnowing the suitors would again seek her life, Chum Paw made a feast of\nall things they most liked and bade the young men to come. (All the food\nwas prepared by Chum Paw and poisoned.) \"I want but to make me _boon_\nbefore I die, so I beg you eat of my food and forgive me, for I merit\ndeath,\" said the maiden, as they sat in her house. All ate; and all\ndied.\n\nChum Paw carried six bodies into the inner part of the house, and one\nshe prepared for the grave. Weeping and wailing, she ran to the nearest\nneighbor, crying, \"I want a man to come bury my husband. He died last\nnight. As he had smallpox, fifty pieces of silver will I give to the one\nwho buries him.\"\n\nA man who loved money said, \"I will bury him.\" When he came to the\nhouse, Chum Paw said, \"Many times has he died and come back to life. If\nhe comes back again, no money shall you have.\"\n\nThe man took the body, made a deep grave, buried the man and returned\nfor his silver. Lo, on the mat lay the body! He made a deeper grave and\nagain buried it. Six times he buried, as he supposed, the body, and, on\nreturning and finding it a seventh time, he angrily cried, \"You shall\nnever return again.\" Taking the body with him, he built a fire, placed\nthe body on it, and, while it burned, went to the stream for water. When\nhe returned, lo, a charcoal man was standing there, black from his work.\n\nFilled with wrath, the man ran up to him crying, \"You will come back\nagain, will you? will cause me this trouble again, will you?\"\n\nThe charcoal burner replied, \"I do not understand.\" Not a word would the\nman hear, but fought the burner, and as they struggled, they both fell\ninto the fire and were burned to death.\n\nChum Paw built a beautiful home and spent the silver as she willed.\n\n\n\"The Wisest Man of a Small Village is Not Equal in Wisdom to a Boy of\nthe City Streets\"\n\nOnce a boy of the city, watching a buffalo outside the gate of the\nlargest city in the province, saw three men approaching. Each was the\nwisest man of the village from whence he came. The boy called to them,\n\"Where go ye, old men?\"\n\nThe men angrily replied, \"Wherefore dost thou, who art but a child,\nspeak thus to us who are old and the judges of the villages from whence\nwe come?\"\n\nThe boy replied, \"There is no cause for anger. How was I to know ye were\nwise men? To me, ye seem but as other men from a country place,--the\nwisest of whom are but fools.\"\n\nThe three men were very angry, caught the boy and said, \"We will not\nenter into the city, but will go to another province and sell this\ninsolent boy, because he neither reverences age nor wisdom.\"\n\nThe boy refused to walk, so they carried him. All day they walked along\nthe road, carrying the boy, and at night they slept by the roadside. In\nthe morning, when they craved water and bade the boy go to a brook, he\nrefused, saying, \"If I go, ye will run and leave me. I will not go.\"\n\nThirst drove one of the wise men for the water, and the boy drank of it\nfreely.\n\nSeveral days' journey brought them to a wall of a large city, and night\nwas spent at a _sala_ near the wall. Seeking to rid themselves of the\nboy, they bade him go to the city for fire to cook food. Realizing their\nmotive, he answered, \"Should I go, ye will leave me. I will not go,\nthough, if ye let me tie ye to the posts of the _sala_, then will I go.\"\n\nWith one accord they agreed, saying, \"Do thou even so. We are weary\ncarrying thee and cannot go for the fire.\"\n\nTying them all, the boy ran to the city, where he met a man whom he\nasked, \"Dost thou wish to purchase three slaves? Come with me.\"\n\nThe man returned with the boy, saw the men, and gave him full value for\neach.\n\nHaving thus disposed of his captors, the cunning little fellow joined\nsome men going to his native city, and as he walked along, he thought,\n\"I was ever wanting to see other places, and now I have been carried a\nlong journey, and have silver to last me many days ... surely, I have\nmuch _boon_.\"[16]\n\n  16: Merit.\n\n\n\"To Aid Beast is Merit; To Aid Man is but Vanity\"[17]\n\nA hunter, walking through a jungle, saw a man in a pit unable to escape.\nThe man called to him, \"If thou wilt aid me to escape from this snare,\nalways will I remember thy grace and merit.\" The hunter drew him out of\nthe pit, and the man said, \"I am goldsmith to the head chow, and dwell\nby the city's gate. Shouldst thou ever want any benefit, come to me, and\ngladly will I aid thee.\"\n\nAs the hunter travelled, he met a tiger caught in a snare set for an\nelephant, and the tiger cried, \"If thy heart prompts thee to set me\nfree, thy aid will ever be remembered by me.\" He helped the tiger from\nthe snare, and it said, \"If ever thou needest aid, call and I will come\nto thee.\"\n\nThen again the hunter went on his way, and came to a place where a snake\nhad fallen into a well and could not get out, and the snake cried, \"If\nthou wilt aid me, I can aid thee also in the time soon to come,\" and he\nassisted the snake. \"When the time comes that thou needest me, think of\nme, and I will come to thee with haste,\" said the snake.\n\nNow, it had happened that on the day that the hunter had rescued the\ntiger it had killed the chow's child, but of this the hunter knew\nnothing. And it came to pass that three days after, the hunter desiring\nto test the words of the tiger, went to the forest. Upon calling it, the\ntiger came to him immediately and brought with him a long golden chain,\nwhich he gave to the hunter. The hunter took the chain home, and,\nwishing to sell it, sought the goldsmith whom he had befriended. But the\ngoldsmith, seeing it, said, \"You are the man who has killed the chow's\nchild.\" And he had his men bind the hunter with strong cords and took\nhim to the chow in the hope of gaining the reward offered to any who\nmight find him who had killed the child.\n\nThe chow put the hunter in chains and commanded he die on the morrow.\nThe hunter begged for seven days' respite, and it was granted him. In\nthe night he thought of the snake he had helped, and immediately the\nsnake came, bringing with him a medicine to cure blindness. While the\nhousehold of the chow slept, the snake entered and cast of its venom in\nthe eyes of the chow's wife, and she was blind.\n\nThroughout all the province the chow sought for some one to restore the\neyes of his afflicted wife, but no one was found.\n\nIt happened on a day, that word came to the chow's ears that the hunter\nhe had in chains for the death of his child, was a man of wisdom and\nknew the merit of all the herbs of the field, therefore he sent for him.\n\nWhen the hunter came into the presence of the chow unto where the wife\nsat, he put the medicine which the snake had brought him into the eyes\nof the princess, and sight, even like unto that of a young maiden, was\nrestored unto her.\n\nThen the chow desired to reward the hunter, and the hunter told him how\nhe had come into possession of the golden chain, of the medicine which\nthe serpent had given him because he had aided it in its time of\ntrouble, and of the goldsmith, who had not only forgotten benefits\nreceived, but had accused him so he might gain a reward. And when the\nchow learned the truth, he had the ungrateful goldsmith put to death,\nbut to the hunter did he give half of his province, for had he not\nrestored the sight of the princess?