Plain of Jars
(Photo by Phonsavan)
The Laos unit is series of different folktales. Laos folktales do not have many lessons. They tell how things came to be and why things are the way they are. There aren't very many folktales on lessons learned.
Story 1: A Child of the Woods
This tale is about the journey of a woman who went from hating her village to being a princess. Her heart grew colder and colder and she started to resent her people. She left into the jungle where no one’s ever stepped foot before. She wasn’t afraid of the beasts in the forrest and she lived in harmony with them. Her heart began to grow soft and she returned home. Because she wasn’t hurt by the beasts, the town considered her a legend.
Story 2: The Enchanted Mountain
There’s a mountain where hunters go to to get water and food. The catch is that nothing can ever leave with you when you leave the mountain, therefor, the only people to have every drank from the lake or eaten any of its fruit had to have been there. Because of this people doubt its existence, but those who believe will be rested and refreshed.
Story 3: The Spirit-Guarded Cave
People of a village were being tormented and they decided to pack up and leave. Eventually their food and resources ran out before they could finish their journey. They tried to figure out how to get more food and some suggested they sell their jewels and they all began to fight. A wise man suggested they hide their treasures and return to them when they are well. They all agreed but the day never came. They all became slaves and died, however, all the people from the are and even outsiders heard about the treasure. The spirits though guarded these treasures and would kill people before they could get to the jewels. There the jewels sit, forever untouched.
Story 4: There’s a site called plain of jars in Laos and the legend behind the reason they are all there is because of some spirits who needed money. They brought down mortars and forced the people to buy them by threatening them with their wrath. The spirits got their money but the mortars remained untouched because humans could not lift them.
Story 5: Why the Lip of the Elephant Droops
A man and his wife were sick of their twelve daughters. They sent their daughters into the jungle to fetch items but when the girls returned their parents were gone. They left into the jungle and came upon a woman who said she’d grant them a home if they stay with her daughter. She left everyday and wanted them not to play in the garden. Naturally, the girls ran into the garden and discovered the woman was a cannibal. They ran away and the woman chased after them. They successfully hid inside a cow but when they hid inside the elephant a girl left one of her garments sticking out of his mouth. The woman saw and cursed elephants. This is why elephants’ lips droop.
Story 5: The Man in the Moon
This is about a man who always wished to be something he wasn’t. The wise man granted him these wishes and eventually got tired of him always changing his mind. He was a blacksmith, a stone, a stone cutter, the sun and he ended up as the moon although he wished to be a blacksmith again.
Story 6: The Origin of Lightning
A great chief with ten wives gave everything he had. He wanted a better future life so he gave and gave and so did nine of his wives. One though, the main wife was selfish and gave nothing. When they all left the word they ended up in the sky except for the main wife, she became a crane. The chief came back disguised as a fish to see if her heart had changed. Though she was hungry she did not eat the fish and redeemed herself. In her next life she became a beautiful woman who left with the chief into the sky. The lighting is from the arrows the father shot at them trying to stop them.
Story 7: Why the Parrot and the Minor Bird but Echo the Words of Man
A man stole his neighbors buffalo and tried to deny it. The parrots rats him out by telling the neighbor what he did. The neighbor takes this man to court but the night before the hearing the man stuck the bird in a jar and poured water over him. The next day in court the people believed what he said about the man that stole the buffalo but cleverly the man told them to ask him what the weather was like the night before and the parrot said it rained. It did not so the people changed their mind and parrots were no longer welcome. They came back later to take revenge on the people and now people know not to lie and fear the birds will repeat their thoughts.
Story 8: The Lovers’ Leap
This story is similar to Romeo and Juliet. A man and a maiden were in love but her father forbid it. They decided to run off together and the father sent his people after the couple. They knew their only way to be together was to jump off of the cliff. They didn’t make it to the other side. The chose to be dead together than to live apart.
Story 9: The Faithful Husband
A man fell in love with a nymph. His mother forced her to cut her wings off so she wouldn’t leave her son, but the man ended up being sent off to war. The nymph won her wings back and left back for home. The man came back from war and searched for her immediately. Her father made her hide behind a curtain with her six sisters and he had to pick which one was his wife with only a finger to look at. He chose correctly and the king made him second in command.
Story 10: The Faithful Wife
A man was told her was going to marry a slave so he ran away. He returned years later and married a woman and discovered she was the made. He had to leave again but the wife went after him. He realized how much she loved him and he grew to love her back.
Story 11: The Giants’ Mountain and the Temple
Men asked giants to help them move a mountain so they could build their temple. The giants agreed to help if the men got the materials ready. They did not after the giants worked for days to moved the mountain. The people thought they could get away with taking advantage of the giants, but they were wrong. The giants bailed and laughed at the people from their own mountains.
Bibliography. "Laos Folk-lore." Katherine Neville Fleeson. Source.
No comments:
Post a Comment