The Ramayana and the Ramakien – part 3
The Ramayana is one of India's greatest and most epic stories, its roots go back some 2500 years. From India, various variants of the epic spread throughout Asia, including Thailand, where it became known as the Ramakien (รามเกียรติ์). You can see references to the epic in all sorts of places, but then you must of course know the story. So let's dive into this mythical epic in this series. Part 3 today.
A Buddha statue with balls (From: Tantalizing stories from Northern Thailand; nr 46)
A monk had his eyes on the mother of one of the novices. He was in love. Whenever the novice brought his mother's offerings to the temple, he would say, "All these gifts are from my mother," and the monk would repeat it loudly each time. "Offering from this novice's mother."
The Ramayana and the Ramakien – part 2
The Ramayana is one of India's greatest and most epic stories, its roots go back some 2500 years. From India, various variants of the epic spread throughout Asia, including Thailand, where it became known as the Ramakien (รามเกียรติ์). You can see references to the epic in all sorts of places, but then you must of course know the story. So let's dive into this mythical epic in this series. Part 2 today.
The Ramayana and the Ramakien – part 1
The Ramayana is one of India's greatest and most epic stories, its roots go back some 2500 years. From India, various variants of the epic spread throughout Asia, including Thailand, where it became known as the Ramakien (รามเกียรติ์). You can see references to the epic in all sorts of places, but then you must of course know the story. So let's dive into this mythical epic in this series. Part 1 today.
How a cat catches a mouse (From: Tantalizing stories from Northern Thailand; no. 45)
Was that a mouse that bit the cat or….. Titillating tales from Northern Thailand. White Lotus Books, Thailand. English title 'The cat has caught a mouse.'
The Ramakien: the Thai national epic with Indian roots
The Ramakien, the Thai version of the Indian Ramayana epic, written down from Sanskrit by the poet Valmiki more than 2.000 years ago, tells the timeless and universal story of the confrontation between good and evil.
The Khamu who listens to the Vessantara Jataka (From: Tantalizing stories from Northern Thailand; nr 44)
A Khamu listened to the reading of the Vessantara Jataka for the first time. (*) The monk came to the Maddi chapter, in which Prince Vessantara gives up his two children to a Brahmin priest who binds their hands and pushes them before him. The monk read: "Sorrow trumped, and the children had tears in their eyes."
This is again about a monk. No, not a monk in our temple again, remember! Another temple – very far away. This monk closely guarded a breadfruit tree on the temple grounds. And should the tree bear ripe fruit, he would not let anyone near that tree.
The monk with a woman's sarong around his head (From: Stimulating stories from Northern Thailand; nr 42)
This is about a monk. No, not the monk in our temple, good heavens no! Another temple – very far away. And that monk had sex with a woman. He was her lover.
The village is now called Nong Kheng but it used to be called Nong Khuaj Deng or 'Red Dick Pond'. It was a city then, too, with a king and everything. You can still see a kind of mound where the city used to be.
Another story about someone who wanted to sleep with his older brother's wife. She was pregnant, and her husband was on a business trip. But how could he bring that neatly?
When the world was still peaceful… (From: Stimulating stories from Northern Thailand; nr 39)
This happened a very long time ago. Then all animals, trees and grasses could still speak. They lived together according to Indra's (*) law: if an animal dreams that it is eating something delicious, then the next day that dream may come true. And the animals acted accordingly.
Why doesn't your big toe have a nail? (From: Stimulating stories from Northern Thailand; nr 38)
This is about a monk who lived in the temple for a very long time. He was strict with his novice Chan. At that time, the sacred scriptures were written on dried palm leaves. When the monk got up in the morning, he took a metal engraving needle and sat down at a desk with a palm leaf on it.
You don't give a worm to a caught fish, do you? (From: Stimulating stories from Northern Thailand; nr 37)
This is a story about a member of the Khamu tribe. They are Laotians and live in Vientiane (*). Laos used to be less developed and it was difficult to get around there. Their income was only three rupees a year. Yes, in those days rupees were used. (**)
Pooping while lying on your back (From: Stimulating stories from Northern Thailand; nr 36)
This story is about I Muaj; her father was Chinese. She was now 16 or 17 years old and was as horny as a kitchen tarp. (*) And she wanted to do 'it' with a man. She wanted to know what it's like when a man and a woman are lustful. About the birds and the bees, you know!
Uncle Kaew Fooling the Karen (From: Tantalizing Stories from Northern Thailand; no. 35)
The story about Uncle-Kaew-who-fooled-Karen. Uncle-Kaew-etc was a cunning fellow, He often traveled in Karen country to trade, and therefore wanted to know their manners and customs. Their way of doing housework, eating and drinking and sleeping.
This story is about a woman from Central Thailand and a monk of Yong descent. (*) They did not understand each other's language. The monk lived in the temple in the village where a community of twenty families lived. The woman settled there. She was a pious woman who liked to do good deeds; every morning she made food for the monks.