\n\n  17: This only of the Folk Tales has been written before. It is taken\n  from an ancient temple book and is well-known in all the Laos country.\n\n[Illustration: The \"Chow\" and his Palace.]\n\n\n\n\n  VIII\n  The Gods Know and the Gods Reward\n\n\nLove's Secrets\n\nThere was once a poor woodsman, who went to the jungle to cut wood, so\nhe might sell it and buy food for his wife and child. And upon a day,\nwhen the cool evening had come, wearied, the man lay down to rest and\nfell into a deep sleep.\n\nFrom his home in the sky, the god who looks after the destiny of man was\nhot-hearted[18] when he saw the man did not move, and he came down to\nsee if he were dead. When he spake in the wood-cutter's ear, he awoke\nand arose, and the fostering god led him home. As they came near the\ngate, the god said, \"Stand here, whilst I go and see to the welfare of\nthy wife.\" Listening without, the god heard the fond wife say to the\nlittle child, \"I fear some evil hath befallen thy kind father. Ever doth\nhe return as it darkens about us.\"\n\nThe god knew from her words that the wife was good, and taught the child\nlove and reverence for its father, therefore was he pleased, and\nreturning to the woodsman, sent him in haste to his home, and said, \"I,\nmyself, will lay the wood in its place.\"\n\nThe next morning, when the eye of day opened, the fond wife went for\nwood to build a fire that her husband might eat of hot food ere he went\nto his daily labor, and, lo, when she saw the wood which her husband had\nbrought home, all was turned into gold! Thus had the cherishing god\nrewarded a husband faithful in his work, and a wife loving and\nthoughtful.\n\nLeaving the house of the worthy woodsman, the god met a man tardily\nwending his way home with a small, poorly-made bundle of sticks.\nApproaching him, the god said, \"Wait at the steps. I will go first and\nsee how it is with thy wife.\" And the god went up unseen, and heard the\nwife say to her son, \"Ever is it thus. Thy father thinks naught of us;\nhe stays away so he need be with us but little.\"\n\nSadly the god returned to the laggard, took the bundle from him, and\nbade him go to his wife and child, saying he would put the wood in its\nplace.\n\nLate the following day, long after the husband had gone to his work, the\nwife went for some wood, and, lo, found all the wood had turned to\nvenomous snakes! Then was she afraid, and she grew kinder of heart and\nstrove to make her husband better and happy.\n\n  18: Anxious.\n\n\nPoison-Mouth\n\nThere was once a poor father and mother who had a little daughter,\ncalled \"Poison-Mouth.\"\n\nAnd it happened on a day that a great number of cows came into the\ngarden, and when the mother saw them she cried angrily, \"You but destroy\nour garden. I would you were all dead.\"\n\n\"Poison-Mouth\" hearing her mother's angry words, called out, \"Die, all\nof you, for you are destroying our garden.\" And immediately all the\ncattle dropped dead.\n\nUpon another day, the bees were swarming and great companies flew over\nthe house, and the mother said complainingly, \"Why do you never come to\nus that we may have honey?\"\n\nLittle \"Poison-Mouth\" called: \"Come to us that we may have honey.\" And,\nlo, before the eye of day had closed, the house was filled with bees and\nthe poor people had more honey than they could use.\n\nWord of \"Poison-Mouth\" reached a great chow, and, prompted by the god of\nlove to sweeten the poisoned mouth, he sent ten men with this message to\nthe child's parents: \"Take good care of your child; let her hear no\nevil, and when she is old enough, I will take her to wife.\"\n\nWhen the men approached the home of \"Poison-Mouth\" they said, \"O, poor\npeople,\" but the mother would not permit them to finish, as their words\nangered her, and she exclaimed, \"You are bad dogs!\" And the men were no\nlonger men, but dogs, snapping and snarling, for little \"Poison-Mouth\"\nhad also cried, \"Bad dogs are you.\"\n\nThough greatly distressed, the chow sent yet again twenty men with his\nmessage. And again, when the mother beheld these men, she exclaimed,\n\"See, the dogs coming yonder!\" \"Poison-Mouth\" echoed, \"Yes, twenty dogs\nare coming now,\" and they also changed into dogs, fighting on the\nstreets.\n\n\"Who can help me?\" cried the chow, distressed though not despairing.\n\nAn old man answered, \"I will help you. I will go to the child.\" And,\nwhile the mother was absent, he sought the little one, and thus softly\nsaid, \"My child, thy tongue is given thee to bless with, and not to\ncurse. Come with me, and learn only that which is good.\" The little one\nanswered, \"I will come,\" and the old man took her to the chow, who, from\nthat time forth, spoke no evil, and, little \"Poison-Mouth,\" hearing none\nbut beautiful and good words, grew beautiful and good, and her words\nbrought blessings ever.\n\n\nStrife and Peace\n\nThere was once a husband and wife who ever quarrelled. Never were they\npleasant with each other.\n\nA wealthy man sought to see if they could spend but a day in peace, so\nhe sent two men with one hundred pieces of silver to them, saying, \"If\nthis day be spent without strife, this silver shall be yours.\" Then the\ntwo men hid themselves near the house to watch after what fashion they\nspent the day.\n\n\"If we are to earn the reward, it were better thou shouldst hold thy\ntongue with thy hand, else thou canst not endure throughout the day,\"\nsaid the husband.\n\n\"Ever am I quiet. It is well known of all the neighbors that thou, and\nthou alone, art ever quarrelsome,\" retorted the wife.\n\nAnd thus they disputed until both grew angry, and the quarrel was so\nloud that all the people living near heard it. Thereupon the two men\ncame forth from their hiding-place, and said, \"The silver does not\nbelong to you, of a certainty.\"\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nDetermined to find virtue, the rich man sent the two men with the silver\nto a husband and wife who never quarrelled, and bade them say, \"If this\nday, you will strive one with the other, these one hundred pieces of\nsilver shall be yours.\"\n\nThe husband greatly desired the money and sought to anger his wife. He\nwrought a basket which she wanted to use in sunning the cotton, with the\nstrands of bamboo so wide apart that the least wind would blow all the\ncotton out of the basket. Yet, when he handed it to his wife, she\npleasantly said, \"This is just the right kind of a basket. The sun can\ncome in all about the cotton, as though it were not in a basket at all.\"\n\nAgain, the husband made a basket so narrow at the top that it was\ndifficult to put anything into it, and also the mouth was of rough\nmaterial so that the hand would be scratched in putting in or taking out\nthe cotton. \"Surely, this will anger her,\" thought the husband.\n\nTurning it from side to side, the wife said, \"Now, this, too, is just\nright, for when the wind blows, the cotton will be caught on the rough\nwood at the mouth and cannot blow away.\"\n\nThe two men in hiding all day heard nothing but gentle words, so, in the\nevening, they returned to the rich man, saying, for they knew not the\nefforts of the husband to provoke his wife, \"Those two know not how to\nquarrel.\"\n\nGladdened, the seeker for virtue commanded them to be given the silver,\nfor they loved peace.