In a village near Phatthalung and near Lake Songkhla lives a couple who are still childless after many years.
In desperation, they ask the monk who tells them to put a pebble under their pillows. And yes, the woman gets pregnant! But her appetite amazes; she eats and eats and says 'I have to eat for two now…' but she eats herself completely, for nine months. Then a boy is born; a very big baby. They call him Nai Raeng (นายแรง): the mighty.
Nai Raeng is very hungry….
A pan of rice, 10 bunches of bananas and lots of milk. His parents can no longer afford this! After all, they think 'If only you hadn't been born…'. And they are hatching a plan… He is ten years old and is ordered to cut down a large tree in the forest. "We need wood for the winter." But father secretly hopes that he will have an accident... But Nai Raeng fells the tallest tree, chops it into pieces and brings it home neatly. Whatever his father tells him to do, mister does it and eats on….
Then a Chinese trader moors at their house with his junk. 'This is our chance' the parents think and persuade the trader to hire their son as a deckhand. "He's a big strong fellow and works for ten!" Then the boat sails away with their son on board.
It doesn't take long and the Chinese understands what he brought on board. He says the boatswain. That boy has to go. We challenge him to catch a dolphin and if he swims we sail away.' And so it happens; Nai Raeng is left alone in the sea…
He is a good swimmer and reaches the shore where a broken fishing boat lies. Nai Raeng is able to fix it and sails to his parents. Finds a job and can pay for his own food. Everyone happy. He works so well and is so loved that he is asked to run for governor. A great honor that Nai Raeng likes.
Because in the city of Nakhon Sri Thammarat, north of his jurisdiction, there is a festival around relics of Buddha that are interred in the temple, Nai Raeng sails north with a gold treasure worth 900.000 baht. But a fierce storm rages from the northeast and his ship goes off course. They get closer and closer to the rocky shore until a huge wave slams them against the rocks.
The boat needs to be repaired but they will definitely miss the ceremony. At his wits end and saddened, Nai Raeng decides that his men will carry the gold to the shore and bury it safely in the sand. Then he orders that his head be cut off and placed on the gold. And an order from the governor himself is of course carried out…..
That ends the adventures of Nai Raeng…..
And did all this really happen?
A relic, a tooth, of Buddha is indeed buried in the Wat Phra Mahathat in Nakhon Sri Thammarat. And if you are ever in Songkhla, visit the village of Khao Seng near Chalatat Beach; then you learn that name is the corruption of Khao Sen, the Thai word for 900.000. You will also find a huge boulder on a rocky outcrop called Hua Nai Raeng: the head of Nai Raeng. The people say that his spirit still guards the golden treasure.
Perhaps there is a hint of truth in a folk tale after all….
Source: Internet. Which came first: Nai Raeng and his adventure, or the big rock and a tooth of Buddha. The origin of the legend is unknown.