#056 The Legend Of Princess Manorah

A story told and passed on through generations since the Ayutthaya period and which inspired a poem by King Rama V of Thailand. 

Kinnaree Manorah was a princess of Thai legend and was the youngest of the seven Kinnaree, daughters of King Prathum and Queen Jantakinnaree. She lived in the mythical Mount Grairat kingdom. The Seven Kinnaree appeared as half woman half swan. They could fly or shed their wings to change to human form as they pleased.

Within the Grairat kingdom there was the great Himmapan Forest in which lived strange creatures, unknown to human realms. In the middle of the forest was a beautiful lake which the seven Kinnaree loved to visit regularly on the auspicious day of Panarasi (Full moon day). Nearby, the lake, an old hermit practiced his meditations.

One day, a young man named Prahnbun, was strolling in the Himmapan forest, saw the seven princesses at play at the great pond. Prahnbun, stunned by the beauty of Manorah.

He thought, "If I can catch her and present her to Prince Suton, son of King Artityawong and Queen Jantaivee of Udon Panjah the Prince would surely fall in love with her. But how will I be able to catch her?"

He knew of the old hermit who meditated nearby in the forest and he decided to seek advice from the wise old man about his plans. The hermit told the young man that to catch the Kinnaree would be very difficult, as they would fly away if anyone frightened them, but that there was a great dragon living deep in the forest that might be able to help him. Prahnbun thanked him for his advice and raced off to see the dragon.

The great dragon was not happy to hear Prahnbun's plan but was, eventually persuaded by Prahnbun to give him a magical rope with which he would be able to catch Manorah. Prahnbun thanked the dragon, hurried away to the pond with the magical dragon rope.

He crept up to the pond's edge where the Kinnaree were playing. While the Kinnaree were all happily occupied with their play at the water's edge, he struck; throwing the magic rope around the neck of Manorah and caught her so tight, she could not escape. Her sisters fearful of being caught themselves; all took flight and flew away to safety.

Prahnbun then secured Manorah's wings to stop her from flying away and lead her away through the forest heading back to Udon Panjah to present her to the Prince Suton. 

The Prince happened to be riding through the forest when he came across Prahnbun with his prize. The beauty of Manorah instantly charmed the Prince and when Prahnbun told him that he had captured Manorah for him, the Prince was delighted with Prahnbun's good intentions and rewarded him handsomely.

The Prince returned to his Summer Palace in the forest with Manorah where their love for each other blossomed. When the Prince told his mother and father the whole story, they were very happy and immediately arranged the wedding between the Prince and Princess Manorah who returned to the Udon Panjah palace where they were married and lived happy ever after.

-FIN-

Read the Indonesian translation HERE

Author: Unknown

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#052 The Magic Stick

There was a very clear lake in Yunnan and some farmers living nearby, who kept cows. Every morning, they brought ninety-nine cows to the lake to drink. But, in some strange way, by midday there would be one hundred. A beautiful girl always appeared at the same time. Nobody knew where she came from. The farmers liked her very much. She knew many things and could tell them wonderful stories.

 “There is a magic cow among your cattle,” she told them. “Water will part and make a road when it walks towards it. It can also walk on top of water. A single hair from its body can carry a very heavy weight.”

The farmers asked her which one has the magic cow. She refused to tell them.

“Anyway,” she added, “only an honest man can find out.”

One day, the cows were looking for some corn to eat. The old man looking after them chased them away with a stick. The stick was old and cracked as he had been using it for many years. He did not notice that some cow’s hair had become caught in the cracks.

At the end of the day, when he got ready to return home, he hung two baskets of fire wood on the stick. He was surprised to find it was so light to lift.

“Eh!” he cried. “What has happened?”

He added another basket at each end. It was just as light. He added more and more baskets. Still it was not difficult to lift. He ran all the way home.

From then on, the old man cut woods and took them to the city to sell every day. He got more money than he needed for the first time in his life.

One morning, when he was going to the city to sell his wood, he met a rich man. The rich man was surprised to see him carrying such a heavy load.

“How can you carry such a heavy weight?” he asked.

“This is a magic stick.”

The rich man did not believe him. He asked the old man to let him try. It was true! It was very light.

“I’ll give you five hundred pieces of gold for the stick,” he said.

The old man took the money. It was enough for him for the rest of his life. He gave the rich man the magic stick. The rich man was very happy. He noticed that the stick was cracked. He took it to a carpenter and asked him to repair it. The carpenter used an axe to cut off the part which was cracked. He cut again away the magic cow hairs at the same time.

The rich man told his wife that evening about the magic stick. He asked her to try it. He put a weight at each end of the stick. His wife tried to lift it but she could not.

“What kind of magic stick is this?” she cried. “You’re dreaming. It’s just like any other stick.”

“Women! You know nothing,” said the rich man.

He tried to lift it but he was unable to do so. The magic had left the stick forever.

-FIN-

Read the Indonesian translation HERE

Author: Unknown

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#007 The Pride Of Icarus

Daedalus, one of the greatest inventors of ancient times, was asked by the king of Crete to build a maze where he could imprison the Minotaur, a monster half-man and half-bull, so that it could never get out again. The ingenious architect did as he was asked, but some time later he helped Theseus, a famous hero, to kill the monster. As a punishment, the king of Crete ordered Daedalus to be impri­soned himself in the labyrinth, with his young son, Icarus.

“Don't worry,” the father encour­aged the boy. “I know already how we can get out of this prison!”

Daedalus made a huge pair of wings and he stuck them with wax onto his son's shoulders. The wings could be moved up and down by moving the arms. Then Daedalus made another pair of wings for himself.

The wings worked wonderfully. The two men took off, and with a few arm strokes they managed to climb high enough to get over the walls of the labyrinth, but then the young boy, out of pride, wanted to fly higher and higher, until the heat from the sun melted the wax and his wings fell off. Then Icarus plunged to the ground and died. Daedalus, full of sadness, carried on flying until he reached safety.

-FIN- 
Read the Indonesian translation  HERE

Author: Unknown

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