\n\n\nThe Widow's Punishment\n\nOnce there lived a woman who had a son and a nephew living with her. And\nupon a day they came to her desiring money that they might go and trade\nin the bazaar. She gave each a piece of silver of equal value, and bade\nthem so to trade and cheat that they might bring home much money.\n\nAt the bazaar, one bought a large fish, the other, the head and horns of\na buffalo, and, as they rested by the roadside on their way home, they\ntied the large, living fish and the buffalo head together, and threw\nthem in a muddy stream. When they threw the stones at the fish, it\njumped, thus causing the buffalo head to move as though it were alive.\n\nA man saw the head in the water and desired to buy the buffalo. The boys\nnamed the price of a live animal, and, having received it, they fled.\n\nAs they went along, not long after, they found a deer which a wild dog\nhad killed, but had not eaten of it. It they took with them, and, a\ndrover, seeing it, asked where they had found it.\n\n\"Our dog,\" said the boys, \"is so trained, it goes to the jungle and\ncatches the wild animals for our food.\"\n\nThe drover desired to buy the dog.\n\n\"No,\" said the boys, \"we will not sell it.\"\n\nTheir words but made the drover more eager to possess the dog, and he\noffered ten of his best cattle in exchange. The exchange pleased the\nboys, and, having received the cattle for their useless dog, they\nhastened to a large city, where they sold them for much money and\nreturned home. On reaching it, they divided the money equally, but the\nmother was dissatisfied and desired that her son have the larger\nportion, therefore she insisted that they make an offering to the spirit\nin the hollow tree near by, before the money could be rightly divided.\n\nWhile the boys were preparing the offering, the mother ran and hid in\nthe hollow tree, and when they had made their offering and asked the\nspirit, \"What division must we make of the money?\" a voice replied,\n\"Unto the son of the widow, give two portions--unto the nephew of the\nwidow, give one portion.\"\n\nGreatly angered, the nephew put wood all about the tree and set fire to\nit. Though he heard the voice of his aunt, saying, \"I beg that thou have\nmercy on me and set me free,\" he would not recognize it, and the widow\nand the tree perished. Thus, she who had taught him to cheat, by her own\npupil was destroyed.\n\n\nHonesty Rewarded\n\nIn the far north country there lived a father, mother, and son. So poor\nand desolate were they that their only possession was an old ax. Each\nmorning, as the eye of day opened on the earth, they went to the woods\nand there remained until the evening, cutting the wood, which, when\nsold, furnished their only source of a living.\n\nUpon a day, when the cutting was done, they placed the ax near the wood\nand went deeper into the jungle for vines to bind the wood. It happened\nthe chow of the province came that way with twelve of his men; one of\nwhom bore an ax of gold, another bore an ax of silver and both belonged\nto the chow. Yet, when the chow saw the old, wooden-handled ax lying\nnear the wood, he commanded that it be taken home with them.\n\nThe family returning found their ax gone. Deeply distressed, they sat\ndown and wept, and thus in trouble, did the chow and his men find them\nas they came that way again.\n\n\"Why are your hearts thus troubled?\" inquired the chow.\n\nThey answered: \"O chow, we had but one ax and it is gone and no other\nmeans of earning food have we!\"\n\nThe chow replied: \"I found your ax. Here it is.\" And he commanded they\nbe given the ax of silver, whose handle even was silver.\n\n\"That is not ours,\" they cried, \"not ours.\"\n\nThe chow commanded the ax of gold be given them. Yet they wept but the\nmore, saying, \"The golden ax is not ours. Ours was old, 'twas but of\nsteel and the handle of wood, but 'twas all we had.\"\n\nTheir honesty gladdened the heart of the chow and he commanded that not\nonly their own ax be returned, but the ax of gold, the ax of silver, and\neven a pun[19] of gold be given them. Thus was merit rewarded.\n\n  19: About 3 lbs. avoir.\n\n\nThe Justice of In Ta Pome\n\nMen of three countries wanted a chemical to change stones and metals\ninto gold, and they all came together to worship In Ta Pome, one of the\ngods. One man was from China, one from India, and one from Siam. They\nall worshipped at the feet of In Ta Pome, saying, \"We beg thee, O In Ta\nPome, give unto us the chemical which will change all stones and metals\ninto gold.\"\n\nIn Ta Pome replied, \"Each of you kill one of your children, cut him into\npieces and put him into a jar. Cover this with a new, clean cloth, and\nbring it unto me.\"\n\nThe Chinaman feared to kill his child, so killed a pig, cut it up and\nplaced it in a jar, over which he tied a close cover.\n\nThe Siamese did the same with a dog, but the Indiaman believed in In Ta\nPome, and killed his only son, put him into a jar, and covered it.\n\nAll returned to the god with their several jars.\n\nIn Ta Pome sprinkled the jar of the Chinaman first, saying, \"Whatsoever\nis silver, let it be silver; whatsoever is gold, let it be gold,\" but\nthe pig grunted, as pigs do, and In Ta Pome said, \"From this time forth,\nyou shall take care of pigs and kill them to gain gold.\" Sprinkling the\njar of the Siamese, the god again said, \"Whatsoever is silver, let it be\nsilver; whatsoever is gold, let it be gold,\" but the dog barked, as dogs\ndo, and In Ta Pome said, \"You must plow the earth, and only by the sweat\nof your brow shall you have enough to keep you in food.\"\n\nTaking the jar of the Indiaman, and having sprinkled it, In Ta Pome\ncried, \"Whatsoever is silver, let it be silver, and whatsoever is gold,\nlet it be gold,\" and lo, the child came to life! And to the Indiaman did\nIn Ta Pome give the chemical that changes all stones and metals into\ngold, because he had believed, and had not tried to mock and deceive the\ngods.\n\n\n\n\n  IX\n  Wonders of Wisdom\n\n\nThe Words of Untold Value\n\nIn the days long since gone by, a young man, a son of a poor widow,\ndesired to go with two of his friends to Tuck Kasula,[20] the country\nwhere one could learn the wisdom of all the world, but he had no gold\nwith which to buy the wisdom, for does not every one know that wisdom is\ndifficult to obtain, and is therefore of great price.\n\nNow, the two young friends had each two puns[21] of gold, but the\nwidow's son had but two hairs of his mother's, which, when he wept\nbecause he had no money, the widow had given him, saying, \"I have naught\nbut these two fine hairs to give thee, my son, but go with thy friends,\neach hair will be to thee as a pun of gold.\"\n\nThen the son placed the two hairs in a package with his clothing, and\nsealed the package with wax, and set out with his friends to visit Tuck\nKasula.\n\nAfter they had travelled some time, they grew hungry, and on arriving in\na village, they entered a house for food. The widow's son left his\npackage and his other goods on the veranda. While he was within the\nhouse a hen ran away with the package and lost it. The owners of the hen\noffered the son anything they had either of food or clothing to replace\nhis loss, but he would be content with nothing but the hen, and they\ngave it to him.\n\nAnd again when they entered another house for food, the widow's son tied\nthe hen to a small bush in the compound, and, lo, an elephant stepped\nupon it and killed it!\n\nThe people offered the young man many things to make good his loss, but\nhe would be content with nothing but the elephant, and they gave him the\nelephant.