Laos Folk-Lore of Farther India Part 2

Sometimes, the crabs bury themselves in the mud, and the monkeys, seeing the tunnels they have made, reach down into them with their long tails, and torment the crabs until they, in anger, seizing the tormenting tail, are drawn out and devoured by their cunning foes. But, sometimes, alas, the crab fails to come out! No matter with what strength the monkey pulls and tugs, the crabs do not appear, and the poor monkey is held fast, while the tide comes in and drowns it. When the tide goes out again, leaving the luckless monkey on the beach, the crabs come out from their strongholds and feast on the dead enemy.

III Nature's Riddles and Their Answers

The Man in the Moon

There was a blacksmith once, who complained: "I am not well, and my work is too warm. I want to be a stone on the mountain. There it must be cool, for the wind blows and the trees give a shade."

A wise man, who had power over all things, replied, "Go thou, be a stone." And he was a stone, high up on the mountain-side.

It happened a stone-cutter came that way for stone, and, when he saw the one that had been the blacksmith, he knew it was what he sought and he began to cut it.

The stone cried out: "This hurts. I no longer want to be a stone. A stone-cutter I want to be. That would be pleasant."

The wise man, humoring him, said, "Be a cutter." Thus he became a stone-cutter and, as he went seeking suitable stone, he grew tired, and his feet were sore. He whimpered, "I no longer want to cut stone. I would be the sun, that would be pleasant."

The wise man commanded, "Be the sun." And he was the sun.

But the sun was warmer than the blacksmith, than a stone, than a stone-cutter, and he complained, "I do not like this. I would be the moon. It looks cool."

The wise man spake yet again, "Be the moon." And he was the moon.

"This is warmer than being the sun," murmured he, "for the light from the sun s.h.i.+nes on me ever. I do not want to be the moon. I would be a smith again. That, verily, is the best life."

But the wise man replied, "I am weary of your changing. You wanted to be the moon; the moon you are, and it you will remain."

And in yon high heaven lives he to this day.

The Origin of Lightning

There was once a great chief who desired above all things to be happy in the future life, therefore he continually made feasts for the priests and the poor; spending much money in making merit. He had ten wives, nine of whom helped him in all the merit-makings, but the head wife, his favorite, would never take part. Laughing, and making herself beautiful in soft garments and jewels, she gave naught to the priests.

And on a day, when the great chief and his nine merit-making wives were no more, but had gone to live in the sky on account of their merit-making, the great chief longed for his favorite, and taking a gla.s.s, he looked down on the earth to see her. After many days, he beheld her as a crane hunting for food on the border of a lake. The great chief, to try her heart and to see if she had repented, came down from his home in the sky in the form of a fish, and swam to the crane.

Seeing the fish, the crane pecked at it, but the fish sprang out of the water, and when the crane saw it was alive, she would not touch it.

Again the fish floated near the crane and she pecked at it, but on finding it was alive let it escape. Then was the heart of the great chief glad, for he saw that his favorite wife would not destroy life even to satisfy her hunger, and he knew that her merit was such she could be born in the form of a woman again.

It happened on a day that the crane died, and, when again born, had the form of a gardener's child. As the child grew in years and stature, she was fairer than any other in the land, and, when a maiden, the father and mother made a feast, inviting all the people to come. During the feast, they gave a wreath of beautiful flowers to their daughter and said, "Throw this into the air, and on whosesoever head it falls, that one will be to thee a husband."

The great chief, her husband of old, seeking her, came down to the earth in the form of an old man, and, when the maiden cast the wreath into the air, it fell on the head of this old man.

Great sport was made of him, and tauntingly the people cried, "Does this bent stick think he is mate for our lotus flower?"

But the fair maiden placed her hand in the old man's hand, and, together they rose into the air. In vain they sought to detain them--the father even shot at the old man, but they were soon lost to sight, and to this day, when the people see the chain lightning in the sky, they say it is the wreath of the beautiful maiden; when the lightning strikes, they say it is the gardener shooting at the old man, and, when the heat lightning flashes, they say it is the great chief flas.h.i.+ng his gla.s.s over the earth in search of his favorite and beautiful wife.

Why the Parrot and the Minor Bird but Echo the Words of Man

Long ago people caught and nourished the s...o...b..rd, because it learned the language of man more readily than either the parrot or minor bird.

While they had to be taught with much care, the s...o...b..rd had but to hear a word and it could readily utter it; moreover, the s...o...b..rd could utter its own thoughts.

Upon a time a man of the north country, owning a s...o...b..rd, stole a buffalo from his neighbor and killed it. Part of the buffalo the man cooked and ate; the rest he hid either in the rice bin or over the rice house.

Seeking the buffalo, next day, the neighbor asked the man if he had seen it.

The man replied, "No." The s...o...b..rd, however, cried out, "He killed it; part he hid in the rice bin, part over the rice house."

The neighbor searched in both of these places and found the parts just as the s...o...b..rd had said.

"I did not steal the buffalo," insisted the man.

But the bird ever called, "He killed it and put part into the rice bin, and part over the rice house."

Unable to decide between the words of the man and the words of the bird, the neighbor appealed to the court. And, it happened, the night before the trial, that the man took the s...o...b..rd, placed it in a jar, covered the jar and poured water over the cloth and beat on the outside of the jar. The noise of the beating was low and rumbling. All that night was the bird kept in the jar, and not once did it see the bright moonlight, which was almost as bright as day, for it was in the midst of the dry season and full moon. When the eye of day opened, the man removed the bird from the jar and placed it in its cage, and then took it to the court as a witness.

When the bird was called, it said, as before, "He killed it; part he put in the rice bin, and part over the rice house."

All people believed the bird.

"Ask it another question. Ask it what manner of night it was last night.

Will you condemn me to death on the word of a bird?" cried the man.

The question was put to the bird, but, remembering its fear, during the night, of the rumbling noise and the sound of running water, it answered, "Last night the sky called and the rain fell."

Then the people cried, "Of a truth, the bird cannot be believed. Because it has imperilled the life of an innocent man, from this time forth, the s...o...b..rd must not be cherished by man."

The thief was set free because there were but the words of the bird to condemn him.

No longer is the s...o...b..rd nourished by man, but lives in the forest.

Those who are full of fear, when they hear them talking in the forest, say, "it is the spirits."

When the s...o...b..rd saw the bright plumage of the parrot, and the black and gold of the minor bird, it knew they were strangers who had come to dwell in the north, and it asked the crow and the owl what manner of birds they were.

"Beautiful in plumage, as thou canst readily see," answered they.

"Moreover, they speak the words of man."

"Speak the words of man," echoed the s...o...b..rd. "I'll warn them. Come, let us greet them." And they went forth to meet the beautiful strangers.

And upon a day, as they all came together in one place, the s...o...b..rd cried out, "We, the chief birds of the north land, come to greet you and to give you of our wisdom, as you are but strangers in our land. It is told me you speak as does man; even so can I. Nourished by the hand of man many years, I did see with my eyes and hear with my ears, and my tongue uttered not only the things I beheld and heard, but things displeasing to my masters. At one time, all men spoke well of me, but afterward was I cruelly punished and driven from the homes of men.

Therefore come I this day unto you to warn you that, if man learns of your speaking tongue, he will capture you and nourish you in his home.

Yet, should you speak other than he teaches you, you will be punished and driven from the homes of men, for man loves only to hear _his_ thoughts repeated and loves not even a bird that has wisdom or truth greater than his own."

Fearful of uttering their thoughts, lest man resent it, the parrot and minor bird but echo the words of man.