Bahosod, the wise monk. Pickled fish or gold? (From: Stimulating stories from Northern Thailand; nr 22)
Thai pickled fish (Carp or barbel; name in Thai ปลาส้ม Pla Som or Som Pla)
Two friends wanted to get wise; they visited the wise monk Bahosod and offered him money to become smart. They paid him two thousand gold pieces a man and said, "You have money now, give us that wisdom." 'Good! Whatever you do, do it right. If you do half work, you will achieve nothing.' That was the lesson they had bought for all that money.
One fine day they decided to catch fish by scooping all the water out of a pond and then picking up the fish that was floundering. The pond was quite big and they did their best but one of them got very hungry and shouted 'We'll never get that empty! I quit!' 'Excuse me? Whatever you do, do it right. If you do half work, you will achieve nothing. Then why did we buy those wise words?
His friend also realized this and they emptied the pond. But they found no fish. Not one! "Then let's dig for eels!" They dug into the soil and… yes, they found a pot. It was filled with gold! 'Look, that's what I mean. Whatever you do, do it right. If you do half work, you will achieve nothing. And now we really have something, a pot of gold!'
It was getting dark and the pot was very heavy, they wanted to put it somewhere. But who could they trust? Not in the hands of a poor slob because they were afraid he would steal it. But what then? 'Let's take it to a rich man. Someone who is already rich will not steal it. But we do not say that there is gold in it. We just say: pickled fish.'
“But what if they look inside and see there's gold in it? What then?' "Well, we'll buy some pickled fish at the market and put it on top of the gold." And so they did, bought fish for a baht, and put it on top of the gold. They rang the doorbells of rich people; there were a lot of guests inside and they asked 'Friendly millionaire, may we please leave this jar of pickled fish with you tonight? We'll pick him up again tomorrow.' 'Of course, okay! Just put it by the fireplace, there.'
Later when the guests had left, the lady of the house started to cook and saw that there was not enough fish. "Well, grab some of their fish!" So the woman did and she discovered the gold. 'Come and have a look!' she cried. 'There's no fish in it, only gold! Full of gold! Wow!'
"Run to the market and buy a bucket of pickled fish," her husband said. 'We'll give them a bucket of fish tomorrow. Isn't that what they said? There were just a lot of witnesses.' So they did and exchanged the pots. The next morning the friends discovered the deception…
The judge and the wise monk Bahosod
Well, this matter went to court and it began its investigation. Was it really gold? Is it true you put some pickled fish on it?' 'Yes, yes. We were afraid they would steal it, so we covered the gold with some fish,' said the friends.
The couple, of course, told a different story and all their friends, who didn't know any better, confirmed it. The judge retired and conferred with the wise monk Bahosod. 'No problem, judge! All we need is a stump.' It was hollowed out and an official was asked to take a seat in the hollow tree. He was given pencil and paper and had to write down exactly what he heard. Then they made an air hole in the hollow tree and closed both openings with cowhide.
Then the parties were asked to join. “To determine who is right, each side must carry this stump seven times around the temple. Anyone who refuses loses anyway.'
The two friends had to walk first, not realizing that someone was inside! 'How heavy is this thing! I told you to be honest and say there was gold in it! But you had to put fish on it if necessary and tell them it was a jar of pickled fish. That's why we're in shit now!' The official in the tree trunk wrote everything down exactly and the friends got him dragged around the temple seven times.
Then it was Mr. and Mrs.'s turn. They also had to lug seven times. But the lady had never experienced anything like it and that thing was heavy. 'Didn't I tell you I didn't want that? I didn't want this! It belonged to them! We ripped them off and exchanged the jar for a jar of pickled fish!' The officer also heard that.
After the last seven rounds, the judge opened the log and read what was written. The two friends got their gold and the couple got nothing. They had to return everything. You see, if you're honest. And what else you can learn from it: no one is as clever as the monk Bahosod!
Source:
Titillating tales from Northern Thailand. White Lotus Books, Thailand. English title 'Bahosod II. Pickled fish or gold'. Translated and edited by Erik Kuijpers. The author is Viggo Brun (1943); see for more explanation: https://www.thailandblog.nl/cultuur/twee-verliefde-schedels-uit-prikkelende-verhalen-uit-noord-thailand-nr-1/