\n\nAt last they reached Tuck Kasula, and while his two friends, with their\ngold, sought the house of the teachers, the widow's son stayed under a\ntree where he could hear the teachers instructing their disciples.\n\n\"If you wish to know others, sleep. If you wish to see, go and look,\"\nsaid a wise man. \"These words are of untold value, but, for only two\npuns of gold will I give them unto you,\" he added.\n\nThe widow's son knew he had heard without price the wisdom for which his\ntwo friends would each have to pay two puns of gold, so he quietly\nturned the elephant and returned home.\n\n\"I will buy your words of wisdom, if you will sell them,\" said the judge\nto the widow's son.\n\n\"For two puns of gold I will sell them,\" answered the widow's son.\n\n\"Two puns of gold will I give thee,\" said the judge.\n\n\"'If you wish to know others, sleep. If you wish to see, go and look,'\"\nsaid the widow's son, when he had in his possession the two puns of\ngold.\n\nThe judge, desiring to test the truth of the words, as he understood\nthem, called unto him his four wives, and said, \"I am not well. Give me\nwater to drink, and fan me.\" Soon he seemed to be asleep, and his wives\ntalked thus together in low voices:\n\n\"It is not pleasant to be the wife of this foolish man,\" said the first.\n\n\"I like another man better,\" said the second.\n\n\"I wish I could steal his goods and flee while he sleeps,\" said the\nthird.\n\n\"I would like to make him a savory dish with poison in it to kill him,\"\nsaid the fourth.\n\nThen the judge sprang up and cruelly punished his wives and put them in\nchains.\n\nAnd upon another day, the judge arose early and went out to see how his\nslaves worked. Under the house, hunting for something, he saw a man.\n\n\"What do you seek?\" asked the judge.\n\n\"I have just stolen from the judge all of his silver, and, in trying to\nget it through a small opening, I broke my finger-nail. If I do not find\nit, the judge will die and all his possessions will be destroyed, for,\nas thou knowest, ever is it thus, if a finger-nail falls near a house.\"\n\nWhen the man had found the broken nail, the judge said, \"I, who stand\nhere, am the judge. I will but take from you the silver which you have\nstolen and no punishment shall be yours, because of the truth which you\nhave told.\" Then the judge said to himself, \"The two puns of gold was a\nsmall price to pay for the wisdom which I have obtained.\"\n\n  20: A fabulous \"City of Wisdom.\"\n\n  21: A pun--about 3 lbs. avoir.\n\n\nA Wise Philosopher\n\nAs a rich trader journeyed to another province, he rested by the road\nunder a tree, and, as he sat there, a poor young man approached and\nasked that he might accompany him.\n\n\"Come,\" said the trader, and, as they journeyed, they came to a place\nwhere there were many stones, indeed there was naught else to be seen.\n\n\"Here are there no stones,\" said the poor young man.\n\n\"You are right, here are no stones,\" replied the trader.\n\nSoon they reached the shade of a large forest, and the young man said,\n\n\"Here are no trees.\"\n\n\"You are right, here are no trees,\" the trader assented.\n\nWhen they reached a large village, the poor young man said,\n\n\"Here are no people.\"\n\n\"You are right,\" spake the trader, but he wondered what manner of man\nmight he be who knows nothing and has neither eyes nor ears. However, as\nhe returned home and the poor young man begged to accompany him, he\nagreed and took him with him.\n\nAnd, as they approached the trader's home his daughter called, \"O\nfather, what have you brought?\"\n\n\"Nothing but this foolish young man,\" answered the trader.\n\n\"Why do you call him a fool?\" asked the daughter. \"By his appearance and\nmanner I would judge he were the god of wisdom come down in man's form.\"\n\n\"I can see no wisdom in one who, when he can see but stones, says,\n'There are no stones here,' or, when he is in the forest, says, 'Here\nare no trees,' or, when in the midst of a populous village, says, 'There\nis no man here,'\" replied the trader.\n\n\"He meant, where the stones were all about, that none were precious;\nwhere the forest was, that there was no teak, no wood good for man's\nuse; and, where the village was, there were no people, as the people had\nall fallen away from the religion of Buddha, living but as beasts and\nmaking no merit for the future life,\" argued the daughter.\n\n\"If you esteem him so highly, take him for your husband,\" said the\ntrader.\n\n\"If your daughter will have me as her husband, ever will I endeavor to\nmake the path on which she treads smooth and beautiful for her feet,\"\ncried the poor young man.\n\nThey were married and lived happily, and, upon a time, the head chow\nsummoned the trader to come watch his house during the night. Greatly\nwas the trader troubled. \"I shall die this night,\" cried the trader.\n\n\"Why shall you die, my father?\" asked the son-in-law, in great concern.\n\n\"The chow has called me to watch this night and for some time past he\nhas killed all who have watched for him; an evil spirit has possessed\nhim and he loves to punish with death the watchmen, for, he falsely says\nthey sleep and he has them killed but to satisfy the spirit in him,\"\nanswered the trader.\n\n\"I will watch in thy stead,\" said the son-in-law. And fearlessly did he\ngo to the chow's, and, when midnight was come and the chow descended\nsecretly to see if the watchman slept, lo, the young man prayed aloud\nfor the god of wisdom to come teach him what to do. The chow, hearing\nthe sound of voices, listened, and heard one voice say, \"The brave and\nthe strong govern themselves, then have they the power to govern others.\nThe wise make themselves loved because they are good and true, and are\nserved by others through love and not through fear,\" and another voice\nsteadily repeated the words. Three times during the night came the chow.\nEach time the voice was speaking and being answered, and, lo, when the\neye of day opened in the East, the chow was found possessed of a kind\nand loving spirit and no longer desired to destroy his people. The young\nson-in-law of the trader was made a leader of the people, for the chow\ndeclared unto all that the spirit of the god of wisdom dwelt in the\nyoung man's heart, and, it came to pass that the whole land was blessed\nbecause one young man had learned of the god of wisdom.\n\n\nThe Boys Who Were Not Appreciated\n\nOnce there were two brothers. The elder watched and tended the younger\nduring the day, while their mother went to labor for food. It had\nhappened that the father had died, and the mother had taken another\nhusband who ever sought to teach the mother to dislike and neglect the\nbrothers.\n\nAnd it fell upon a day that the children waited and watched for their\nmother's return until they were hungry, for all day had they had no\nfood. When the eye of day closed, they sought food and found some green\nfruit. This they ate and then lay down to sleep.\n\nLong after darkness had settled, came the mother and her husband home,\nand the mother cooked rice which they sat down to eat.