Othine Bounyavong's collections of Folktales show us the universal desire of the people to create a better world. It shows us that the desire for unity, justice, and acceptance is so universal that it reflects the aspirations of the different tales around the world.
The Mango tree for instance, shows us how greed kills not to mention ignorance. The Earth gifts us with natural wonder and thus we have no power to abuse it not take it as our own.
The Mango Tree
Once upon a time a fine mango tree
grew in the jungle near the village. Every year when the fruit was ripe the
village children ran into the jungle and picked the fruit. One day, however,
when the children went to the tree, they found a fence all around it. At the
side of the fence there were two huge, fierce dogs. A stranger came out of the
jungle. "Go away!" he shouted loudly. "This is my tree
now." "No, it is not," the children cried. "You don't own
the jungle. The tree is everybody's tree. Anyone can have the fruit."
The children were telling the truth
but the stranger did not listen to them. He made his dogs chase the children
back to the village. The children went to the village headman and told him what
had happened. The village headman was very wise and, after some thought, he
worked out a clever trick to play on the nasty stranger. The next day one of
the girls of the village went to the tree again. She threw two pieces of meat
to the dogs and climbed over the fence. Then she took a mango from the tree and
began to eat it. Again, the stranger ran out of the jungle and he shouted at
her: "Stop! You cannot take my mangoes. Go away." The girl took
another bite from the mango. Suddenly she screamed out loud and fell to the
ground. At that moment, the headman came by and asked: "What have you done
to that girl?" "Nothing!" the man answered. "She took one
of my mangoes and fell to the ground."
"The headman looked sadly at the
little girl."She has mango sickness," he said. "Once every ten
years, this mango tree has poisonous fruit. This must be the tenth year for
this tree. You must not eat the mangoes on it this year." Then he picked
up the girl and carried her back to the village. The next morning, the village
headman took the children into the jungle to the mango tree. The stranger had
gone, and he had taken his fence and his huge dogs with him. Once again, the
children picked up the fruit, and carried them back to the village, laughing
and singing because the tree was everybody's tree once more.
The
Magic White Swan
The farmer went fishing one
day. He had a long fishing net. Like other farmers, he wore a piece
of cloth around his head. He cast his net, but he got nothing. He
did it again and again, but he got nothing. There was not a single
fish. He cast his net once, twice, thrice, but he got nothing. He
cast his net for the last time and pulled up the net. He pulled and he
pulled. "Oh, it is so heavy."
Then, he found a white pebble
in his net. It was the most beautiful pebble that he had ever seen.
So, he took the pebble home and placed it on the altar above his head.
After dinner, he went to sleep. The next day, the white pebble had turned
into a white swan. The swan approached the farmer and said, "I will
take you to a place, a beautiful place, full of flowers. You can take
whatever you like."
So the swan began flapping
its wings and flew off to the garden with the farmer sitting on its back.
Once there the farmer enjoyed
the garden. He picked one flower and felt that it was heavy. He picked
the second one and it got heavier. He picked the third one and it was
even heavier.
"Oh, I don't think I
should pick any more flowers. It will be too heavy for the swan to fly
and take me home."
So, the swan took the farmer
back home and disappeared. The flowers were turned into gold! So,
the farmer became a rich man.
The news of his wealth
reached the ears of his friend, who came to ask the farmer right away about how
he had acquired his wealth. The farmer told his friend everything.
The next day, his friend went
to fish in the river with his long net.
He cast his net, but he got
nothing. He cast his net once, twice, thrice, but he got
nothing. He cast his net for the last time and pulled up the net.
Then, he found a white pebble in his net. He took the pebble home and
placed it in his room.
The pebble became the
beautiful white swan who said to the second farmer:
"I will take you
somewhere today, to a flower garden."
So, the man jumped on the
swan's back and the swan took off to the flower garden. Once there the
man picked the flowers, one, two, three.
"Oh, I have to pick a
lot since I have come here already," he said.
So he picked two arms' full
of flowers and went to the swan.
"Take me home now.
I will put these away and I will come back for more."
So he jumped on the swan's
back. It was so heavy. The swan almost could not fly. He
flew, swaying left and right with weight. But he was able to take
the man to his house with difficulty.
The man jumped off the swan's
back and said, "Now, wait here. Don't go away. I will go back
to the garden to pick more flowers."
Then he took the flowers into
his room. When he came back, the swan disappeared. He returned to
his room, but he found . . .
only ordinary flowers, no
gold. And that's the story.
1) What a Beauty
What a Beauty was first published in 1978. It describes the relationship of Lao women
to the revolution. In this type of story, a Lao woman oppressed by the corrupt
capitalist society of pre-revolutionary Laos ultimately finds respect and
romance from the revolutionary cadres. The story’s heroine, a young woman named
Phaengkham, is unpopular because she is poor. During the Lao lamuong dance
described in the story’s opening scene, she cannot find a dance partner because
her clothes are not fashionable and she does not know how to dance in western
style. Eventually, however, one man shows an interest in her and explains to
her privately that he understands the true value of poor people, farmers, peasants,
and laborers. Only after the revolution does Phaengkham learn that her admirer
is a member of the Lao People’s Army. As for the wealthier women who had been
her competition on the pre-revolutionary dance floor, after the communist
victory they all have either fled the country or been sent away "to one of
those Women’s Islands to be re-educated."
These are some of the stories written
by Outhine Bounyavong, There are other stories, folktales, essays written by
other Lao writers deposited in literature-rich Laos waiting to be translated
and for the world to read.
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