#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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#048 The Legend Of Shuteye Island

Once upon a time, an old blind man lived on Pulau Timbun Mata (Shut-Eye Island). He often sat in the sun outside his house looking after paddy which his son had placed there to dry.

Whenever chickens came to eat the paddy, he used a long stick to bang the ground to chase them away.

One day, his grandson played a trick on him. He caught a couple of crabs on the beach and placed them on the paddy. They made a noise just like chickens eating the paddy.

“What’s that?” asked the old man.

“Don’t you know?” his grandson replied. “Some chickens are eating the paddy.”

The old man banged on the ground with his stick. But the crabs were not frightened. They continued to eat the paddy.

“Ha, ha, Ha!” laughed the boy.

Suddenly, there was a terrible roar like the firing of cannon. An old man with a long white beard appeared in a cloud of smoke.

He pointed his wand at the boy. “You should never laugh at your grandfather,” he said, “especially as he is blind.”

Before the boy could answer, a strong wind started to blow and the sky became black. A cloud of red smoke shot out of the top of a hill in the centre of the island. Tons of rock and boiling mud were thrown high into the air. All the houses on the island were destroyed and everyone living on the island was turned into stone.

Even today, if you visit the island, all you can see are some strange-looking rocks which resemble people.

-FIN-

Read the Indonesian translation HERE

Author: Unknown

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#022 The Golden Egg

Long time ago a remote village, in central China was inhabited mainly with farmers and hunters.

One day, a poor farmer lost his entire livestock to flood. He prayed hard to God for help or his family would die of starvation. Few days later, an old man with long grey beard, passed by his house took pity on him.

He gave him a goose and said, “I don’t have any expensive thing to give you and hope this goose will help you to ease your hardship.”

A week later the farmer was surprised to have found an egg in his yard. This was no ordinary egg. It was a golden egg. He was suddenly overjoyed. Thereafter, his livelihood had rapidly improved but the farmer had forgotten his earlier hardship. He became lazy, arrogant and spendthrift.

Strangely, the goose only laid one golden egg every six months. The greedy farmer lost his patience and slaughtered his goose thinking there were plenty of golden eggs inside its stomach. Though he very much regretted for his foolishness, it’s already too late.

-FIN-

Read the Indonesian translation HERE

Author: Unknown

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#001 Eternal Love

I sat on my bed...I cried...I didnt know what to do...I was so emotional...I thought of ending my life...But I was afraid of pain...I had been trying to end my life...Death was the best choice in my mind...I remembered during the army period when my sergeant told me when we wanted to jump from a few stories of a building...I was not afraid to jump...but the person in front of me was so scared...I remembered very clearly the sergeant said," It's only 2 storey...If you jump from 20 storey then you will have fainted before you reach the ground.."
That was probably the best choice...If I fainted I would never feel the pain...Just before I jumped...I prayed to God.. " God, If this is my only way,the way that Your Highness wants me to, then I shall follow it."
Out of the sudden the Death God approached me...He said, " Ending your physical body doesnt mean that you are gonna be free...you, your soul will wander around this earth until you completely finish your 'given life'. "
I was afraid when I was told so...But I didnt find any meaning in my life..So I begged the Death God to let me follow him....
He agreed..."When you follow me you are no longer Jimmy, your name will be Utriel."
As he said so I let my body fall...The next thing I knew, I saw my body covered with blood...Having followed the Death God, I had seen many death and suicide cases...Sometimes it's just something unexplainable...I used to laughed at those who committed suicide...In the end I did it myself...
Until one day...we went to a place, the place was so familiar to me...I knew...It was my ex-girlfriend's apartment...I wondered what the Death God doing there....So we went inside...I saw my ex-girlfriend, Rina , holding a knife..she was trying to end her life...I still loved her so much,that I begged the Death God not to take her life...In exchange I will be his slave and help him do his job for the remaining 'life'...
That time..I heard her crying," I'm sorry Jim,I had you committed suicide, I love you so much...I just dont want to hurt you that I asked for a break-up....Maybe we are just not meant to be...It was all my fault...my fault..."
I recalled when I was with her...I was the one who chased her,I was the one who asked her to be my Girlfriend...I was rejected countless times that in the end she accepted me...I was always be there for her...I stayed awake just to talk to her..I spent all my savings just for her...yeah..she did love me so much when we were in relationship...but she could not get rid of her drinking habit...I let her to go drinking, but I couldnot accompany her everytime since I had loads of work to do...even though sometimes..sometimes I knew she ended up sleeping with another guy when she was drunk...but I could forgive her...again and again I forgave her...Until that day that she initiated a break-up...I didnt want to break up with her..I was willing even she treated me badly...I just wanted to be with her...and I knew that she loved me so much, and I did really have the proof when she said she loved me before ending her life...She just wanted me to get a better life without her...She had never thought that I would end up my life....

Rina could be saved as she was taken to the hospital before she lost her life...A few weeks later she recovered..Inside the hospital she met a principal of a school from a government school, the principal asked her to teach at her school....and she agreed...
Everytime I had time , I went to visit her...She taught her students well, I loved to hear the laughter of the children taught by her...She smiled everytime I visited her as if she knew I was with her.
Time passed by...7 years had passed...I just finished my 'job' and I went to visit her...She wasnt at school...so I looked around the school and found out that she was hospitalised..I rushed myself to the hospital and found the Death God was with her..
"Sorry Utriel,but it's her time to 'go' ."
I was sad and yet happy that she had done meaningful thing and hadn’t ended up like me...She had been a good teacher,her students were praying for her outside her ward...
"Could I ask for one last request?"
"What would it be, Utriel?"
"Let me be the one to end her life..."
So then,I cut the connection of her physical body and her soul...her soul flew to the sky...I saw her smiling and I was sure that she was happy,She was happy that I was there till the end,and I did give her the chance to let her have a wonderful life...The last thing I heard was
"I will be waiting..."
A few days after that...The Death God called me and said that it was my time to 'go'...I was happy,I was not scared at all,not even a glinch of fear...Because in my mind I had been looking forward to this time...The time where I could go and be with Rina....somewhere....

-FIN-
Read the Indonesian translation HERE
Author: Anfransen Wijaya 

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