\n\nAwakened by the odor of the rice, the children heard the talking, and\nthe elder led his younger brother to his mother and begged food, but the\nhusband said, \"Do not give them of our food,\" and the mother beat them\nand drove them from home. The elder brother carried his little brother\nback to sleep under the house, but even thence were they driven. At last\nthey sought and found shelter with a neighboring widow, who gave them\nmats to sleep on. As the eye of day opened, the two children set out to\nfind a new home. For many days did they walk, and upon an evening they\nfound a _sala_ near the chief city of another province. There they\nslept. In the morning the elder boy sought food, and behold, he saw two\nsnakes wrestling under the _sala_. Both were wounded. One, however,\nkilled the other and then left it and ate some grass growing near, and,\nlo, immediately the snake was whole as before. Waiting only until the\nrestored snake had gone, the boy gathered some of the grass, and put it\nin the mouth of the dead snake, and forthwith it came to life and\nblessed the boy. Gathering more of the grass, the boy returned to his\nbrother and they both ate of it and were strengthened.\n\nNot long after, a servant of the chow of the neighboring province came\nto the _sala_, and the boys asked, \"For whom is the mourning in the\ncity?\" The servant replied, \"The young daughter of the chow; and the\nchow mourns. If any one will restore her unto life, the chow declares,\nunto him will he give half of his province and goods.\"\n\nEager to try the wonderful grass, the boy carried his young brother and\nsome of the grass even unto the chow's house, where he sought permission\nto restore the child with the grass. Gladly the chow consented. The boy\nplaced the magic grass in the maiden's mouth, and immediately she came\nto life. Full of joy, the chow shared his province and goods with him\nand even gave his daughter in marriage, as promised.\n\nAnd upon a day after they had lived happily a long time in that province\nand had grown wise and strong, the two young men thought of their\nmother, and said, \"We will go and visit her and her husband.\"\n\nThey made ready joints of bamboo and closed them, after having filled\nthem with gold, in such a way that no one could see the gold. When all\nwas ready, with a great number of elephants and servants, they returned\nto their native province.\n\nOn reaching their home, they gave of the bamboo joints to their friends\nand relatives, one each, but to their mother and her husband, gave they\nfive of the largest joints, and two of the largest gave they to the kind\nwidow.\n\n\"The bamboo makes fine firewood,\" they said to their mother. \"Cut it up\nand burn it.\"\n\nThe mother and her husband were angry and would not speak to the sons\nwho had brought but wood as a gift, and sorrowfully they returned to the\nother province.\n\nUpon a day the widow visited the mother and urged that she cut the\nbamboo joints.\n\n\"Your sons say that the bamboo makes a good firewood. Where is yours?\"\nthe widow asked.\n\nThe mother replied, \"It is outside. Our children came from a great\ndistance and brought to us but this firewood. We shall never touch it.\"\n\nBut the widow urged, \"I would believe and trust the love of my children.\nI beg that you cut up the wood.\" At last they did so, and when the\nhusband cut into the joints, lo, he found them all gold. Then ran they\nboth to find the sons to thank them, but they were already too far\ndistant. Unable to endure their remorse, there the mother and her\nhusband died on the wayside.\n\n\nThe Magic Well\n\nThe chow of a large province lay ill. All the doctors of many provinces\nwere summoned, but none could aid him, nor could any understand his\nmalady. Lying in his house one day, an old man begged he might see him,\nsaying he had a message from the spirits. Brought into the presence of\nthe chow, the old man said, \"Last night, as I lay on my bed, I had this\nvision. A spirit came to me and touched me and led me to the river's\nbrink. There I saw a boat prepared for my use. I entered the boat and it\nwas rowed swiftly by unseen hands down the stream. After a little time,\nit stopped at the foot of a tall mountain. Up this the spirit led me,\nand through which was no path. We journeyed until we reached the\nmountain's top. On its summit were two great walls of rock, and between\nthe walls was a gate, looking like a gate which led into a city. Leading\nme to the other side of the mountain, the spirit bade me ascend the rock\nwhere the foot of man had never before trod, and, far up in the face of\nthe rock, I saw a small opening, like the mouth of a well. I lay down\nand stretched my arm to its full length, but failed to reach the bottom\nof the opening. By the side of this opening, on looking more closely, I\nbeheld a cup tied to the end of a staff. With the cup I dipped pure\nwater from the well. About to drink of the water, the spirit restrained\nme and commanded I should come to thee and tell thee this water, and\nthis water alone, would heal thee. Therefore have I come, O prince, to\nlead thee unto this place.\"\n\nThe prince did not doubt him, but commanded the boats be prepared for\nhis use. Taking with him a large retinue of servants, and guided by the\naged man, they departed in search of the health-restoring well.\n\nAfter just such a journey as the man had described, at his bidding, the\nboats landed at the foot of a tall mountain, where he led them\nunerringly upward, although no path could be seen; the chow, leaning on\nthe arms of two strong men, followed.\n\nThere indeed were the walls of rock and the gateway, as the guide had\ndescribed, and, after a long and weary climb, they reached the opening\nin the rock.\n\nTaking the staff of the chow and binding his golden drinking-cup\nthereto, the aged man dipped from the well and gave it to the prince to\ndrink. Having drank of the water, and having poured it on his head and\nhands, the chow was healed of his sickness, and was as a new man. And to\nthis day, the water is used for the healing of the people.\n\n\n\n\n  X\n  Strange Fortunes of Strange People\n\n\nThe Fortunes of Ai Powlo\n\nOnce upon a time a father and mother had a wicked son whose name was Ai\nPowlo. One day, while in the rice fields together, the father sent the\nson to his mother with a message. Instead, however, of delivering the\nmessage, Ai Powlo said his father had been eaten by a tiger. Leaving his\nmother in great distress, he returned to the rice fields and told his\nfather that both his mother and the house were burned, and, for three\ndays, did the father mourn for his wife, as he lay in the watchhouse.\n\nWhile the father was mourning, Ai Powlo moved his mother and the house\nto a new place and then sought his father, saying, \"I saw a woman in a\nnew house by the stream who resembles my mother. Would you like her for\na wife?\"\n\n\"If my son seeks her for me, I would be thankful,\" replied the father.\n\nGoing to his mother, Ai Powlo said, \"I have a man who would make thee a\ngood husband. He would work in the rice fields. Will you take him for a\nhusband?\"\n\nThinking of the work, the mother said, \"I will. Go, bring him to me, my\nson.\"\n\nLo, when the father and mother met, they recognized one another, and\nthey knew their crafty son had deceived them!\n\nAs Ai Powlo fled from the wrath of his mother and father, he journeyed\nmany days, and, upon a day it happened he stole some pork from a\nChinaman. Taking the pork, he sought the rice fields and there he saw an\nold man at work. Running up to him, he called, \"Father, do you not\nhunger for some pork? I have some to share with you.\"\n\n\"I do, my son,\" replied the old man.