Two skulls in love
Once upon a time there was a beautiful woman whose husband died. She loved her husband very much so she kept his skull in a box. And refused to marry again. "Unless my husband rises from his grave, I will not take another husband," she said. Every day she bought cooked rice and some goodies for the skull to eat. And she told all the flatterers and suitors who tried to seduce her that she already had a husband.
The men in the village liked a gamble, a bet. So as soon as someone claimed that he would marry that beautiful woman, the others immediately shouted 'Wedje Make? For how much? Four, five thousand?' But no one took the bet, knowing that the woman was determined not to marry again.
Make a bet? So yes!
But one day, a smart guy took the bet. "If I can't get her, I'll pay you five thousand baht," and the others accepted the bet. The clever man went to the graveyard and sought a woman's skull; bought some groceries, loaded everything into a small boat and rowed to her house as if he were an itinerant trader.
He greeted her and asked if he could leave some of his trade with her. 'When I've sold everything, I'll pick this up again.' But he added cunningly 'Ai, it's getting late! That is no longer possible today. Can I perhaps sleep over?'
The handsome widow thought the man could be trusted, so she let him sleep there. And through conversations they got to know each other a little better. 'My husband passed away but I keep his skull, here, in this box. Every day I buy cooked rice and something nice for him to eat. And that's why I tell everyone I have another husband. I'm definitely not getting married again! Unless my husband rises from his grave, I will not take another man. Really, that's my final position!'
'Is that right? Well, you know, I'm in the same situation: my wife passed away. Look, I've got her skull with me. I do exactly like you: I buy cooked rice and something nice for her to eat every day. And until she rises from the grave I will not take another wife.' They then returned the skulls, each in its own box.
After all, the smart guy ended up living with the woman for several days; nine or ten, maybe fifteen, they got to know each other well. Every day she went to the market to buy goodies for her husband, and she bought it for the other skull too.
And then, that one day; she had gone to the market again and he took her husband's skull and put it in the box with his wife's skull. Closed everything neatly and went into the garden.
Where's my skull?
When the woman came back from the market she opened the box to give the skull rice and some goodies; but there was no skull! She started shouting. 'Oh dear, where's my husband's skull gone? Where is he? Skull, skull, where are you? My husband's skull isn't there! Where can he be?'
The man hurried home because of her cries. He opened the box containing his wife's skull, and wow, there were two skulls side by side!
"Good God!" they shouted in unison. The man spoke first again. 'How can they do this to us? We loved them but they didn't love us. We loved them, but they took each other as lovers! You can't trust anyone these days.'
"Well, what now?" 'Let's talk about it. Shouldn't we just throw those skulls away? Have they not gone too far? No, they are not fair. They behaved disgustingly. Let's throw them away. Dump in the river!'
And they did. Then the man said, 'Well, what are we going to do now? You no longer have a husband, and I no longer have a wife.' Then the pretty woman decided to marry him. The man had done it! Thanks to his trick. And he also won the five thousand baht he had bet on. They married and lived happily ever after.
Yes, it can be!
Source
Titillating tales from Northern Thailand. White Lotus Books, Thailand. Translated from English and edited by Erik Kuijpers.
Author
Viggo Brun (1943), grandson of a famous Norwegian mathematician. He has several other works on Asia to his credit, such as 'Traditional herbal medicine in Northern Thailand', 'Sug, The Trickster Who Fooled The Monk' and the Thai-Danish dictionary. Also a book about brick factories in Nepal.
In the 70s, he lived with his family in the Lamphun region and recorded stories from the mouths of local Northern Thai-speaking people. The author speaks Central Thai herself and was an associate professor of Thai language at the University of Copenhagen.
A detailed description of the author can be found here: https://luangphor.net/book-number/law-of-karma-book-1/chapter-9-the-psychic-telegraph-written-by-viggo-brun/
And a brief explanation here: https://www.pilgrimsonlineshop.com/books-by-author/4800/viggo-brun.html
Contents
More than 100 titillating stories and tales from Northern Thailand. All from the north of Thailand and from Northern Thai translated to Central Thai and then to English, the language in the book.
These stories are recorded from the mouths of villagers in the Lamphun region. Legends, fairy tales, anecdotes, stories about rascals of the caliber of Sri Thanonchai and Xieng Mieng (see elsewhere in this blog) and candid stories about sex.
Enjoyed reading this story. How a little innocent deceit can still help.