Tuesday, November 10, 2020

The Mango Tree by Outhine Bounyavong

 

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.

 From: Mother’s Beloved: Stories from Laos


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