\n\nTogether they went to the watchhouse to cook the pork, but found no pot\nthere.\n\n\"Whilst I make a fire, go thou, my son, to my house and ask my wife for\na pot.\"\n\n\"Your husband wants you to give me all the money in the house, as he has\nheard of an elephant which he can buy now,\" said Ai Powlo to the wife.\n\nThe wife refused to give it to him and Ai Powlo called to the husband,\nwho sat by the watchhouse waiting for the pot, \"She will not give it to\nme.\" The old man called back, as he was hungry for the pork, \"Give it to\nhim. Make haste,\" and receiving all their store, Ai Powlo fled into\nanother province.\n\nUpon a day, as Ai Powlo walked by the highway, he saw four bald-headed\nmen pouring water on their heads to cool themselves. Running up to them,\nhe said, \"I know a medicine which will make the hair grow. Rub your\nheads until the skin is broken, whilst I make the medicine.\"\n\nTaking some red peppers, he pounded them to a soft paste, put some salt\nin it, and then handed it to the four simple-minded old men, who had\nalready rubbed their heads until they bled.\n\nHaving used the medicine, they suffered great pain and would have killed\nAi Powlo, but he fled and took refuge with the chow, to whom he said, \"I\nsaw four old men on the way, who butted their heads together, trying to\nsee which could overcome the other. All have much strength, and their\nheads are scratched and bleeding.\" Even as Ai Powlo spoke to the chow,\nthe chow espied the men, and, when they came up, he commanded them,\nsaying, \"If you are able thus to wrestle for your own pleasure, you can\nwrestle for my pleasure.\" Not daring to disobey the command of the chow,\nthe men painfully wrestled. While they struggled, Ai Powlo, fearing\ntheir wrath, fled, and as he fled, he fell into a deep stream and was\ndrowned.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nMany years after, two fishermen were fishing in the stream, and as they\ndrew in the net, they found not a fish, but a skull, and lo, the skull\nboth laughed and mocked!\n\nAs the fishermen talked together of the curious skull, a man with a\nboat-load of goods approached, and they called to him, asking, \"Did you\never see a skull which laughed and mocked?\"\n\n\"Never did I see such a skull, nor ever will I believe there is such a\nthing,\" replied the man.\n\n\"If we show you such a skull, what will you give unto us?\" asked the\nfishermen.\n\n\"All the goods in my boat,\" laughingly answered the man.\n\nOn beholding the skull, which, of a truth did both laugh and mock him,\nthe boatman forfeited his goods, but, in his anger, he cut the skull and\nbroke it into pieces, and, of these pieces he made dice with which to\ngamble, and was it not fitting, as Ai Powlo, whose skull it was, in life\nhad but deceived, and ever done evil?\n\n\nThe Fortunes of a Lazy Beggar\n\nOnce upon a time a man lived who was never known to work. When the\nneighbors grew weary supplying him with food, he sought the forest, and\nlay down under a fig-tree so the ripe fruit might drop into his mouth.\nOften, when the food fell out of his reach, he would suffer hunger,\nrather than make an effort.\n\nIt fell upon a day that a stranger passed that way, and the lazy man\nasked him to please gather some fruit and put it into his mouth, as he\nhungered. The wily stranger gathered a handful of earth and put it into\nhis mouth, as he lay there with his eyes even closed. Tasting the earth,\nthe lazy man was angry, and he threw figs after the retreating impostor,\nwho ran away mocking him.\n\nDays after, a ripe fig fell into a stream near by and, floating down the\nstream, was seen and eaten by the daughter of a chow. Delicious to the\ntaste, she grew dissatisfied with all other fruit and vowed that, from\nhenceforth, she would eat of no other fruit, and that the man who had\nthrown the one beautiful fig should be her husband.\n\nAngered by such a caprice, her father urged her to be guided by his\njudgment. Unable to restrain her, and, hoping to turn her desire\nelsewhere, the chow made an elaborate feast and bade all the people of\nthe province to it. But, among all was not the one who had thrown the\nfig into the stream.\n\n\"Is there not yet a man who has not come to the feast?\" asked the chow.\n\n\"None save the lazy beggar who lies at the fig-tree,\" they said.\n\n\"Bring him hither,\" commanded the chow, determined to have his daughter\nsee what manner of man she was selecting as her husband.\n\nToo lazy to walk, the lazy man was carried into the presence of the chow\nand his guests.\n\nAshamed that his daughter sought such as her husband, and would have no\nother, as it was supposed that the lazy man alone had thrown the fig\ninto the stream, and he was too lazy to deny it, the chow had a boat\nbuilt for their use and commanded that they be floated down the stream\nto the sea. This he did, hoping his obstinate daughter and her lazy\nhusband might be lost to the world forever.\n\nAll day long the boat drifted; all day long spake the princess not one\nword to her husband, nor would she have aught to eat. Fearing she would\nnot live, if she did not eat, the beggar made a fire to cook some rice\nfor her. Lazy as ever, he put but two stones under the kettle, and it\ntottered.\n\n\"I cannot endure your lazy ways. Put three stones under the kettle,\"\ncried his wife.\n\nThe husband did so, glad she had spoken to him.\n\nAnd when the boat had drifted many days, it came to a place where once\nthere had been a large rice field and there it remained.\n\nWhile the princess stayed in the boat, the once indolent beggar labored\nday after day in the rice fields that they might live; moreover, he had\nlearned to love his princess wife.\n\nWhen the god, who looks to men's deeds, from his home in the sky saw the\nman no longer loved his ease more than all else, but would toil for his\nwife, he said within himself, \"the man deserves reward.\" So he called to\nhim six wild monkeys from his woods, and gave into their care six magic\ngongs, telling them to go beat them in the rice fields where the husband\ntoiled.\n\nThe husband heard the monkeys and the clanging of the gongs, but, at\nlast, unable to endure the noise, finally caught the monkeys and secured\nthe gongs. He then threatened to kill the monkeys, but they plead that\nthey were sent, by the god who looks to men's deeds, with the gongs as a\nreward for his merit. \"Having seen your efforts to provide for your\nwife, who loves not you, he sends you these gongs. If you strike this\none, you will grow beautiful; that one, you will have wisdom. Another\ngives you lands and servants, and, another, if struck while holding it\nin your hands, will cause people to do you reverence as though you were\na god,\" they told the man.\n\nHaving permitted the monkeys to go, he beat the gong of beauty, and his\nbody grew straight and tall, also his face became most pleasant to look\nupon. Beating the gong of power, and taking the others with him, he\nsought his wife. She did not recognize him, and would have done him\nreverence, but he said, \"Do me no reverence. I am thy husband,\" and he\ntold her of the god's reward. When she heard of the magic gongs, she\nentreated him to return to her father that he might forgive her for not\nhaving heeded his counsel.\n\nThrough the magic gongs, had they wealth, power and all benefits the\ngods could bestow, and the father loved them, and indeed gave his\nson-in-law power above all the princes in his province. And the once\nlazy man thought within himself: \"In former times the people derided me\nas a lazy man, because I would not work, now that I am possessed of\nwealth, they do me reverence; yet behold I am as lazy as ever, for I\nopen my mouth and food is ready for my use. Thus it is, that when a poor\nman does not work, he is called a lazy beggar, but when a prince, or\nrich man, does not work, he has power, and people do him reverence.\"\n\n[Illustration: A Laos Feast.]\n\n[Illustration: Street in a Laos Town.]\n\n\nThe Misfortunes of Paw Yan\n\nUpon a day, Paw Yan[22] said to his wife, \"Today I shall build a\nwatch-tower in the rice fields.\"\n\n\"You will need four posts about the size of our children here,\" replied\nthe wife.\n\nTaking the four children with him to the rice fields, Paw Yan dug four\npost holes and made the children stand in them. Then he packed the earth\nabout their feet to make them firm, took the beams and laid them on\ntheir shoulders, tied them in place, and went for more bamboo to finish\nthe watch-tower.\n\nThe eye of day had closed in the West, yet the husband and the children\nreturned not, so the wife, in distress, sought them in the fields, and,\nlo, when she reached them, there stood the four children as posts for\nthe watch-tower.\n\n\"Know you not anything? I said take four posts the size of our\nchildren,\" cried the wife.\n\nAnd upon another day did Paw Yan attempt to build the tower, but so\nutterly did he fail that his wife said, \"While I build the watch-tower\nyou gather the food for the pigs, and, when the eye of day closes, give\nit to them.\"\n\nPaw Yan watched until the eye of day was about to close, but forgot to\ngather the food for the pigs, so he took all the rice, which was the\nfood for the family, and went out to the pigs. He called, \"Ow, ow,\now,\"[23] and the pigs ran about trying to find the food, but Paw Yan\nforgot to throw it to them, for, while he stood there, he saw ants\nrunning down the trunk of a tree, and he could think of nothing else.\n\"That's an easy way to get down a tree,\" thought Paw Yan. \"I'll try it,\"\nand, throwing the rice aside, he climbed the tree, and, head first,\nstarted down, but fell to the ground and broke his neck!\n\n  22: Paw Yan--a blunderer.\n\n  23: Ow--take.\n\n\nAn Unfortunate Shot\n\nThere was once a poor man too ill to work, and he had no one to give him\nfood. The chow of the province heard of him and sent for him to come to\nhis house.\n\nWhen the man reached the house of the chow, the chow gave him a bow and\narrow, saying, \"Shoot upward toward the sky. When the arrow falls to the\nearth, if it fall making a hole in the earth, I will weigh the earth\nwhich the arrow digs up, and give thee the weight of it in gold. On\nwhatsoever thy arrow falls, that will I weigh and give its weight unto\nthee in gold. If, in its fall, the arrow should make a hole in the\nground six feet long and six feet deep, that earth will I weigh, and\ngold according to the weight thereof shall be thine.\"\n\nThe poor man was indeed glad, and, shooting with all his strength into\nthe air, the arrow pierced a pomegranate seed, therefore the chow gave\nunto him gold but the weight of the seed!\n\n\n\n\n  XI\n  Stories Gone Astray\n\n\nThe Blind Man\n\nA man and a woman had a daughter to whom they ever taught, in selecting\na husband, to take none but a man with rough hands, as then she might\nknow he would work.\n\nOverhearing this advice, and desiring a wife, a blind man took some\nrice, pounded it, and having rubbed it over his hands, came to woo the\nmaiden. Though utterly blind, the eyes of the blind man appeared even as\nthe eyes of those who see, and the maiden loved him and gave herself to\nhim in marriage. Never did she suspect the truth.\n\nMany days they lived happily, but upon a time the wife made curry of\nmany kinds of meat, and her husband ate but of one kind. When she asked\nhim why he ate but of the one kind, the husband replied, \"If a man eat\nfrom a dish, that dish should he wash. If I eat but from one, I need\nwash but one.\"\n\nAgain, upon a day, as the husband plowed the rice field, he plowed up\nthe ridges between the fields.\n\n\"Why dost thou work after that fashion?\" asked the wife.\n\n\"The places for planting the rice are small and narrow. I wish to make\nthem larger,\" replied the husband.\n\nWhen the rice had grown, the man went into the fields with his wife,\nand, as they walked, he fell over the ridges, in among the rice.\n\n\"Why dost thou fall upon the rice?\" asked the wife.\n\n\"I do but measure the distance between the plants. If the rice be good\nthis year, I will then know just how far apart to plant it next year,\"\nhe answered.\n\nAnd upon a time it happened the house was burning, and, as the wife\nfled, she saw her husband lingering and unable to find the door.\n\n\"Come this way, the door is here,\" cried the wife.\n\n\"I know, I know. I but measure the house that we may build another of\nits size,\" retorted the husband.\n\nLo, as the husband left the burning house and was running, he fell into\na well. His wife placed a ladder for him to climb out, but, behold, he\nclimbed far above the mouth of the well.\n\n\"Come down. Here is the ground,\" called the wife.\n\n\"I know, I know. I am up here to see if the fire is out,\" called down\nthe husband.\n\nLong had the father of the wife suspected the husband was blind, and,\nupon a day, he came to test his eyes. Carrying a bell, such as a buffalo\nwears, the father hid in the bushes and rang the bell.\n\n\"Go, bring the buffalo into the compound,\"[24] directed the wife.\n\nSuspecting naught, the husband went to the bushes, and cried, \"Yoo,\nyoo!\"[25] The father struck him, but he freed himself and returned to\nthe house and told his wife that the buffalo had been dangerous and had\nhorned him. But the father, convinced the husband had deceived them all,\ndrove him from the house.\n\nAs the blind man walked, he met a man with palsied feet.\n\n\"If thou wilt be eyes to me, I will be feet to thee,\" called the blind\nman, and, forthwith, he put the palsied man on his back. As they\njourneyed, they met a wizard, who said, \"Would you prosper, that which\nyou grasp hold with a secure hand.\"\n\nAnd upon a day, the man with the palsy saw a bird's nest; thinking there\nwould be eggs therein, he bade the blind man go up the tree and bring\nthem. When the blind man grasped the nest, the head of a venomous snake\nappeared, but his companion called, \"Grasp it tightly,\" and, as he held\nit, the snake cast of its venom in his eyes, and he saw all things. Just\nlingering to place the snake on his afflicted friend, and seeing him,\ntoo, restored, the husband hastened home to his wife, but as he ran, he\nbeheld her coming out to him. With these kind words did she greet him,\n\"O, my husband, come I will work for thee. I have ever loved thee!\" but,\nwhen she beheld that his eyesight was restored, she was exceeding glad,\nand greatly did she rejoice.\n\n  24: Enclosed grounds or yard--generally a place of residence.\n\n  25: Yoo, yoo--stand still, be quiet.\n\n\nHeads I Win, Tails You Lose\n\nA man once asked his newly-married son-in-law, \"You will help me in the\nwork that the chow gives me to do, now that you are one of us, will you\nnot?\"\n\nAnd the son-in-law replied, \"I will promise this. Whenever you go, I\nwill stay at home, and when I stay at home, you will go and work.\"\n\nPleased with the ready promise, the father said, \"I thank you, my son.\"\n\nWhen the chow called the father, the son said, \"This time you go, and I\nwill stay at home,\" and the father went.\n\nAnd when the chow again called, the son said, \"Now, I will stay at home,\nwhilst you go.\"\n\nThen the father understood the promise of his son, and he did his\ngovernment work alone until the day of his death.\n\n\nThe Great Boaster\n\nThere lived in the south a man who so continually boasted of his\nstrength and endurance that all the people called him, \"Kee-oo-yai\"--the\ngreat boaster. Never entered into his ear a tale of danger, but his\nmouth opened to speak of a greater one which had been his; never a feat\nof strength but he could tell of one requiring greater strength which he\nhad done, so, when the men of the village talked together and saw him\ndrawing near, they would derisively say, \"There is the great boaster\ncoming. We must flee from his face for, is not he as strong and brave as\nthe elephant? And we, compared to him are but as the dogs, or as the\npigs.\" And the company would separate, so when the boaster reached the\nplace no one would be there.\n\nOnce, a young boy came from a distant province, and, hearing of the\nboaster, said, \"Verily, I can bring him to have a face of shame before\nhis neighbors, for, in one thing I can excel any man almost. I can run\nfor a short distance and my heart does not beat faster, neither can any\nman say that my heart is quicker than when I am but seated, doing no\nlabor. I will challenge the boaster to run up a hill with me, breathing\nbut four times until the top is reached.\"\n\nThe next day, the boy met and challenged the boaster to run to the top\nof a small hill, drawing breath but four times on the way. \"If you can\nrun and draw breath but four times, I can run the same distance and draw\nbreath but twice,\" the boaster said.\n\nWhen the race was run, many men ran along to see that neither of the\nrunners deceived the other. The boaster ran but a short distance, when\nhe shouted in pain and shame, \"Had we been running down-hill, I am sure\nthat I could have done more than you.\"\n\nThen all the men mocked the boaster, saying, \"Your words are truly\nlarge, but your works are but small. Never again will we listen to you,\nfor a young lad has overcome one who says that he is stronger than the\nstrongest.\" From that time never were they troubled, for,\n\"Kee-oo-yai,\"--the great boaster, was never heard to boast again.\n\n\nA Clever Thief\n\nOnce a man went into the field of a gardener and stole a melon. Before\nhe had had time to eat it the gardener discovered him, took the melon\nand tied it to the neck of the thief, and led him to the home of the\nhead man of the village.\n\nAs they walked along, the thief took his scarf and covered his head and\nshoulders, and, as he was in front, he ate the melon without the\ngardener's seeing him.\n\nWhen they reached the home of the head man, the gardener said, \"This man\nstole a melon from me. It is tied to his neck under the cloth which\ncovers his head and shoulders.\"\n\n\"I thought this man but walked along. I did not know he would accuse me\nof such a sin. If I stole a melon, where is it?\" asked the thief. He\nremoved the scarf, and, lo, there was nothing to prove his guilt, and\nthe head man said, \"I see no sign of guilt in this man. Do not again\nfalsely accuse one, or you will be punished.\"\n\n\nEyeless-Needle, Rotten-Egg, Rotten-Banana, Old-Fish and Broken-Pestle.\n\nOnce upon a time there were five men so lazy and wicked that no one\nwould speak to them nor have anything to do with them. No one of their\nnative province would speak to them at all, and, to show their contempt\nfor them, the people had christened them by odious names. One was\ncalled, \"Eyeless-Needle\"; one, \"Rotten-Egg\"; one, \"Rotten-Banana\"; one,\n\"Old-Fish,\" and the fifth, \"Broken-Pestle.\"\n\nAs there was neither shelter nor food for them in the village, they went\nto live in the woods, and one day they saw a cannibal building a fire.\nHe had both a fine house and much goods, so one of the men said, \"Let us\ngo kill him, and take his goods.\"\n\n\"Eyeless-needle\" said, \"No, we must not kill him now. When he sleeps we\nwill kill him. I have planned just how it shall be done. You,\n'Rotten-Egg,' go to the fireplace. You, 'Old-Fish,' jump into the water\njar. 'Rotten-Banana,' lie down at the top of the stairs, and, you,\n'Broken-Pestle,' lie at the foot.\"\n\nAs the eye of day had closed and the cannibal slept, \"Eyeless-Needle,\"\nfrom under the bed, pricked him. The cannibal thought insects were\nbiting him, and, unable to sleep, he arose to build a fire. When he\nstooped to blow the flame, \"Rotten-Egg\" broke and flew up into his face;\nwhen he sought the water jar to wash his face, \"Old-Fish\" jumped and\nbroke the jar and all the water was lost. Taking the dipper to go to the\nwell for water, the cannibal slipped on \"Rotten-Banana\" and fell\ndownstairs, where \"Broken-Pestle\" struck him on the head and killed him.\nThen, taking much goods, \"Eyeless-Needle,\" \"Rotten-Banana,\"\n\"Rotten-Egg,\" \"Old-Fish,\" and \"Broken-Pestle\" fled, and to this day, has\nno one either seen or heard of them.\n\n\n\n\nFor Work Among Children\n\n*Practical Primary Plans.* For Sabbath School Teachers. By Israel P.\nBlack. Illustrated with diagrams. 16mo, cloth, $1.00.\n\n*Object Lessons for Junior Work.* Practical Suggestions, Object Lessons,\nand Picture Stories. By Ella N. Wood. 16mo, cloth, with designs and\nillustrations, 50 cents.\n\n*The Children's Prayer.* By Rev. James Wells, D.D. Addresses to the\nYoung on the Lord's Prayer. 16mo, cloth, 75 cents.\n\n*Bible Stories Without Names.* By Rev. 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A practical volume,\nreplete with incident and illustration. Suggestive, important, and\ntimely. Cloth, 75 cents; paper cover, 30 cents.\n\n*Gospel Pictures and Story Sermons for Children.* By Major D. W.\nWhittle. Profusely illustrated. _47th thousand._ 12mo, cloth, 30 cents,\nnet; paper, 15 cents.\n\n*Seed for Spring-time Sowing.* A Wall Roll for the use of Primary,\nSabbath School and Kindergarten Teachers. Compiled by Mrs. Robert Pratt.\n75 cents.\n\nFleming H. Revell Company\n\n  NEW YORK: 158 Fifth Avenue\n  CHICAGO: 63 Washington Street\n  TORONTO: 154 Yonge Street\n\n\nThe Home and Children\n\n*Child Culture in the Home.* By Martha B. Mosher. 12mo, cloth, $1.00.\n\n\"Rarely has so helpful a book on the moral education of children\nappeared. 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Revell Company\n\n  NEW YORK: 158 Fifth Avenue\n  CHICAGO: 63 Washington Street\n  TORONTO: 154 Yonge Street\n\n\n\n\nTRANSCRIBER'S NOTE\n\nIn the first story, A Child of The Woods, the second paragraph starts\nwith an opening quote that is never closed or continued, this has been\nleft unchanged.\n\nList of changes from the printed edition (in parentheses the original\ntext):\n\np. 72: \"venison\" for \"vension\" (I will neither eat of the vension, nor\nof the pork)\n\np. 80: \"flying-jewel\" for \"flying jewel\" (and instead of giving the\nrascal the flying jewel, flew away)\n\np. 155: \";\" for \".\" (Cloth, 75 cents. paper cover, 30 cents)\n\n\n\n\n\n<pre id=\"pg-footer\">","title":"Laos Folk-Lore of Farther India","tradition":"myth-cosmogony","translated_text":null,"word_count":24933}